Folks, if you believe in what LouisianaVoice is trying to do, please don’t forget our April fundraiser.

It’s imperative that an effective electorate be an informed electorate and that’s where we come in. LouisianaVoice does not track policy-making to a great extent because I’m a one-person operation and to try and monitor every committee meeting, every Senate and House debate and floor vote is simply impossible.

But what I do is to peel back the veneer and look beyond what elected and appointed officials say to see what they actually do. After all, it’s one thing to sit back and pay lip service to equal pay for women, equal justice for all, clean, honest government, and all the wonderful things we were taught about democracy in civics class. It’s quite another to see how those theories are put into practice.

My job is to see how equal treatment for all is disregarded in favor of personal enrichment of our so-called public servants. An individual should never go into public service as a means of increasing his or her own wealth, position and power. After all, the very term public service implies–or should imply–just that: service.

Unfortunately, we have legislators who, instead of listening to their constituents, turn instead to lobbyists for special interests who pour money into their campaigns for advice and direction on important issues. And their interests far too often run counter to ours and taxpayers—women, minorities, teachers, and environmentalists, to name but a few—end up holding the short end of the stick.

Regulators favor big oil, big banks, big pharma, and big everything else with big tax breaks that have to be made up by the middle class. College students end up with back-breaking tuition costs because the legislature has failed to adequately fund higher education. TOPS, intended to ease the burden for families with college-bound kids has instead become a financial windfall for speculators throwing up student housing around college campuses.

LouisianaVoice revealed the abuses of state regulatory boards like the Board of Dentistry and the Louisiana State Medical Licensing Board. It was here that you read about a dentist who tried to reveal the problems with dental implants that ended up costing the state millions of dollars. But the dentist who tried to warn his bosses had his career ruined by those trying to protect their investment. There is no real protection for whistleblowers.

As evidence by the two stories beneath this plea for contributions—and by earlier stories about the Louisiana State Police (LSP)—law enforcement has been allowed to go unchecked. Abuses have abounded in local sheriffs’ departments across the state and the previous administration at LSP was reappointed by the governor despite ample evidence of mismanagement at the top—just because the sheriffs’ association wanted him reappointed. In hindsight, it’s clear that was a major blunder by our governor—but you know what? We at LouisianaVoice told him so before he ever took office.

When my book Louisiana’s Rogue Sheriffs: A Culture of Corruption is published, you will be disgusted at the manner in which many of our local sheriffs abuse basic civil rights, misuse departmental funds and personnel, and roll roughshod over anyone who gets in their way.

LouisianaVoice took on Bobby Jindal. We showed how he favored contributors with huge contracts. Now it appears that he may be attempting a comeback of sorts. I don’t know whether he plans to return to the governor’s office or some other public office like U.S. Senator, but he keeps churning out those Wall Street Journal op-eds and he’s not doing that for his health.

Please help us to keep telling these stories. They are important and the mainstream media simply is not doing it. Because of budgetary cutbacks by newspapers, real investigative reporting is all but dead and buried.

Please contribute to our efforts by clicking on the yellow DONATE button above the advertisement for my Bobby Jindal book to the right of this post. Or you can mail a check or money order to:

Capital News Service/LouisianaVoice

P.O. Box 922

Denham Springs, Louisiana 70727