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Guest columnist recounts out-of-state money and PAC support going to campaigns of certain BESE candidates

October 23, 2015 by tomaswell

Editor’s note: While the bulk of media attention has been devoted to tomorrow’s race for governor, there are other races to be decided. Not the least of these are the races for eight seats on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. As in the past, a lot of out-of-state-money is being poured into the campaigns of certain board members. Baton Rouge resident Mark Joyce gives us his take on the BESE elections.

Guest Column by Mark A. Joyce

(Special to LouisianaVoice)

In the last month, I have been bombarded by political ads everywhere – radio, television, mailbox, phone. There is plenty of trash talk but not much substance. It would be funny if it not for the fact that this concerns our children’s education – 720,000 students statewide in Louisiana.

There is a tremendous amount of money being spent by outside interests on the BESE election. The question is who and why.

On October 8 it was reported in the Arkansas Times:

As of September 14, 2015, money from two billionaires from Arkansas and one billionaire from California constitutes the principal funding for Lane Grigsby’s efforts to preserve a BESE majority known for supporting charters and vouchers without equally supporting adequate oversight; supporting high-stakes testing without supporting timely, clear, comprehensive reporting of testing results, and for allying with a state superintendent known for hiding and manipulating data, refusing to honor public records requests, and refusing to consistently audit the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE).

On Oct 15, The Baton Rouge Advocate confirmed that this local political-wanna-be had formed a PAC—Empower Louisiana – and was reportedly “spending about $818,000 and has $1.2 million in the bank” and acknowledged that it was funded almost entirely by out-of-state operatives:

  • Alice and Jim Walton, both of Bentonville, Arkansas contributed $400,000
  • Eli Broad, of Los Angeles, donated another $250,000
  • Louisiana Association of Business and Industry donated $40,000

Out-of-state funded PACs are mostly limited to television, radio advertisements and direct mail and that explains all the trash talk on the media.

In the same article, the Advocate mentions the four candidates that are “acceptable” to the PAC: James Garvey, Holly Boffy, Sandy Holloway and Tony Davis. Let’s look at their reported campaign contributions (spent and on-hand) as reported in The Advocate:

  • Garvey – $230,459
  • Boffy – $107,145
  • Holloway – $87,606
  • Davis – $37,581

Almost a $500,000 is being spent for these four candidates to be elected to a school board! Remember, these are unpaid positions.

Let’s look at the locally supported candidates:

  • Lee Barrios – $7,141
  • Mike Kreamer – $15,317
  • Lottie Beebe – $14,209
  • Mary Johnson Harris – $8,810
  • Glynis Johnston – $3,246

That’s not quite $50,000 in funding for the locally supported candidates. That’s a huge difference! The out-of-state money is outspending you and me to the tune of a 10 to 1 advantage. No wonder we are being bombarded!

So, why is an out-of-state funded, political action committee spending over $1 million to buy a school board election in Louisiana and bragging about it in the press. Why do private interests want to control seats on a local school board?

As Tom Aswell would say, “follow the money.” Remember in 2010 when LDOE was sending student data to the politically active Hoover-Institute-run Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO). Our own New Orleans based, Research on Reforms (ROR) filed a lawsuit to discover just what data LDOE had released to CREDO. We learned that detailed, personally identifiable school information was being provided to CREDO by LDOE.  This impacted not only public school children since It turns out that LDOE was also sending quite a bit of detailed data on non-public students, their DOB’s, their teachers, their special education conditions, schools, etc.

Who funds CREDO? The funders are acknowledged on the Hoover Institution’s website:

In partnership with the Walton Family Foundation and Pearson Learning Systems, Raymond is leading a national study of the effectiveness of public charter schools. (Emphasis mine)

The people behind the PAC are the same people (and money) that wanted our kid’s school data. We fought them successfully then. They got their wrists slapped for attempting to gain access to this data for their personal benefit. We told then “NO” once; that should be enough. They could not get our children’s data though LDOE, so instead this time around they are buying candidates and attempting to buy our school board. I do not want these same people on our state school board nor do I want people who are beholden to them.

Even before the CREDO scandal, the Walton’s have tried to press their influence on Louisiana. Greg Penner, married to one of the Walton daughters, is on the National Board of Directors for Teach for America (TFA), and is a director of the Charter Growth Fund, a “non-profit venture capital fund” investing in charter schools. Turns out that Penner, who live in California, donated $10,000 to Kira Orange Jones another BESE member. She is said to have “[run] as the embodiment of post-Katrina reform efforts in New Orleans” reform efforts that have been focused on charter schools and school privatization. TFA still has a piece on its website how they do not endorse or support candidates (specifically naming Kira Jones) but the money trail between TFA and Jones has been well documented.

Who funds TFA? As reported in the Los Angeles Times, on July 31, 2013:

Walton is TFA’s largest donor, but the group has a diverse funding base. The Walton donation will cover about 20% of TFA’s expenses this year in the L.A. region.

To me it could not be more clear – our children’s future is more important that political partisanship. Everyone agrees – we need local control without undue influence from out-of-state political operatives. These people have agendas that are NOT in the best interests of our children. They can go back to California and Arkansas.

What does make sense?

I speak from the perspective of a Louisianan and a proud single father whose son received an excellent public education. I can support two candidates because they are local, have local support, and they have established records of working for us: Jason France and Carolyn Hill. Dedicated to our kids and not outside interests. Jason is the only candidate in District 6 with kids in the public school system. There are no PACs supporting these two, no corporations, no out-of-state billionaires, no unions, no businesses, no real-estate firms or technology vendors – no one but folks like you and me.

It’s time we all reached across the pew and the aisle and joined together to fight for our kid’s interest. The only way to beat big money and outside influences is through grass root operations. People talking with their neighbors – neighborhood by neighborhood. Let’s win our schools back.

You have to vote on Saturday. Your kids are counting on you.

Posted in Politics | 14 Comments »

1.2 million delinquent notices by OMV create firestorm; Insurance Commissioner awakens 2 days before election

October 22, 2015 by tomaswell

Two days before statewide elections, Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon, who refused to involve himself in the State Office of Group Benefits controversy because, he insisted, the state employee health insurance was not insurance, has suddenly become a consumer advocate over those delinquent fee letters sent out by the Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV) on Oct. 13.

Never mind that OGB provides health insurance to about 230,000 state employees, retirees and dependents and never mind that it was taken over by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana (a major contributor to Donelon’s campaigns).

Never mind that the Louisiana Department of Insurance approved the purchase of two insurance companies in 2013 by an individual who had little industry experience and never mind that both companies were seized by regulators within a year when it was learned that Alexander Chatfield Burns allegedly siphoned hundreds of millions of dollars in stocks and bonds off the company’s books, replacing them with worthless assets.

Never mind that in 2012 Donelon put former state legislator Noble Ellington on the payroll as a $150,000 per year as the department’s number-two man despite Ellington’s glaring lack of experience in insurance.

Never mind that Donelon did little to rein in auto insurance companies that were trying to steer auto repairs to favored body shops that were accused of doing unsafe work and providing after-market parts.

Never mind that Donelon has been the beneficiary of more than $4.5 million in campaign contributions from insurance companies and insurance defense attorneys since 2006.

That was then. This is now and now is only two days before Donelon is to face a challenge from three opponents in Saturday’s election. So of course, he wades into the controversy over those 1.2 million delinquent notices sent out to motorists that OMV claims owe fines for various offenses dating as far back as 1986 (29 years if you’re doing the math).

LouisianaVoice first wrote about this back on Sept. 29 when we observed that none of the $11 million earmarked to pay for state police pay raises through the “enhanced debt collection efforts” by OMV has been submitted to the state general fund.

That was first made known in a confidential report prepared for legislators obtained by LouisianaVoice.

House Bill 638 by State Rep. Barry Ivey (R-Baton Rouge) was enacted and signed into law by Bobby Jindal as Act 414. HB 638 provided that the Department of Public Safety (DPS) collect certain fees “associated with the suspension of an operator’s license” which were related to auto liability insurance requirements. The fees become delinquent after 60 days and are referred to the Office of Debt Recovery.

The bill earmarked $25 million from the Debt Recovery Fund for use by the Office of State Police. But none of that money has yet to go to the general fund, prompting concern by legislators and resulting in the report.

Legislative watchdog and resident curmudgeon C.B. Forgotston way back on Jan. 16 of this year questioned the constitutionality of an earlier bill by Ivey, HB 872, passed during the 2014 regular legislative session which added a $75 fee for the reinstatement of a driver’s lapsed auto liability insurance. HB 872 was to generate about $53 million per year with $42 million earmarked for the general operations of DPS, $7 million to housing parolees and $1 million to district attorneys.

Forgotston said HB 872 was called a “fee,” but in actuality, is an unconstitutionally-passed “tax.” The reason for its being unconstitutional is the Louisiana State Constitution of 1974 which says “No measure levying or authorizing a new tax by the state or by any statewide political subdivision whose boundaries are coterminous with the state; increasing an existing tax by the state or by any statewide political subdivision whose boundaries are coterminous with the state; or legislating with regard to tax exemptions, exclusions, deductions or credits shall be introduced or enacted during a regular session held in an even-numbered year.” http://senate.la.gov/Documents/Constitution/Article3.htm

But in the make-believe world of Jindal politics, the Office of Group Benefits is not insurance and a fee is not a tax. That ranks right up there with Bill Clinton’s “It depends on what your definition of is is.”

But back to HB 638 (ACT 414). Just in case you need a reminder just two days before the election, that bill passed unanimously in the House and with just one dissenting vote in the Senate (State Sen. Karen Carter Peterson voted no). Here are the links to the votes of the two chambers just in case you need a handy guide before casting your ballot on Saturday:

HOUSE VOTE ON HB 638

SENATE VOTE ON HB 638

And now on the eve of many of those same legislators’ re-election efforts, the bill is creating pure havoc throughout the state.

Why?

Well, consider this. If you had a vehicle you purchased in 1976, say, and you traded it in in 1987. You would have cancelled your insurance and license plate on that vehicle and transferred everything to your new vehicle. But suppose by some clerical error, OMV did not get the word that you sold or traded that old vehicle and suddenly, on Oct. 13 of this year, a delinquent notice went out to you because you have not had insurance on your 1976 vehicle for 28 years. The onus is on you to prove that you had a legitimate reason for not insuring that vehicle or face a fine of $500—or more.

Donelon said, correctly, that the average citizen most likely does not have documentation to prove he or she had insurance because no one keeps proof of insurance from a decade or more ago.

So now you have your notice and you know it’s in error so naturally, you try to call OMV only to encounter what seems to be a permanent busy signal. And if you happen to get through, your call is dropped.

And let’s not forget that Jindal, in his maniacal obsession to privatize everything in state government, contracted out many of the OMV services and laid off scores of OMV employees, so good luck with trying to reach someone to help you.

Many of the 1.2 million who received the letters (at a cost to taxpayers of about $500,000) are claiming that they are accused of offenses that are nothing more than paperwork errors and State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson is now saying OMV will not pursue any delinquent fines older than 2006 for which OMV does not have proper documentation.

We at LouisianaVoice are of the opinion that any violation allowed to lie dormant by OMV for more than one year with no effort to collect same should be dismissed. Certainly after three years. After all, in Louisiana, if you wait for more than 12 months after being wronged, your case has prescribed and you are unable to file a lawsuit.

That’s 20 years, or 69 percent right off the top of the anticipated $53 million in additional revenue the Jindal administration so desperately needed to patch over holes in the state budget. Edmonson also said the fact that $11 million of that $53 million was to fund pay increases for state troopers had nothing to do with the notices mailed out on Oct. 13.

Donelon, who regulates the insurance industry in Louisiana, OGB notwithstanding, suggested that drivers should not trust OMV records and should call the governor’s office with grievances.

Would that be the governor’s office have an Iowa area code, by any chance?

One reader had a slightly different experience. Here is her account as related to LouisianaVoice in a recent email:

            My husband just recently retired 20 years of service in the Army, and we’ve been under contract to buy a home for the first time, in Sulphur.  I’m a La native, so we’ve decided to settle here.

            Today, we had to switch our insurance companies because the one we’ve had together since married in 2006, and he’s had for many years even before that, has decided in their policy that simply residing in Louisiana means that our insurance must be raised because I suppose something about this State is more risky than Texas, Kentucky, Alabama, or Georgia (all of the states we’ve resided in that our insurance remained unchanged).

            Which brings me around to what I have to say. I’d like to explain how I turned a $200 oops into a $566 OMG today.

            While attempting to change insurance companies, they ran my driver’s license. Standard.

            My license came back as suspended. Later, at the DMV, I was informed not only was my license suspended, but there had been issued a bench warrant for my arrest.

            It was a seat belt ticket I got four years ago, and speeding ticket I received one year ago. I forgot to pay it. Over my driving career (I’m 39 years old and I’ve owned 2 Corvettes), I’ve gotten more than one speeding ticket, and more than once, I’ve forgotten to pay it.

            However, this was my first in the state of Louisiana, as I’ve lived in Texas for the majority of my adulthood, and the rest in the previous states mentioned. I never received a notice in the mail, warning me of an impending suspension of my license, nor did I receive any notice or warning that a warrant was being issued for my arrest. ALL of which I have received from Texas, giving me an opportunity to address it.  I mentioned that fact to the lady at the DA’s office when I arrived to deal with it, and she informed me that “they don’t notify anyone for these things.”  So, my license was suspended, and there was a warrant for my arrest, yet the State makes no effort prior to this result, as Texas does, to notify me?  No.

            They don’t.

            I had a moment of terrible dread and relief at the same time.  I found out because I was changing insurance companies and they told me.

            I looked up the consequences for driving with a suspended license, had I found out by being pulled over, and they are very harsh.  It carries a minimum fine of $300, up to $7500 and seven days jail time.  All because I forgot to pay a speeding ticket.

            After paying the ticket, I returned to the OMV, where I had to pay another $102 to “unsuspend” my license, because paying the ticket + late fine wasn’t enough for the State to teach me a lesson.

            While I waited in line, it occurred to me the terrible impact this could have on so many Louisiana families and college students.  It seems unrealistic that no one would ever forget to pay a ticket, or even that it would be rare. I wondered if something so simple could be common, but with such crazy, harsh financial consequences, especially if jailed. Suddenly, a DMV employee came out and made the announcement that they were severely understaffed—thanks to Bobby Jindal’s cutbacks (I had already been waiting almost 2 hours at this point) and began to group all of us based on our issues.

            Needless to say, I wasn’t surprised that a great many of the people there ended up in the same group as me, dealing with the very same problem. A very expensive problem. A problem that likely could have been prevented for most if not all of us, with a simple notice in the mail.

            For me, the total was over $500 to get my license reinstated and ticket paid. There were at least 20 people in line with me. I estimate the OMV likely collected a minimum of $10,000 in about three hours, just from my line. Nearly $30,000 in an average eight-hour work day in fines just from suspended licenses for the most undeserving of reasons from the most vulnerable class of people, yet still were “understaffed” to ridiculousness and a majority of the people I was in line with would probably love to have a job there.  That’s $150,000 a week! $600,000 a month! $7.2 million a year!

            I have no clue where all of this money goes, or what it pays for, since clearly it isn’t on staffing. The debit card reader wasn’t working so I was forced to an ATM and the clerk I was with struggled endlessly with her computer mouse and what I believed to be serious system lag, so equipment certainly isn’t eating funds.

            Maybe this all seems trivial, but truly, it didn’t seem trivial to anyone I was in line with.  There was sadness, fear, and dread on the faces of all of them.  It was really heartbreaking, and worse, I feel like it likely could have all been prevented with a simple notice in the mail. People are given around 60 days to pay a ticket in Louisiana. It is as though the state counts on many of them being forgotten, and without notice, having their license suspended, and likely many of them discovering this and getting a memory jog by being pulled over for something insignificant, and being put in handcuffs, with a massive fine they can’t pay, and seven days in jail.

            I am fortunate enough to be able to pay it and still eat, but I think the look on all of those people’s faces in line with me at the OMV will keep me up tonight. It’s already nearly 1 am, and I’m still bothered by it.

            I can’t help but wonder how many people in Louisiana, living their lives, taking care of children, going to work, etc., forget to pay a speeding ticket, and it’s the one thing that knocks them into a hole they can’t get out of;  but they check their mail every day.

            I’ve been in a lot of places over the last 20 years. Texas to Wisconsin to Connecticut to Georgia to Louisiana. I see more people struggling here than anywhere else I’ve been in the U.S.

            I can’t help but think this no-notice high penalty cost system is contributing to bleeding the average Louisianan driving to work and back, to death. Maybe it’s nothing. I think it’s something.  Something that must effect the lives of a lot of people.

            If a simple notice in the mail could save Louisiana citizens and families $7.2 million a year, I think a lot of people would like to know why it isn’t done.

Posted in Elections, Ethics, Finances, Governor's Office, Legislature, Legislators, OGB, Office of Group Benefits, Politicians, Privatization, Revenue, State Police | 30 Comments »

Baton Rouge attorney/lobbyist tries to strongarm lobbyists on behalf of David Vitter via email for $5000 contributions

October 21, 2015 by tomaswell

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:

Posted in Elections, Ethics, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Senate, Vitter | 13 Comments »

Notable Quotables (in their own words)

October 21, 2015 by tomaswell

“One would hope… that when an officeholder commits serious offenses, the negative reaction of the citizenry would make it impossible for him to govern effectively.”

—State Rep. and Tulane and Loyola Law adjunct professor David Vitter, writing about the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinski scandal in a New Orleans Times-Picayune op-ed in 1998.

“I’m a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary. If he does something like that, I’m walking away with one thing, and it’s not alimony, trust me. I think fear is a very good motivating factor in a marriage.”

—Wendy Vitter, in an interview with Newhouse News Service in 2000, discussing what she would do if her husband cheated on her.

“You paid the man for two years after he pled guilty to three misdemeanor charges against women,” he said. “He stabbed her … big scar under her neck … he choked her. What do you say to that?”

—Former Plaquemines Parish Sheriff and State Rep. Ernest Wooton, one of six participants in a debate leading up to the 2010 U.S. Senate election, questioning Vitter on why his former aide, Brent Furer, remained on staff for two years after being arrested on suspicion of assaulting a female friend with a knife and threatening to kill her. 

 

 

Posted in Elections, Ethics, Governor's Office, Legislators, Notable Quotables, Politicians, Vitter | 4 Comments »

Could knowledge of pending story about hooker’s paternity claim have prompted Vitter to close access to Tech debate?

October 18, 2015 by tomaswell

By now, anyone with anything more than a passing interest in Saturday’s gubernatorial primary election is aware of the latest bombshell about U.S. Sen. David Vitter and his cavorting with prostitutes: that Vitter allegedly fathered a child with New Orleans hooker Wendy Ellis. http://www.theamericanzombie.com/2015/10/david-vitter-interview-with-wendy-ellis.html

The story was published on Saturday (Oct. 17) by Jason Brad Berry of the American Zombie investigative blog and political junkies immediately began burning up the email lines just as the 2015 primary election for governor enters its final stretch. http://crooksandliars.com/2015/10/former-mistress-alleges-david-vitter-asked

It not our intent to discredit Berry (he was, after all, the first to reveal widespread corruption involving former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and some of his pals, all of whom were convicted of corruption). But Clancy DuBos, publisher of Gambit Magazine in New Orleans wisely spiked that publication’s initial story about Berry’s toxic (to Vitter) interview with Ellis after receiving court documents that shot gaping holes in parts of Berry’s blog post. http://www.bestofneworleans.com/blogofneworleans/archives/2015/10/18/vitter-update-inconsistencies-come-to-light

Nor should anyone interpret this as a defense of Vitter.

Far from it.

The timing of the story is terribly suspect, given the election was only a week away when Berry posted it. But even if Ellis’s claims ultimately fail the smell test, Vitter really deserves no sympathy in this sordid affair after the manner he has allowed his Super PAC, The Fund for Louisiana’s Future, to fill our living rooms with television attack ads containing half-truths and outright lies about his two Republican opponents, Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle and Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne.

And Vitter cannot divorce himself from those ads simply because a Super PAC accepted responsibility for the content of the ads. That does not absolve him. Louisiana’s senior senator did, after all, contribute a quarter-million dollars of his own money to the Super Pac, so he is married to the ads whether he likes it or not.

The entire gubernatorial campaign has been reduced to the lowest form of political discourse consisting of nothing but smear campaigns. While Vitter’s Super PAC was chewing up Angelle and Dardenne with B.S. claims and unabashed lies, the National Republican Governors’ Association was doing the same to the lone Democrat in the race, State Rep. John Bel Edwards. (It’s interesting to note that the GOP Governors’ Association first said it was staying out of the primary election but after witnessing a steady climb in the polls by Edwards, the association once headed by Bobby Jindal apparently panicked and decided to go on the attack now.)

And make no mistake, those ads are just as vile. And their relevance to burning issues that face this state make about as much sense as an acquaintance from north Louisiana who despite having for years claimed to be sophisticated enough that he would “vote for the best candidate, no matter the party,” told me this weekend that, “I just can’t vote for someone with a ‘D’ behind their name.” What utter nonsense, what unmitigated bias, and yes, what ignorance. What happened to that “best candidate” business, pal?

But we digress.

Where are the proposals for addressing the myriad of state problems? I haven’t heard them because they’re being drowned out by ads that are hell bent on dragging opponents through the mud and muck which only means when the dust finally settles, we’re likely to be faced with the same old problems with no one offering hard answers.

And folks, that begins with the candidates for governor and quickly flows downhill into both chambers of the Louisiana Legislature. With more than half the incumbents being returned to office to cut deals and to pass laws favorable to campaign contributors, we’re quite likely to see the same trend in corporate tax giveaways continue unabated.

Indeed, the entire dialog this election cycle has been reduced to quickie TV ads that spew shameless misrepresentations of the facts. And it will only be ramped up a few notches for the general election.

Has Vitter overlooked the fact that he, along with the others, is in reality, interviewing for a job? When you are seeking a job, you put your best foot forward; you don’t walk into the interview trashing those competing for the same job. That’s a fast way out the door. You give your prospective employer your curriculum vitae and you come prepared to discuss your experience, your accomplishments and your career plans should you be hired. And you better not waste his or her time with disparaging gossip about the other applicants.

Ellis previously (in 2007) passed a polygraph test which indicated that she did indeed have a sexual relationship with Vitter for at least four months although she now says the relationship lasted for nearly three years, from 1998 to sometime in 2000 when she informed him she was pregnant.

She says Vitter first denied paternity and then suggested she get an abortion. She didn’t. Instead, she put the baby up for adoption raising the immediate questions of just who was the pro-life advocate in this scenario?

The emerging saga prompted a reader of one online blog to suggest that many of the so-called “family values” types like Vitter, Newt Gingrich, Dennis Hastert, and Josh Duggar “have more skeletons in their closets than Jeffrey Dahmer.”

Vitter, for his part, of course, is keeping mum. But then, that’s been his approach the entire duration of this repugnant campaign: stay far away from the media and voters, and for God’s sake, don’t get drawn into any open debates in which questions are not provided in advance. If you’ve been paying attention, he is letting The Fund for Louisiana’s Future do all his talking for him. (Well, there is that one pitifully wretched ad in which he props wife Wendy in front of the camera to tell Louisiana’s voters what a wonderful husband and father he is.

But when he does appear, it is always—without exception—in a controlled venue in which no one has a chance to ask any embarrassing questions.

All of which brings me to my final bit of speculation:

Is it just possible that the reason last Thursday’s debate among the four candidates at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston was closed off not only to students and the general public, but to the media as well—and the reason Vitter was the only one of the four to skip out on a post-debate meeting with media types who were relegated to an adjoining room during the debate—was that he knew Berry was developing this story for imminent release and he simply could ill-afford to have that stink bomb tossed into the middle of the debate—on statewide TV? http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/10/vitter_debate_problems.html

After all, Berry said on his blog that he had contact with David Vitter’s legal counsel and repeatedly requested a telephone interview with him to address the story but his lawyer stated he was too busy to talk with me.”

Really? Seriously, Dave? As determined as you are to evade addressing the burning question of whether or not you broke the law by soliciting prostitutes, this is a bit more serious.

Too busy to discuss a pending story that you may have fathered a child by a prostitute? By telephone, yet?

Sorry, Dave, but true or not, you don’t get to busy to discuss matters of this magnitude.

Unless you have a reason for not talking.

But, Dave, Berry says he has “much more information” that he will be sharing soon.

You may wish to reconsider and give him a call.

Posted in Elections, Ethics, Governor's Office, Politicians, TV News, Vitter | 19 Comments »

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