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.
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.I'm both deeply saddened and offended by that. Illinois has worked long and hard to be THE most corrupt state. As such, I am sure that the Daley Machine, the Cook County Board, the Hispanic Democratic Organization (HDO) and 'The Combine' (who really run things) will work with due diligence to regain the Title.
Second Place will just not do!
Sheesh, you'd think having a Governor (George Ryan, RINO) sent off to Federal Prison for corruption would get you extra points.
I am going to disagree with you, however I will take your word that you are honest, but that leaves a great many more that have resigned that you actually cannot personally vouch for even though you are trying to. Unless you know the actual financial situation of each of these officials then I would be careful about making blanket statements concerning the reasons they are resigning.
I wonder if when LA is done with Bobby if we could talk him into moving to Ohio? We could use someone like him here.
I and the very vast majority of those who have resigned positions were never elceted - we volunteered or were asked to serve by public officials. We received no pay, indeed most of us (I gave $25K in cash per year for over 10 years) gave time and monies for years to develop various public properties and programs. Think of the 3 G’s of non-profit board membership - Give, Get or Go away.
This sounds great. But as we see in NJ’s land of corruption in Trenton, those who resign are not in jail and will after a cooling off period of a few months show up as “lobbyists” in the capital building, “guiding” their replacements towards the same dastardly policies of graft and corruption as was seen in the past.
The next step is to pass a strict lobbyist ethics law in La., or the graft will quickly adapt to the new ethics law regime and return to feeding on the host more voraciously than before.
You saound like you have been reading a sound bite!
Well at least I can spell “sound bite.”
Sorry you are stuck in 20th century LA.
Let’s not ruin Jindal...the pay raise issue wasnt his best moment but he did straighten things out. He needs to clean up La before running for higher office.
Jindal and Palin of Alaska may be the new hope of the conservative base but we have a long way to go in cleaning out the RINOs, toetappers, whiners and spinelessones from the GOP.
That’s a good find.
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