Perhaps it is time for a quick lesson on how things are really done in government. For starters, you can throw out that civics book and forget those lessons about checks and balances and separation of powers. That’s pure theory with the current administration in Baton Rouge and about as close to reality as those flying pigs you hear about.
Consider for a moment the theory of separation of powers. In what other state else does the governor get to pick the Senate President and Speaker of the House? It’s absurd that the Legislature would sit still for one minute for that kind of power grab.
But wait, let’s back up. We’re talking reality here, so never mind.
LouisianaVoice is going to be offering a new feature during this legislative session, one that we feel our readers will find interesting and enlightening.
We’ve written quite a bit of late about the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and its undue influence on legislators in every state, including Louisiana. ALEC has spent untold millions of dollars in efforts to influence public pension reform, public education reform (some say destruction and they may not be too far off), privatization of state agencies and a laundry list of other so-called reforms.
Louisiana has not been immune from that influence as we shall see in the coming days and weeks.
Nor have our legislators been immune from the influence of our governor. And if you think it is his charisma and his instant recall of facts and figures that help him to pull votes in the legislature, think again.
Oh, there’s no doubt that he is intelligent and it’s a certainty that he can spew statistics and factoids in much the same manner that Mauna Loa spews hot molten lava.
But if you really want to know how he was able, for example, to push his education bills through the House and Senate Education Committees with only token opposition, there’s an old trick to learning his method:
Follow the money.
And that’s what LouisianaVoice is going to be doing as the current legislative session slogs through the current 85-day session.
If those attending the two committee meetings last week got the uneasy feeling that the committee majorities were simply going through the motions, patronizing the witnesses as they spoke out against the bills, the reason was simple: the members’ minds were already made up and were not subject to listening to meaningful debate.
The only ones who did listen were the minority opposition, led in the House committee by Reps. John Bel Edwards (D-Amite) and Patricia Smith (D-Baton Rouge).
It is truly sad when our elected representatives become so condescending of their constituents because, quite simply, money talks and B.S. walks.
And make no mistake: money—$124,700, in fact—ruled the day with the two committees.
Why else would Rep. Nancy Landry (R-Lafayette) offer a motion to require witnesses to state if they were on professional time or on annual or sick leave before being allowed to testify before the House Education Committee? That has never—repeat, never—been done before. Even when committee Chairman Stephen Carter (R-Baton Rouge) ruled that he could not prohibit witnesses from testifying if they refused to say whether or not they were on annual or sick leave, Landry still pushed for a committee vote which, astonishingly enough, passed by a 10-8 vote.
Just so you know, those voting in favor of the amendment were Carter, Landry, Christopher Broadwater (R-Hammond), Henry Burns (R-Haughton), Thomas Carmody (R-Shreveport), Simone Champagne, (R-Erath), Cameron Henry (R-Metairie), Paul Hollis (R-Covington), John Schroder (R-Covington), and Jeff Thompson (R-Bossier City).
Voting against the amendment were Patrick Jefferson (D-Homer), Wesley Bishop (D-N.O.), Edwards, Edward Price (D-Gonzales), Jerome Richard (I-Thibodaux), Rob Shadoin (R-Ruston), Patricia Smith and Alfred Williams (D-Baton Rouge).
Each committee considered virtually identical bills. HB 976 by Carter, and SB 597 by Sen. Conrad Appel of Metairie both dealt with vouchers and the expansion of state aid for students to attend private schools.
HB 974 and SB 603 by the same two legislators, respectively, would make teacher tenure more difficult to obtain and to retain.
HB 974 was approved by a 13-5 vote and HB 976 sailed through with a 12-6 vote. Richard voted against HB 976 but in favor of HB 974.
Others voting favorably on both bills were Carter, Jefferson, Broadwater, Burns, Carmody, Champagne, Henry, Hollis, Landry, Schroder, Shadoin and Thompson.
Voting against both bills in the House Committee were Bishop, Edwards, Price, Richard, Smith, and Williams.
In the Senate Education Committee, SB 597 was approved by a 5-1 vote with Sen. Elbert Guillory (D-Opelousas) not voting. SB 603 was approved by a 6-1 vote with Sen. Eric LaFleur (D-Ville Platte) casting the lone no vote on each bill.
Others voting for the two Senate bills were Sens. Dan Claitor (R-Baton Rouge), Jack Donahue (R-Mandeville), Mike Walsworth (R-West Monroe) and Bodi White (R-Central).
LouisianaVoice has already written about the long list of corporations that are members of ALEC and their campaign money was in evidence in the votes in both committees.
But even more interesting, Gov. Bobby Jindal’s money, with only a couple of exceptions, was even more evident in the voting results.
In all, 13 members of the two committees received $124,700 in campaign contributions from ALEC corporate members or Jindal—or both.
Here’s the breakdown of campaign contributions to members of the Senate Education Committee with the amount followed by the source of the contribution(s):
• Conrad Appel—$2500 from Jindal;
• Dan Claitor—$2500 from Jindal;
• Jack Donahue—$2500 from Jindal;
• Mike Walsworth—$9,000 from ALEC member corporations, $2500 from Jindal;
• Elbert Guillory—$45,200 from ALEC member corporations, $7500 from Jindal.
Additionally, Walsworth attended ALEC’s national convention in New Orleans last August with ALEC picking up the tab for his cost of nearly $1500.
On the House side, eight Education Committee members received the following campaign contributions:
• Carter—$2500 from Jindal;
• Broadwater—$5000 from Jindal;
• Burns—$5000 from Jindal;
• Carmody—$1500 from ALEC member corporation;
• Champagne—$16,000 from ALEC member corporations, $2500 from Jindal;
• Henry—$2500 from Jindal;
• Landry—$2500 from Jindal;
• Schroder—$2000 from ALEC member corporation, $2500 from Jindal.
Besides accepting the contributions, two senators and five House members are members of ALEC. Those include Walsworth and White in the Senate and Carmody, Champagne, Henry, Schroder and Richard in the House.
Richard was the only one of the five House members vote against requiring teachers testifying before the committee to divulge if they were on annual or sick leave and he also was the only one of the five to vote no on HB 976 but he voted in favor of HB 974.
That can turn a lot of deaf ears to opposition and elicit key favorable votes.
None of those voting against either of the bills in either committee received campaign funds from ALEC corporate members or Jindal.
That’s the reality of civics.
Another reality is that we are going to be doing this on key votes on public pension reform, the privatization of the Office of Group Benefits, the sale of state prisons, Medicaid, and any and all other controversial issues being pushed by the Jindal administration.
Follow the money.
Is this vote buying?
1. How can such blatant corruption be legal?
2. How can the citizens of Louisiana allow such blatant corruption?
3. WTH is going on in America?
This is what happens when Republicans are in power.
Nail driving can be such fun!
The sell-out is so blatant that one is forced to conclude that Louisiana is, in fact, no better than a Bannana Republic. This is what happens when a majority of eligible voters don’t bother going to the polls to vote.
The volume of digging you did to get to these disclosures must be well regarded. Keep up the excellent work.
I don’t know if it’s vote buying, but anyone who says sizable donations don’t influence their decision-making is being less than truthful. That said, I don’t know that it’s Jindal’s monetary capital so much as it is his political capital that is influencing many of these legislators. The governor’s on a mission and they’re concerned about what disagreeing with his “my-way-or-the-highway” approach will do to their own agendas.
The education of a just society is not even a factor with these self-serving, incompetent, faux public servants.
It is so CORRUPT in Louisiana! I knew everyone was bought out and I am sure the local media, KATC and Daily Iberian have been bought out as well. I have left several comments on those sites and they go ignored but they bash the public school teachers and support Jindal. Look into that money as well. I’m sure you will locate some. In the end EVERYTHING is about money in this state. It has nothing to do with better education. The goal is to terminate all teachers and hire people, not teachers, from TeachAmerica for about $12,000 less. These individuals do not hold a certification or any experience teaching but they come at a cheap rate. I fear for this state in the years to come. Bobby Jindal, after this mess, will NEVER get his presidential nomination. The Democratic Party has so much dirt they can shut him down before he makes it to his first campaign speech.
Instead of spewing poorly written vitriol, perhaps you should all open your eyes and realize that the current system is broken. It’s broken to the point of ridiculousness, and the only viable option is complete overhaul.
http://lagop.com/2012/03/its-time-to-clean-up-the-mess/
http://thehayride.com/2012/03/what-do-dems-do-when-they-lose-in-the-democratic-process-flip-the-governor-off-and-recall-him/
http://www.nctq.org/stpy11Home.do
http://teachersunionexposed.com/state.cfm?state=LA
Also, if you really want to “follow the money”, here are some numbers that may raise a few eyebrows:
http://teachersunionexposed.com/unionContributions.cfm?contributor=LOUISIANA%20ASSOCIATION%20OF%20EDUCATORS
http://teachersunionexposed.com/unionContributions.cfm?contributor=LOUISIANA%20FEDERATION%20OF%20TEACHERS
http://teachersunionexposed.com/unionContributions.cfm?contributor=UNITED%20TEACHERS%20OF%20NEW%20ORLEANS
Please explain to me, Jon, how shuffling kids from one school to another actually fixes the system? Explain to me also from whence all these new fantastic teachers are going to come? Is the belief really that if you change a few job rules that the mediocre will miraculously become the inspired?
Nothing in this proposed legislation addresses systemic problems that will result in improved educational outcomes for ALL children.
Lest I be accused of not having my own suggestions: I say increased community “ownership” and investment in the public schools WILL improve overall educational outcomes. Do away with the economic segregation of private vs. public. Besides, averages being what they are, the process simply of moving high achieving students from private schools back into the public schools will result in overall improved average schools, eh? And if your upper middle class–those who have the economic means to segregate their kids into the private schools–now becomes a stakeholder in the public school system, just possibly, the political clout to effect change will follow.
The system may be broken and change may be necessary, but that change must begin with the disingenuous politicians in Louisiana that do not have a realistic clue of how to effect meaningful change. First and foremost, lining their pockets for political favors must not come before the interests of the children they are compelled to serve. A governor, Bobby Jindal, who has an extremely poor record in supervising those delegated to improve student achievement, has not demonstrated he is capable of meeting the needs of all children in this regard. Moreover, he has demonstrated a clear lack of vision in selling former public schools to charter schools interests, many of which have failed horrifically at improving student achievement and, in fact, have taken once marginally satisfactory schools and driven test scores to record lows. If his purported vision for education reform is anything like his record at the former public schools — Prescott Middle School, Crestworth Middle School, et al in the East Baton Rouge Parish School System where he attended public school — then education in Louisiana is doomed to continuing mediocrity as the governor can ONLY be considered mediocre at best. If instead his vision is the result of his national political ambition which appears more likely, then don’t introduce the fake that you want “one chance to get it right” for the needs of ALL children as that is a complete falsehood. Sounds like good politics but look to his under-performing record in his charter school failures and ask yourself did his oversight of his cronies help student achievement? More likely one will discover the epitome of political corruption that is the Jindal legacy. This corrupt politician is not likely to effect meaningful change in education reform.
Why is anyone surprised? The people who really should be in elected office don’t get involved because of the corruption and selling of soul. Our democracy is going down the tubes and no one seems to care.
Without God fearing leaders this is what we get. I pray they all remember one thing, Don’t rob a poor man because he is poor, and don’t crush the oppressed at the gate, for the Lord will take up their case and will plunder those who plunder them. (Proverbs 22:22-23).. What goes around come around!!!!!!!!!
For comments that this is what happens when Republicans are in charge: what do you think the Democrats and our president did with healthcare bill? This is just what politics have become unfortunately. My husband actually attended the senate hearing and was angered by the way the senators behaved. This is what happens when elected officials only worry about their pockets being lined instead of the people that elected them. God help us all.
It is noteworthy that Jindal can espouse garbage about his record almost verbatim and without significant opposition in the legislature, but has convenient amnesia about his record regarding his charter school successes in East Baton Rouge Parish and the surrounding areas. If my recall is correct, under his watchful eye and delegated authority, his crony (Paul Pastorek, former State Superintendent of Education) took six or so public schools and made them charter schools. Those schools, formerly known as Prescott Middle School, Crestworth Middle School, Kennilworth Middle School, Glen Oaks Middle School, Capitol High School and Pointe Coupee Central High School all were deemed academically unacceptable and accordingly taken from the respective professional school districts and essentially sold to businesses whose expertise in improving student achievement could be described as nebulous, at best. Most egregious in the takeover targets was the former Prescott Middle School, which had exceeded the minimum School Performance Score of 60 at that time. The acquiring entity, Advance Baton Rouge, took something that was marginally satisfactory and made it grossly unsatisfactory! Despite this repugnant record of declining test scores which was repeated at the other named schools to some greater or lesser degree, not much press is given to Jindal’s unequivocal record in improving student achievement, which he cites on television no less as his impetus for school reform. These schools at their time of acquisition likely would have received an “F” under the letter grading scale recently enacted for public schools. Is there a grade less than “F” that can currently be assigned to these charter school entities which were the clear vision of an under-performing governor under his purportedly astute and watchful eye? A governor who has a clear record of running student achievement to record lows proposes sweeping change in education on a statewide basis is a mockery that could only happen in a state like Louisiana!! As alluded to in the article to which I reply, the legislative grasp of the enormity of the amount of graft, corruption and self-serving ideology is quite evident to all but a few equally corrupt, primarily Republican men and women who are bought and paid for and comprise the legislative bodies of the State of Louisiana. Only in Louisiana!
“Elbert Guillory—$45,200 from ALEC member corporations, $7500 from Jindal”.–and some Republicans are rejoicing that Senator Guillory joined their ranks. Couldn’t resist saying…doesn’t take rocket science.