Posted on 07/02/2008 10:33:17 AM PDT by Captain McAllister
Politicians in Louisiana are suddenly discovering a sudden, hitherto unnoticed, urge to retire from public life and become private citizens once again. This eureka moment for about 140 (and growing by the hour!) politicians just “happens” to coincide with the approach of the date when Louisiana’s new ethics laws will come into effect. Perhaps the politicians are nervous—and for good cause.
A 1996-2007 study of all states with a population greater-than 2 million found Louisiana to be the most corrupt state, based on public official convictions. The average between the 35 states surveyed was just under 3 convictions per 100,000 population. Louisiana had 7.67.
Indeed, even before the debacle of Hurricane Katrina, the state had a reputation for high-profile corruption. Which may help explain why, in a recent poll, 75 percent of Louisiana residents responded “no” to the question, “In your opinion, does the state government spend tax dollars wisely?” Even the most unobservant Louisianian likely doesn’t equate padding a politician’s pockets with spending tax dollars wisely.
Enter Bobby Jindal. Riding into office on a wave of popular support, Governor Jindal pushed through the legislature a massive ethics reform measure. It would require greater accountability and transparency on the part of government officials, by forcing them to disclose their personal financial information. Any politician affected by the measure (and that’s most) who chooses to remain on the job after July 1st will have to comply with the new full disclosure regulations.
And so the panic-stricken politicians are dropping like flies.
Already, the Emergency Response Network Board, Garden District Security District, Louisiana States Art Council, Louisiana Geographic Information Systems Council, Louisiana Education Television Authority, Louisiana Board of Ethics, Millennium Port Authority, and the New Orleans City Park Improvement Board have all seen multiple members resign. In some cases, such as the ethics board, nearly all have left. A member of the University of Louisiana Board of Supervisors—and former union leader—resigned. Even the Culture, Recreation, and Tourism Secretary has left office (perhaps to avoid the risk the cultural and recreational pitfalls of a lengthy tour of the state prison).
Granted, it’s possible that some of these politicians simply consider their financial information personal, and do not wish to disclose it. That might be plausible, if there were only a handful of resignations. But not when the numbers hit the triple-digits. Maybe, just maybe, the resignations are indicative of the depth of corruption in the state. Too bad Gov. Jindal wasn’t in charge of evacuating New Orleans.
ALG Perspective: Whatever Louisiana just passed, Congress needs to do the same thing on the federal level. Then, the next session of Congress can be held in a bread box.
ALG News praises Governor Jindal and the LA Legislature for passing these much-needed ethics reforms. While perhaps not perfect, they go a long way towards ensuring real accountability of the taxpayer money that so many crooks have squandered, and transparency in the dealings of these politicians. .
The timing of the resignations is proof that the reforms are working: The anti-corruption measure is sending the money-grabbing politicians scurrying for cover, lest their dastardly deeds be exposed for all to see. And that’s good news for the people of Louisiana.
Is there a list of the names of the resignees and their former positions? If so, let’s post it here...
This is a reason why I’d like to see Jindal passed over for McQueeg’s VP slot. He has to much going for him in LA, and could make the place an example for other states. He needs to stay and be left to do the job for which he applied.
Me thinks more light in more corners would be a VERY good thing!
Bring out the kleig lights!
He was awful willing to go along with the huge pay raises the legislature wanted.I question his ability to lead.
(In some cases, such as the ethics board, nearly all have left.)
The ETHICS Board! It sounds more like the UN Human Rights Committee! Go Bobby!
Plus given more seasoning, like a successful full term as governor, he would be a good presidential candidate in the next election
All of government from DC to the smallest hamlets in America have become cultures of corruption and need to be cleaned out.
I can’t find a list. But apparently all but one of the State Ethics Board members resigned. Apparently their lack of ethics was a conflict of interest with their positions on the State Ethics Board...
I am not sure that convictions of government officials is the best way to measure corruption. In Washington State our Federal Attorney refused to investigate vote fraud, which according to this measure would show that King County Election officials are not corrupt.
I mentioned this the other day...he’s still pretty new to the job and he’s young, so it’s not reasonable to see him act like Haley Barbour just yet. Besides, he has nobody to have learned from. In the end, you got the veto, what more would you like him to do?
JMO but I think he was picking his battles. When he saw the public outcry he decided he better fight that one too. At least yall have someone that is listening to you. Ours just does (or tries) what he wants.
Gov. Jendal was calling their bluff. He didn't want to give the Leg an excuse to dodge the ethics reform. He trusted that the people would shout down the Leg.'s pay raise move. And they did. He knew he would catch flack from the "glass is half full" crowd like you, but he knew that the larger goal was to clear out the dead wood from the Leg. and the rest of LA government.
I have a Senator like that. :^\
“which according to this measure would show that King County Election officials are not corrupt”
hahahahahahahaha. THAT is funny. As in ridiculous.
Actually, folks, the headline and implied conclusion is wrong. The people who are resigning are, for the very vast part, are good citizens who served on boards, as I did in the 80’s, with the best of intentions to serve such endeavours as the improvement of city parks, security districts (where we citizens voted an increas in taxes on only ourselves to promote better security protection) and the like. We now find ourselves required to disclose our personal financials as a result of trying to help. It is a good idea but as usual the law of unitended consequences takes its toll. They (we) are not pols seeking to pad our admittedly large wallets but rather to help the community.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.