Republicans say Davis a latecomer on his ethics plan

After gubernatorial candidate and U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, D-Birmingham, rolled out his ethics plan on Thursday, Republicans criticized him on Friday as a latecomer who is proposing ideas that have already been introduced by Republicans.
"Gov. (Bob) Riley and House/Senate Republicans have waged a war on corruption long before Congressman Davis decided to run for governor in 2010, but Democrats, like Davis, have not joined the effort," according to a statement released by Alabama Republican Party spokesman Philip Bryan.
If Davis was concerned about ethics reform, the statement said he should encourage his fellow Democrats to allow the Republican ethics bills to pass. Without that encouragement, the Republicans accused him of being more worried about getting elected than ending corruption.
“Thankfully, Gov. Bob Riley and Republicans in the Legislature have already proposed substantive anti-corruption legislation, and we encourage the congressman to insist that the Democrat majority do the right thing by allowing our bills to pass," said Mike Hubbard, chairman of the Alabama Republican Party and a state representative from Auburn. "The war on corruption has many enemies, but Republicans are committed to the fight and we are determined to restore the public’s trust in government. Unfortunately, Democrats will not allow our anti-corruption bills to pass – therefore a Republican majority is the only way for true ethics reform to become a reality in Alabama.”Davis' campaign quickly responded with its own statement.
"The plan that Congressman Davis proposed yesterday is stronger and more comprehensive than any previous attempts at ethics reform in Alabama history," Davis spokeswoman Anna Ruth Williams said in the statement. "Furthermore, it is tougher than any measure proposed by either Republicans or Democrats. Davis recognizes that passing ethics reform should be a bi-partisan enterprise and looks forward to working with any legislators who want to clean up state government in Alabama."
Davis told the Montgomery Advertiser on Thursday that some portions of his proposal, such as banning the transfer of money between political action committees, had been proposed before, but his plan goes further and includes new initiatives, such as requiring a public official who is indicted on state ethics charges or federal corruption charges to vacate their office.

-- posted by Sebastian Kitchen