With the Colorado Government Accountability Projects's uncovering of massive per diem fraud perpetrated by Senate Majority Leader John Morse, a few events from the recent past are beginning to make a lot more sense.
Political observers will recall the strange, some may say creepy, interview that Morse gave to Fox 31’s Eli Stokols a year ago. In that infamous edition of “Capitol Cribs” Morse gave Stokols a tour of his bachelor pad in Denver, referring to his bedroom as the “Passion Pit” and leaving unremarked the painting of a half naked man on his apartment wall.
During the tour Morse bragged to Stokols he only paid $500 a month for the two bedroom place with a view of the Rockies, leading to an ethics investigation over whether he was receiving cheaper rent as an illegal gift.
But perhaps the most interesting part of that interview in light of current events is the last bit of the interview, where he says “you know if you’ve got part time legislators, then you’re going to end up with part time results, and that’s not what the state of Colorado needs or wants.”
Unfortunately for Morse, the Colorado Constitution clearly defines legislators as part time to make it a true citizen legislature. Disagreeing with that assumption, Morse took it upon himself to charge the state for the work of a full time legislator. Actually, more than full time if you believe he actually worked 331 days.
See the video after the jump. The Morse Passion Pit tour is in the last three minutes of the video.
The average worker only puts in 240 days if you assume two weeks of vacation and six sick and personal days, so Morse charged the State of Colorado for far more than a full time position. Politicians believing they can make up their own rules and live better than the citizens they represent and are paid by, is exactly what voters can't stand. You might even say Morse's "actions discredited the reputation of the General Assembly."
If the video doesn't load you can also check it out here
I love the set up we have in Colorado. No one makes their career off of elected politics in Colorado. That’s because systems like that breed scumbags like Morse.
the system isn’t entirely effective, unfortunately, if Morse was able to make this his job.
$500/month for a two bedroom place like that? Wow. Where can I get in on a deal like that?!
Aside from that, the entire point of making legislating a part-time position was so that the legislators would be able to stay connected with their district and so they would have to work out here in the real world. It’s despicable for him to twist his job description in that manner.
Thanks to term limits these fools can only damage the state for so long.