Alabama Ethics: How a broken reporting system hides who wines and dines your elected officials

I asked only one question.

Why didn't the Business Council of Alabama's lobbying activity reports on file with the Alabama Ethics Commission show any spending on lawmakers?

What I got back was the digital equivalent of having the door slammed in my face.

"The Business Council of Alabama is committed to the highest standards of integrity and ethical conduct. This is simply fantasy journalism that forms a conclusion by falsifying the facts regardless of the truth or the law."

That's the response from BCA President and CEO William Canary. Normally that's the sort of denial I'd put at the end of a column, but I put it here up top because when Canary's spokeswoman sent me that statement, neither she nor Canary had read as much of this fantasy journalism as you have in the last five or ten seconds.

Read more: http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/12/alabamas_ethics_mess_how_a_bro.html