Apparently inflation is making it increasingly expensive for lobbyists to corrupt Louisiana legislators. The Public Affairs Research Council (PAR) reports that:
"Rising ticket prices have prompted some legislators to complain about ethics laws that prohibit them from receiving tickets to sporting and cultural events valued above $100 per event (or $500 a year per donor). They complain that the current threshold prevents elected officials from receiving tickets to any but the cheapest seats."
One prominent New Orleans area representative complains about not being able to see the games from there, without it ever occurring to him that maybe he should pay his own way if its that important to him. A local writer suggests that maybe the taxpayers should pay for an eye examination. Another suggests that, given the record of local sports teams, she might prefer having seats with an obstructed view.
PAR, good government group that they are, says that such complaints are totally out of bounds, and no move to relax existing ethics laws should be made. They go so far as to propose "removing the free-ticket exception to bring the state's ethics laws into alignment with more stringent ethics laws around the nation."
In another case of only in Louisiana, Gambit Weekly compares our current Governor, Kathleen Blanco, to her immediate successors:
"The most notable change is in the area of economic development, which is Louisiana's most pressing need. Mike Foster wouldn't leave the Governor's Mansion (or the duck blind) for anything... He took the classical economic theory of laissez-faire to its most illogical extreme, and Louisiana suffered for it. Edwin Edwards' idea of economic development was finding ways to shake down casinos for himself, his family and his friends."
Let us know about similarly wacky adventures by the politicians in your state.
Article comments
1 - Dave Nalle
If corruption dies out in Louisiana our republic cannot be far from its fall.
Dave
2 - NancyGail
GA Republicans took control of Congress when four politicians were convinced to change parties.
Oh dang. You mean politicians are supposed to be on equal footing with the electorate?