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Bobby Jindal is well-known for his fast-talking. What he isn’t known for is doing what he says. The story in today’s Baton Rouge newspaper is but another example. (See story here.)

Jindal’s “spin doctors” claim the trip was “campaign related” and therefore not a violation of the Heh, Heh, Heh, State Ethics Laws.

How convenient!

The story begs another question. Even in-kind contributions have their limits. Did the cost of the trip exceed the campaign contribution limits?

If Jindal can use the dodge that “things of economic value” are “campaign related” then all politicians who are caught with their hands in the cookie jar can claim likewise and side-step the laws that Jindal touted as changing the image of our state.

For those who are concerned about our state’s image, you needn’t wonder if Jindal will be busted for an ethics violation. In his new ethics law, he raised the standard of proof to a level unlikely to be reached by the Administrative Law Judges that he appoints. That is, if those who Jindal appointed to the Ethics Board (a majority) decide to forward the case to the judges.

What would we be saying if this was Edwin Edwards instead of Bobby Jindal?

Heh, Heh, Heh!

Unfortunately, the joke’s on us, the people of Louisiana.

C.B.

1 CB 8:44 am

Background

On the November 4 ballot in the city of Hammond (Louisiana) there is a proposed ordinance that would outlaw Video Bingo within the city.

Hammond’s City Charter authorizes ordinances by Initiative and Referendum.

Organized Gambling is running ads opposing the proposed ordinance.  That’s their constitutional right as long as they follow the law.  Which they don’t.

The law

The state’s Election Code states in LA R.S. 18:1463 the following regarding political ads:

The legislature further finds that it is essential to the protection of the electoral process that the people be able to know who is responsible for publications in order to more properly evaluate the statements contained in them and to informatively exercise their right to vote.

The facts

Currently ads are being run in the local newspaper and on billboards in Hammond urging the defeat of ordinance.  The ads list certain “facts” regarding Video Bingo.

The billboards are allegedly paid for by “Hammond Charities.”  The newspaper ads are paid for by “Non-Profit Organizations in Hammond.”

A search of the databases maintained on the Internet by the LA Ethics Board (of political action committees) and the LA Secretary of State (legal entities) shows no such entities as those cited on the advertisements.

Conclusion

The ads appear to violate not only the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law as written above.  

There is no way to determine the veracity of the claims on the ads because there is no way for individual citizens to determine who is making the claims.

Thus, we have another example of a meaningless LA law designed to deceive the public into believing that we have fair and honest elections in Louisiana.

Disclaimer

I have long been an outspoken opponent of legalized gambling.   My opposition is not based on religious or moral grounds.  My opposition is based on the negative economic consequences and corruption which are inseparable parts of legalized gambling.

The above is but another example of the corrupt nature of Organized Gambling which has no regard for the law.

C.B.

1 CB 1:43 pm

My friend Tyler Bridges, an American citizen, based in Venezuela, who is the foreign correspondent for the McClatchy newspaper chain just wrote a frightening story.

This article says it all about the recent Rube Goldberg “bailout” plan from our comrades in D.C. (See article here.)

When I first read the headline I had hoped this was some sort of parody, but I knew that was not Tyler’s style.

Who better to recognize socialism than those who practice socialism.

Why is it that the only people in America who don’t recognize this move towards socialism work in Washington, D.C.

It’s frightening!

C.B.

1 CB 9:32 am