Louisiana Voice

U.S. Sen. David Vitter may not show up for debates and he may not submit to unscripted press conferences, but that doesn’t mean he won’t seek out the opportunity to rub shoulders with well-heeled lobbyists representing more than 1,000 businesses, organizations and other vested interests in Louisiana.

In what political historian Robert Mann calls “the most blatant, breathtaking pay-to-play message I have ever seen in politics,” Vitter, through a front man, unabashedly puts the muscle on lobbyists for the maximum $5,000 each in campaign contributions. http://bobmannblog.com/2015/10/21/sen-david-vitters-blatant-pay-to-play-scheme/

And Mann has worked for three U.S. senators and a Louisiana governor, so he knows political coercion when he sees it.

It’s understandable that Vitter doesn’t want to address uncomfortable questions, i.e. did he ever solicit prostitution for pay? It turns out the family values candidate, who was highly critical of President Bill Clinton’s tryst with Monica Lewinski (and we by no means defend that behavior) in a 1998 New Orleans Times-Picayune op-ed piece, had his own fling with a couple of hookers while serving in the U.S. Senate.

It’s understandable but not acceptable. Senator, you answer for your actions, good, bad or indifferent. You can run but you can’t hide. If you are elected, you will be under this shadow and it will haunt you throughout your entire term of office, be it four or eight years. You said Clinton could not govern effectively after what he did. How can you?

But, as is our wont, I digress.

There are no fewer than 800 registered lobbyists that prowl the halls of the Louisiana Capitol, buttonholing senator, representatives, and governors.

They represent about 1,100 clients, including payday loan companies, utility companies, oil companies, insurance companies, the National Football League, the New Orleans Saints, the New Orleans Pelicans, professional firefighters, sheriffs, municipalities, and the Association of Louisiana Bail Underwriters and countless associations, organizations, and services.

A partial list:

• AT&T, AT&T Louisiana, AT&T Louisiana and its Subsidiaries, AT&T Telecommunications, AT&T, Inc. and its Affiliates;
• CLECO Corp., CLECO Power, CLECO Power, LLC;
• Entergy, Entergy Corp., Entergy Louisiana, Entergy Services, Inc.;
• Louisiana Energy and Power Authority, Louisiana Energy Users Group;
• Louisiana Family Forum, Louisiana Family Forum Action;
• Louisiana Farm Bureau, Louisiana Farm Bureau Insurance Group;
• Louisiana Federal of Teachers, Louisiana Federation of Teachers and School Employees;
• Louisiana Housing Alliance, Louisiana Housing Council;
• Louisiana Oil & Gas, Louisiana Oil Marketers and Convenience Store Association, Louisiana Oilfield Contractors Association;
• Ochsner Clinic Foundation, Ochsner Health System;
• Pelican Bingo, Pelican Gaming;
• State Farm Insurance Co., State Farm Insurance Companies, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company;

You get the picture.

So, what does all this have to do with David Vitter?

Simply this: Vitter spokesman Jimmy Burland, a Baton Rouge attorney and lobbyist, sent out an email blast to “the Louisiana Lobbyist Community” in which he announced that Vitter and wife Windy would be hosting receptions across Louisiana immediately after Saturday’s primary “and we hope you can attend and bring a check.” (Emphasis ours).

Mann was right. That’s pretty blatant and more than a little heavy-handed and it sends a clear message to lobbyists to be ready to play ball if they want special favors from a Vitter administration.

Okay, we know this kind of thing goes on all the time but at least most politicians have the good sense to be a little more subtle about blackmailing potential contributors.

The schedule for the receptions:

• Sunday, Oct. 25: brunch at Andrea’s Restaurant in Metairie;
• Monday, Oct. 26: luncheon at Juban’s Restaurant in Baton Rouge, followed by a reception at a Lake Charles site to be announced at 3 p.m. and a 6 p.m. reception at Café Vermilionville in Lafayette;
• Tuesday, Oct. 27: breakfast at Brocato’s in Alexandria at 8 a.m., followed by an 11:30 a.m. luncheon at Ristorante Giuseppe in Shreveport and a 5 p.m. reception in Monroe.

And, as if that is not enough: “Additionally, we have set a lobbyist fund-raising meeting for Friday, Oct. 29 in Baton Rouge (time and place to be announced) and urge you to attend,” Burland wrote.

That must be to catch all the strays and stragglers.

Perhaps the most irony-filled statement in the entire email was when Burland wrote, “…David has spent much of his money fighting eight SuperPACs (sic) and opponents, and he has asked his most ardent donors to re-up for the runoff campaign immediately at the maximum contribution amount.” (Emphasis ours.)

Spent much of his money fighting eight Super PACs? Wow, what unmitigated hypocrisy. The Fund for Louisiana’s Future, a Super PAC set up by a Vitter colleague and into which Vitter poured in a quarter-million dollars of his own money, has launched an unmerciful distortion and lies-filled attack against his two Republican opponents. (Presumably, he will do the same against Democrat John Bel Edwards, expected by most experts to face Vitter in the November general election.)

The biggest lies are that Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne had a “European birthday bash” at the expense of Louisiana taxpayers and that Dardenne voted himself lifetime health benefits. The trips were to boost tourism in Louisiana and he was not even a member of the health benefits system when the vote was taken. Moreover, Dardenne led a delegation that convinced then-Gov. Kathleen Blanco to veto a bill that would have given legislators the benefits.

To be perfectly candid, there is no excuse for this kind of character assassination in any political campaign. Unfortunately, there always have been and will always be candidates like Vitter who know no boundaries of decency.

Florida Sen. George Smathers was said to have accused opponent Congressman Claude Pepper of “matriculating” in college, having a brother who was a “known homo sapien,” his sister “a practicing thespian,” and that he and his wife practiced “celibacy before marriage.” Earl Long once called an opponent “catfish mouth” and said another opponent once fell into a hog pen and when passersby commented that one could be judged by the company he kept, the hogs left.

Those kinds of comments are funny and in the long run, harmless.

But Vitter’s attacks are way over the top. He even propped his wife up in front of the TV cameras to tell us her husband has given his pension back to Congress. Interesting, since he hasn’t even qualified for a pension. He’s 54 and he would not qualify for his $74,000 per year pension until he reaches age 62.

We can barely wait to see what kind of sordid, tasteless, lies and distortions he will unleash should he and Edwards face one another in the runoff election.

LouisianaVoice attempted to contact Burland by telephone and email but we never heard back from him. Here is our email:

Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 5:35 PM

To: ‘jimmy@burland.org’ <jimmy@burland.org>

Subject: LOBBYIST SOLICITATION

Mr. Burland: Below is a copy of an email to “the Louisiana Lobbyist Community” dated yesterday, Oct. 20.

My question is this: Do you consider this a proper solicitation of contributions when the implication is clear that the lobbyists better play ball or not expect any help from “Gov. Vitter”?

This has the appearance of extortion at worst or coercion at best. I would be interested in your explanation and will publish your response in full.

Tom Aswell

LouisianaVoice

There was the usual disclaimer at the end of Burland’s email:

“This email is intended to reach certain state registered Louisiana lobbyists only. If this email has been sent to you in error, either as a prohibited recipient, public servant or foreign national, please disregard this message and delete it from your mailbox immediately as it was not intended for your viewing or use.”

I’ll bet.

Well, LouisianaVoice received the email and intended or not, here is the complete text: