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'Show and tell'

State Sen. Dennis Jones says he went to Toronto this summer for a game of "show and tell," but this must have been the grown-up version. In this game, Jones and three other lawmakers were picked up by charter jet and treated to a casino and a dinner overlooking Niagara Falls. The "show" came courtesy of Magna Entertainment Corp., which desperately wants slot machines in Florida, but the "tell" is a whole other story.

The "tell" was a carefully guarded $48,180 secret until Senate President Tom Lee got wind of it. What Lee discovered was that the Florida Republican Party was acting as a Laundromat for the money, claiming it as an in-kind contribution when in fact it had nothing to do with political fundraising. The "tell" is that Jones, a Treasure Island Republican, and Rep. Frank Farkas, a St. Petersburg Republican, had joined Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville, and Sen. Michael Bennett, R-Bradenton, for two days in July to be wined and dined and sold on how Magna represents good business for Florida.

State law prohibits lawmakers from taking gifts worth more than $100, and the political parties can't take money that is intended as gifts to lawmakers. So now the Republican Party, having been criticized by Lee, says it will reimburse Magna for the trip. That's sort of like paying your taxes after the IRS auditor has shoved his foot in the front door of your house.

Lee, for his part, has committed an uncommon act of fair play. After investigating Democratic Sen. Mandy Dawson earlier this year for a South Africa trip financed by lobbyists, Lee has turned the same microscope on his own party. He has asked the Senate general counsel to investigate the four Republicans. The Ethics Commission ought to get involved as well.

Jones may be pleased with what he learned in Toronto, but these are the kinds of games the public can do without.

[Last modified October 15, 2005, 01:20:03]