Wilson Outlines Priority #1 for New Ethics Committee: Defining the "Meaning of Ethics"

I might be reading too much into this, but this seems like pretty silly way for Rep. Kevin Wilson (R-Neosho) to start work for the new Special Standing Committee on Government Accountability and Ethics Reform.

Wilson said the committee’s first job will be to define the meaning of ethics, which he said was not an easy task as the word means different things to different people.

"You can’t legislate morality, but you can have a set of guidelines that everybody has to live by," he said. "If you go outside of those guidelines, you break the code of ethical conduct. One person may think something is ethical, while another may not think it’s ethical."

First, the notion that Republicans aren't interested in legislating morality is brand new information to me.

Second, there seem to be a relatively limited number of questions that will be decided by his committee, and questions about what the word "ethics" means seems more like an excuse to talk about things other than what's been proposed: campaign finance limits, lobbyist gift bans, bans on political consulting while working in the legislature, restrictions on committee money transfers, etc.