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How much is enough, Governor? How much is enough? Does your insatiable greed for more money know no boundaries?

Posted in BESE, Campaign Contributions, Economy, Governor's Office on October 26, 2011| 5 Comments »

The question of the day has to be: How much is enough?

The election is over. Bobby Jindal won in a cakewalk—just as every pundit said he would. It was, after all, a no-brainer. He had somewhere in the neighborhood of $9 million to $10 million with which to literally overwhelm and obliterate a Don Quixote-type opponent who had all of $50,000.

There’s no way on earth Jindal could have spent all that money, even with the $2,500 in financial support he gave to each of 86 legislative candidates (54 of whom were unopposed) and the $5,000 to each of five candidates for the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE).

We repeat. No freaking way.

If he did go through that money, can Louisiana really afford to have this guy keeping watch over the state’s financial interests?

But wait. An email sent out by unnamed supporters is announcing yet another fundraiser.

To quote Oliver Twist, Jindal is now saying, “Please, sir, I want some more.”

Holy mother of all fundraisers. The man wants more.

The email says:

“A fundraiser for recently re-elected Governor Bobby Jindal will be held at the L’Auberge du Lac Resort on Wednesday, November 2 from 11:30 to 1:00 in the Embers Restaurant.”

(We can only assume that’s from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.)

It goes on:

“Participants will meet with Governor Jindal to discuss economic and leadership plans to move the state forward. Promoting all aspects of economic development are key components of the Governor’s goals. Governor Jindal will address the LASIE (Louisiana Association of Self Insured Employers) Conference from 1:15 to 2:15.

To put things into perspective and to illustrate to whom the governor is cozying up, consider this: if a business can afford to be self-insured, it’s not your basic mom and pop corner grocery. These are major players–corporations like AT&T, Entergy, Exxon Mobil, Dow Chemical, and the like. That’s not to say these corporations are participating, but companies of that caliber certainly are.

The email continues:

“See the attached draft invitation for details.”

There was no attachment to the email, but the rest of the email contained the real zinger:

“Please consider being a Gold ($5,000) or Silver ($2,500) sponsor. There is still time to add your company’s name. Call 225-338-0705 with questions.”

So, how much influence do you think your little $25, $50 or $100 contribution will have with the governor if your interests and the interests of one of these heavy hitters should happen to conflict?

Remember, this is the same governor who boasted only a few short months ago that the majority of his donors were from supporters giving $100 or less.

But that was then. This is now.

Note, too, that Jindal, with his political smarts, waited until after the election to hold a fundraiser of this magnitude in Louisiana.

It’s a safe bet, however, that all those out-of-state fundraisers over the last couple of years attracted the same kind of corporate money.

If you’re still not convinced, just be sure to check out the legislative bills introduced during Jindal’s second term and follow the money back to these same corporate donors.

Again, the question of the day: how much is enough?

Does your greed know no limits?

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Jindal raises the ante: his candidate contribution list

Posted in BESE, Campaign Contributions, Education, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators on October 21, 2011| 3 Comments »

Gov. Bobby Jindal over the past year made multiple out-of-state fundraising trips to ensure that his own re-election campaign didn’t suffer the same financial dilemma as the state he was supposed to be running.

To that end, he has to be considered an unqualified success. He amassed some $10 million for his campaign that, barring an upset of monumental proportions, has attracted only token opposition.

Jindal must be given due credit. That he was able to attract so much money for his campaign at the same time the state was drowning in red ink is truly remarkable.

He couldn’t, after all, sell state prisons or the Office of Group Benefits (OGB) to finance his campaign but he could certain attract cash in large chunks from adoring benefactors in such remote reaches as Wisconsin, California, Florida, New Hampshire, New York, and Ohio—places with such an obvious stake in the outcome of a Louisiana gubernatorial election.

But, hey, that’s ancient history, right? All that hard work paid off. He’s a lock for re-election. The loss of a few public school teacher jobs is just collateral damage. The fact that health care premiums are going to cost more for fewer benefits after the privatization of OGB—along with about 150 OGB employees who will lose their jobs—is just one of those unfortunate things. When those three prisons are ultimately sold and the state prison guards who work there are forced to take drastic pay cuts, the election will be long past and no one will even notice, right?

Right? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?

But we digress. The point of all this banter is to illustrate how serious Jindal really is taking this election, his own cakewalk notwithstanding.

His campaign has shoveled money into 93 separate legislative races, 49 in which his candidate is unopposed.

That’s right: $2,500 each to 49 hand-picked candidates ($122,500 total) who didn’t even draw opposition.

Even more interestingly, he dumped $2,500 each into the campaigns of nine ($22,500 total) legislative candidates all on the same day—Sept. 19, a full 11 days after it was apparent they would have no opposition. The others got their blood money well in advance of the qualifying deadline of Sept. 8.

Most of those 49, of course, were incumbents but some were somewhat surprising at first but on reflection, probably made perfect sense to the governor.

But the most significant contributions from the Jindal campaign coffers went to candidates for five of the eight seats on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Those five candidates, including one currently holding a $16 million contract with the state, received $5,000 each—double what the individual legislative candidates received.

That should illustrate just how much importance Jindal places on those races. It is the current BESE membership, after all, that has blocked his attempts to appoint John White as State Superintendent of Education. White was brought in (from New York) to replace Paul Vallas of Chicago as Superintendent of the Recovery School District (RSD). Only a few weeks after White’s appointment to head RSD, Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek resigned (some say he was forced out) and Jindal immediately moved to place White in that position, only to be thwarted by BESE. Now he wants revenge and he wants his way.

Of the three races in which he did not place bets, one candidate, DeSoto Parish Superintendent of Schools Walter Lee, is unopposed in District 4 which includes the parishes of Caddo, Bossier, Webster, Bienville, DeSoto, Red River, Winn, Natchitoches, Sabine and Vernon. The remaining two apparently are considered as lost causes. They are District 2 (all or parts of the parishes of Assumption, St. James, St. John, St. Charles, Jefferson, and Orleans), and District 8 (all of the parishes of East and West Baton Rouge Parish, Avoyelles, East and West Feliciana, St. Landry, Pointe Coupee, Lafayette, St. Martin, Iberville, and Ascension), in which no incumbent is running but three of the candidates are Democrat and a fourth is No Party.

In District 1, comprised of St. Tammany and parts of Jefferson and Orleans parishes, Jindal has tossed $5,000 to incumbent Jim Garvey of Metairie who is opposed by fellow Republican Sharon Hewitt of Slidell.

In District 3, Jindal is supporting another incumbent, Glenny Lee C. Buquet of Houma. She is opposed by Lottie Polozola Beebe of Breaux Bridge. Both candidates are women but what makes Jindal’s endorsement unusual here is that his candidate, Buquet, is a Democrat while her opponent is Republican.

Keith Guice, a Monroe Democrat, is the incumbent in BESE District 5 and Jindal is going after that seat. He kicked in $5,000 for his Republican challenger, Jay Guillot of Ruston.

Guillot is a partner in the multi-disciplined engineering firm of Hunt, Guillot and Associates (HGA) that has contracts with the state totaling nearly $17 million. A single contract in the amount of $16 million calls for the firm to manage grants for infrastructure “and other projects undertaken as a result of damages incurred as a result of hurricanes Katrina and Rita and to a lesser extent as a result of hurricanes Gustav and Ike,” according to the contract description provided by the Division of Administration.

Guillot has said if elected, he will request an opinion from the State Ethics Board on the propriety of his serving on the board while contracting with the state. The question of why he would wait until after the election remains puzzling since that avenue has always been available without having to wait for the results of an election.

The most high-profile and perhaps most controversial BESE candidate is incumbent Chas Roemer, a Baton Rouge Republican in District 6. He is being opposed by fellow Republican Elizabeth Meyers of Denham Springs and Democrat Donald Songy of Prairieville and Jindal has cast his lot—and another $5,000—with Roemer.

What makes this particular race controversial is Roemer’s sister, Caroline Roemer Shirley. Ms. Shirley is executive director of the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools and Chas Roemer has consistently voted on matters concerning charter schools and which directly benefit his sister’s organization. In some instances, Chas Roemer has even made or seconded motions on actions involving charter schools in which his sister has a vested interest.

The State Ethics Board has even issued a ruling that Ms. Shirley may not appear before BESE on matters involving charter schools because of her brother’s membership on the board. The ethics board also has ruled that she may not even communicate with BESE members on matters involving charter schools for that same reason.

This obvious ethics question apparently causes little or no concern to “the most ethical administration in America,” the administration that is “accountable and transparent.”

In BESE District 7, Jindal has taken aim on another incumbent, Republican Dale Bayard of Lake Charles. Instead, the governor is backing challenger Holly Boffy, a Youngsville Republican.

The nine unopposed legislative (eight House and one Senate) candidates to whom Jindal contributed $2,500 each more than a week after the close of qualifying included:

• Stuart Bishop of Lafayette (House District 43);
• Walt Leger, III of New Orleans (House District 91);
• J. Rogers Pope of Denham Springs (House District 71);
• Hunter Greene of Baton Rouge (House District 66);
• Eddie Lambert of Gonzales (House District 59);
• Jared Brossett of New Orleans (House District 97);
• Mickey Guillory of Eunice (House District 41);
• Helena Moreno of New Orleans (House District 93);
• Sharon Weston Broome of Baton Rouge (Senate District 15).

All but Bishop are incumbents and five of the nine (Leger, Brossett, Guillory, Moreno and Broome) are Democrats.

Why would Jindal sink $12,500 into the campaigns of five unopposed Democrats?

Possibly….no, definitely to build a consensus for his political agenda. Call it quid pro quo. A Democrat indebted to a Republican governor when a key bill comes up for a vote. What could be sweeter?

Other unopposed legislative candidates to whom Jindal contributed $2,500 each but prior to the qualification deadline included Republicans:

• Gordy Dove of Houma (House District 52);
• Page Cortez of Lafayette (Senate District 23);
• Dan Morrish of Lake Charles (Senate District 25);
• Steve Carter of Baton Rouge (House District 68);
• Jody Amadee of Gonzales (Senate District 18);
• Tom Willmott of Kenner (House District 92);
• Tony Ligi of Metairie (House District 79);
• Frank Howard of Many (House District 24);
• John Alario of Westwego (Senate District 8);
• Charles Chaney of Rayville (House District 19));
• Patrick Connick of Marrero (House District 84);
• Norby Chabert of Chauvin (Senate District 20);
• Neil Riser of Columbia (Senate District 32);
• Craig Hensgens of Geydan (House District 47);
• Mike Walsworth of West Monroe (Senate District 33);
• Mike Huval of Breaux Bridge (House District 46);
• Joseph Harrison of Gray (House District 51);
• Eric Ponti of Baton Rouge (House District 69);
• Charles Kleckley of Lake Charles (House District 36);
• Kirk Talbot of River Ridge (House District 78);
• Joseph Lopinto of Metairie (House District 80);
• Clif Richardson of Baton Rouge (House District 65);
• Ronnie Johns of Sulphur (Senate District 27);
• Taylor Barras of New Iberia (House District 48);
• Johnny Guinn of Jennings (House District 37);
• Cameron Henry of New Orleans (House District 82);
• Henry Burns of Haughton (House District 9);
• Scott Simon of Abita Springs (House District 74);
• Fred Mills of St. Martinville (Senate District 22);
• Brett Geymann of Lake Charles (House District 35);
• Daniel Martiny of Metairie (Senate District 10);
• John Schroder of Covington (House District 77);
• Gerald Long of Winnfield (Senate District 31);
• Kevin Pearson of Slidell (House District 86);
• Conrad Appel of Metairie (Senate District 9).
Unopposed Democrats who received $2,500 from Jindal before qualifying:
• Francis Thompson of Delhi (Senate District 34);
• Girod Jackson of Harvey (House District 87);
• David Heitmeir of New Orleans (Senate District 7);
• Major Thibaut of New Roads (House District 18);
• Mike Danahay of Sulphur (House District 33);
• Jim Fannin of Jonesboro (House District 13).

Republican legislative candidates who received $2,500 contributions from Jindal and who have opposition include:

• A.G. Crowe of Pearl River (Senate District 1);
• Joel Robideaux of Lafayette (House District 45);
• Frank Hoffman of West Monroe (House District 15);
• Garrett Monti of Luling (Senate District 19);
• Kirby Roy of Hessemer (House District 28);
• Steve Pylant of Winnsboro (House District 20);
• Sherman Mack of Albany (House District 95);
• Thomas Carmody of Shreveport (House District 53);
• Barrett Byrd of Alexandria (House District 25);
• Billy Chandler of Dry Prong (House District 22);
• John Smith of Leesville (Senate District 30);
• Dan Claitor of Baton Rouge (Senate District 16);
• Simone Champagne of Jeanerette (House District 49);
• Tim Burns of Mandeville (House District 89);
• Jane Smith of Bossier City (Senate District 37);
• Franklin Foil of Baton Rouge (House District 70);
• Don Menard of Carencro (House District 39);
• Greg Cromer of Slidell (House District 90);
• Sam Little of Bastrop (House District 14);
• Bodi White of Watson (Senate District 6);
• Richard Burford of Stonewall (House District 7);
• Steve Pugh of Ponchatoula (House District 73);
• Joseph Harrison of Gray (House District 51);
• Jim Morris of Oil City (House District 1);
• Jack Donahue of Mandeville (Senate District 11);
• Julie Harrington of Krotz Springs (House District 38);
• Paul Miller of Ville Platte (Senate District 28);
• Bob Kostelka of Monroe (Senate District 35);
• Fenn French of New Orleans (House District 98);
• Nancy Landry of Lafayette (Senate District 26);
• Alan Seabaugh of Shreveport (House District 5);

Democratic legislative candidates who received $2,500 contributions from Jindal and who have opposition include:

• Elbert Guillory of Opelousas (Senate District 24);
• Karen St. Germain of Pierre Part (House District 60);
• Andy Anders of Vidalia (House District 21);
• Rick Gallot of Ruston (Senate District 29);
• Rick Ward of Port Allen (Senate District 17);

One thing each of those 93 legislative candidates and five BESE candidates–and every voter–might want to keep in the back of their minds as regards all those contributions:

Bobby Jindal considers those payments as nothing more than an investment–an investment in commodities and the recipients of those donations are the commodities on which he expects high–very high–returns.

So much for the myth of an independent legislature.

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Notable Quotables (in their own words)

Posted in Economy, Governor's Office, Grant, Grants, Notable Quotables, Transparency on October 20, 2011| 2 Comments »

“Your decision not to even compete for these funds is one that will have a negative impact on thousands of children in our state. I hope your reasons for failing to apply for these funds are strong enough to justify these consequences.”

—U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, in letter to Gov. Bobby Jindal.

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Jindal turns his back on public education….again

Posted in Education, Governor's Office, Grant, Grants, Transparency on October 20, 2011| 3 Comments »

If further proof of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s utter disdain and contempt for public education in Louisiana were needed, then his refusal to apply for a federal grant of up to $60 million in early childhood education funding for the state should lay all arguments to the contrary to rest.

We have already seen Jindal jerk away $147 million of the state’s share of the $10 billion Education Jobs Fund after local school systems had already plugged the funds into their budgets. The result was massive teacher layoffs all across the state.

Let’s face it, the man is not only shameless, but he is more arrogant than any governor in recent memory—Fast Eddie included.

U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu was more likely outraged and disgusted at Jindal’s decision but chose to use the words “disappointed and concerned” in an effort to exhibit some semblance of political protocol.

If you think we’re being a bit harsh on the governor, consider this:

Jindal’s administration announced earlier this week that it would not seek the grant money because, he said, the state’s system for early childhood education is inefficient and mired in bureaucracy and that the grant would not help to address children’s needs because it is one-time money for ongoing programs.

What? He objected because it was one-time money for ongoing programs? What the hell does he call selling off three prisons if it’s not one-time money to address ongoing budget issues?

What in the name of transparency and accountability does he call selling the Office of Group Benefits? By selling that agency, he is perfectly willing—and determined, we might add—to sacrifice an efficient agency that provides medical coverage for state employees in exchange for, what was it again? Oh, yes, one-time money.

Insofar as inefficiency and bureaucracy in the state’s early childhood education system, whose fault is that? The man has completely revamped the Department of Education to his tastes and political ambitions through his former superintendent Paul Pastrorek. On the one hand, Jindal would have us believe that his Recovery School District (RSD) is a model of efficiency and the star in his crown while on the other hand, there is only chaos, confusion and waste in the Department of Education.

That may well be the case but if his administration has done so much to make RSD so great, why hasn’t he been able to cut through the inefficiency and bureaucracy in the department itself? Here’s why:

He doesn’t give a rat’s behind about public education. In fact, Jindal’s two driving ambitions are the privatization of every facet of state government and to completely dismantle public education in Louisiana in favor of for-profit charter schools.

Jindal spokesman Kyle Plotkin, one of his out-of-state appointees, tried to explain the rationale behind the decision. You may want to sit down and take a deep breath before you try to decipher this gooney babble:

“We need to streamline the governance structure, funding streams and quality standards in our early childhood system.”

What?

The grant, of course, would only muddle things more by reducing flexibility and adding another layer of micromanagement and regulatory obstacles, he added.

Does anyone comprehend that gibberish?

Micromanagement? Folks, this administration is the very personification of the word. They love it. They live it.

Landrieu said the decision was “puzzling.” Did she possibly mean to say that Jindal’s proctologist is the only one who could find his head?

Plotkin said three separate departments had done a thorough analysis of the grant and determined that it was “the exact opposite approach our state should take to help our kids.”

Wait. What? Applying for a $60 million grant for early childhood education is the opposite approach the state should take to help kids? What kind of convoluted reasoning is that?

Fully one-third of the children in this state are living in poverty and early childhood education is the opposite approach needed to help them as determined by three separate agencies?

To paraphrase one of our favorite authors, “What demon agency in hell could ever come up with this logic?”

Have you ever wondered why Tara Hollis got into the governor’s race in the first place? She’s a public school teacher, as was her husband. She was perfectly content in that role until her husband and several of their fellow teachers lost their jobs in those massive statewide teacher layoffs.

Sure, Jindal is going to win in the first primary. That’s a given.

But hey, wouldn’t it be great if he were sent a little message? What if the golden boy barely squeaks by Saturday?

Well, at least we can dream. A surprising number of protest votes could send the message that not everyone wants to drink the Kool-Aid.

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Fundraiser Jindal also serves as benefactor to political allies

Posted in BESE, Campaign Contributions, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Transparency on October 19, 2011| 4 Comments »

It seems that Gov. Bobby Jindal is not only skilled at raising money for what appears to be a re-election cakewalk but he also appears to be quite generous in doling out some of that campaign cash to other candidates.

Over the past 12 months, Jindal has written checks totaling $285,000 to 102 candidates for the legislature, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), and to a sitting legislator who is running for parish tax assessor.

It is one thing for a governor to award supporters in the legislature with key committee assignments through a friendly House speaker and Senate president but quite another to spread cash around in an effort to secure support for his programs.

Some of those candidates are running for BESE and Jindal’s agenda for education is every bit as ambitious as any other area of government. Heading his to-do list for education is his appointment of John White as State Superintendent of Education to succeed the departed John Pastorek. BESE has thus far blocked those efforts.

Some might even say it is a not-so-subtle form of vote buying. It’s a bit more sophisticated than passing out five dollar bills to voters before hauling them to the polls, but still an obvious back-door effort to consolidate his power base.

So, what’s so terribly wrong with a sitting governor who is a virtual lock to be re-elected providing assistance to candidates politically aligned with him?

For one thing, some of those to whom he has contributed are not necessary his political allies. A few are (gasp) Democrats. Granted, some of those may be Democrats on whom he may be able to count in a pinch.

Perhaps that is why certain other Democratic legislators running for re-election are noticeably absent from Jindal’s list of recipients; he can’t count on their support.

But consider this:

Donor John Doe gives Jindal a donation for his gubernatorial campaign. Jindal then gives $2,500 to Candidate A who is running against Candidate B for either the legislature or for a coveted BESE seat. But it turns out that donor John Doe is a personal friend and avid supporter of Candidate B.

If donor John Doe is a major Jindal contributor of say, $1,000, $2,500 or $5,000, it could create what Johnny Carson used to call a sticky wicket–especially if donor John Doe also contributed to Candidate B and now feels that contribution has been negated, perhaps with his own money.

Jindal, of course, is free to spend campaign donations for any political purpose he deems worthy. In theory, at least, donations are supposed to be free of any strings or conditions. But we know how that works.

One of the more high-profile recipients is BESE member Chas Roemer, son of former Gov. Buddy Roemer and brother of Caroline Roemer Shirley, executive director of the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools.

Jindal made identical $2,500 contributions to Chas Roemer about three weeks apart—on Aug. 15 and on September 6.

Chas Roemer consistently votes on matters involving charter schools that come before the board despite an apparent conflict of interest because of his sister’s position. The Louisiana Board of Ethics has, in fact, issued a ruling that Ms. Shirley is not allowed to appear before the board on matters involving charter schools because of her brother’s membership on the board. The ethics board also has ruled that she should not even communicate with BESE members on matters involving charter schools for that same reason.

Jindal also contributed $5,000 to the campaign of Jay Guillot of Ruston.

Guillot, who is seeking a BESE seat, is a partner in the multi-disciplined engineering firm of Hunt, Guillot and Associates (HGA) that has contracts with the state totaling almost $17 million.

The largest of those, for $16 million, calls for the firm to manage grants for infrastructure “and other projects undertaken as a result of damages incurred as a result of hurricanes Katrina and Rita and to a lesser extent as a result of hurricanes Gustav and Ike,” according to the contract description provided by the Division of Administration.

Jindal also wrote campaign donation checks of $2,500 each to Democrats Jim Fannin of Jonesboro, Rick Gallot of Ruston, Francis Thompson of Delhi, and Sharon Weston Broome of Baton Rouge. Fannin is Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, which may explain that contribution. Donations to the others would have to be investments in future key legislative committee and floor votes.

He also wrote a $2,500 check back on July 29 to the campaign of State Rep. John Schroder (R-Abita Springs). Schroder, it may be remembered, authored a number of bills in 2010 that would have abolished the State Civil Service Board, the state civil service system, and would have given the legislature final authority on which classified (civil service) employees–if any–would receive merit pay increases.

Schroder did not make a similar effort this year, possibly because it is an election year, but some observers feel he will renew those efforts in next spring’s legislative session.

The most curious contribution, however, was the $2,500 donation Jindal made to the campaign of State Rep. M.J. “Mert” Smiley (R-St. Amant) on Aug. 2. Smiley is not seeking re-election but instead is running for Ascension Parish tax assessor.

It was Smiley who, during testimony about the mass exodus of employees of the Office of Risk Management in the wake of that agency’s privatization, asked if there was not some regulation in place that would prevent employees from leaving for employment elsewhere. “Isn’t there some way you can make them stay?” he asked.

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