forgotston.com

When someone has so much money that they lose $140 Million without realizing it, THEY HAVE TOO MUCH MONEY.

For months I have asked various public officials, including individual leges, for a list of all the unencumbered STATE money sitting around in various and sundry funds.  None have produced a complete list.

Recently, we learn that the LA Department of Transportation and Development (”DOTD”) just found $140 Million of OUR money.  ( See story here.)  Despite all this money sloshing around DOTD was about to borrow more.

How do we know $140 Million is all that DOTD has “misplaced”?

Until the state officials become better stewards of OUR money, they shouldn’t ask for more.

There have been numerous calls for a suspension or repeal of the roll-back of the Stelly Tax.  Public Affairs Research Council (”PAR”) was one of those calling for it.  At the time, I questioned whether PAR had looked at all the spending the state budget before coming to that conclusion.   Obviously, they haven’t.

Our public officials should not ask me for another dime until they can show me what they are doing with every penny of the money they have already extracted from my wallet.

I’m sick of paying for the incompetence of our state officials.

C.B.

1 CB 8:23 am

The leges continue to whine about how hard they work and how underpaid they are.  Yet, once again, they show that they are not worth the money currently being paid to them.

Monday evening members of the House voted, without debate, without reading the legislation and without a dissenting vote, to by-pass the governor and to accept the additional Federal Stimulus Funds for Unemployment Compensation.

Regardless of how anyone feels about the issue, the people’s business should not be done in such a way.  See story here.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated or an uncommon situation.  This is typical of this new “reform” lege.

Every member of the House of Representatives should be embarrassed by the way this was done.  However, in order to be embarrassed one must have some type of “moral compass.”   Obviously, they don’t or they all would apologize to the people of Louisiana.

The leges may not be embarrassed, but they are an embarrassment to our state.

Kudos to “Watchcat” (a complimentary term) Robert Scott for unlike the leges, remaining alert, and letting us know about the incident right after it happened.

C.B.

1 CB 7:27 am

Friday was the deadline for our leges and others to file their 2008 financial disclosure statements that they mandated on themselves and others. (NOTE: Nothing prevented them from filing the reports earlier.)

According to a story in Saturday’s Times Picayune and based on my own observations, most of the leges whose reports have been posted on the Heh, Heh, Heh, Ethics Board website have chosen extensions rather than actually filing their reports.  See story here.

Interestingly, those leges who took the lead in passage of this “reform” legislation have asked for extensions.

See postings here: http://www.ethics.state.la.us/PFDisclosure/ Click on the link “By Office of Filer” and then plug into the appropriate blank “Representative” or “Senator.”

Loophole

Extensions for filing the financial disclosures are granted to anyone who gets an extension for filing their Federal Income Tax forms.  Such extensions are routinely granted by the IRS for 6 months simply by asking. After that, the taxpayer must give a reason.   If one has a good accountant, these extensions can go on for years.

Nobody should be surprised by this loophole in the law that Bobby Jindal said would cause businesses to flock to LA; it was the lawmakers who are taking advantage of it who created the loophole.

What will come first?

My question is what will come first, the filing of a lege’s disclosure statement or term limits for the lege?

The reports must ultimately be filed, but when a person is at the end of his/her term or is term-limited, of what value is the disclosure to see if they have been self-dealing.

Rhetoric vs. results

Rep. Noble Ellington, who filed for an extension, is very frank about the disclosure law: “If that’s what it takes to satisfy the people,” he said, “I’m good with it.”

In other words, Ellington doesn’t think much of the law, he just voted for it to pacify us mullets and Bobby Jindal.

Actually, it wasn’t us mullets who made such a big issue of the disclosures; it was Bobby Jindal who called his very first special session to deal with passing the new law. Bobby claimed it was the solution to LA’s woes as opposed to addressing our poor education system, poor healthcare, an anti-business climate, etc.

Bobby got what he wanted; a higher ranking for disclosure laws by some “think tanks” in other states.

I’m not sure that the public got what it wanted and the jury is out on whether they will be satisfied with the results.

It’s just more of Bobby’s hollow rhetoric.

C.B.

1 CB 8:00 am