Archive for November, 2007

Clarifying Red Flex and the Cabrini Proposals

Recently, a couple of local bloggers have called attention to two proposals currently being considered by the City of Alexandria. Normally, I don’t like to intervene in these discussions, but I think it is important to clarify some misconceptions about these two proposals:

First, regarding Red Flex:

Read more

Elect Don Cazayoux Speaker of the House

Today, Governor-elect Bobby Jindal announced he was endorsing Republican Jim Tucker to become the next Speaker of the House… which is funny. Only three days ago, Jindal’s spokeswoman, Melissa Sellers, told the Times-Picayune:

Republican Gov.-elect Bobby Jindal released a written statement Friday through spokeswoman Melissa Sellers reiterating his pledge to stay out of the legislative leadership races.

“The governor-elect is continuing to let the members of the House choose their own leader and has been clear that he does not think that process can completely run its course until after the runoff elections this weekend. We plan to talk to the members over the coming days to see if a consensus has formed.”

The problem, beside the fact that Jindal had pledged to stay out of leadership races, is that a consensus was never formed. The run-offs were held only three days ago, and Democrats retained their control of the House.

Representative Cazayoux understands this; after Jindal made his announcement, Cazayoux told the Associated Press:

Cazayoux, of New Roads, said though Tucker was in the lead with votes, he didn’t think Tucker had enough to win the speaker’s election until Jindal offered his support.

“We certainly wish the governor had allowed the process to continue independently because I do think it’s very important for an effective and strong Legislature to elect its leadership independently,” Cazayoux said.

Who is Jim Tucker? The same AP article tells us that Tucker “helped orchestrate a sharp partisan divide in the House.” And we also know that Jim Tucker is the founder of T-PAC, a Republican political action committee financed by a consortium of nursing homes (and sizable donations from Tucker’s campaign fund).

Tucker created T-PAC on January 8, 2007, and within two months, T-PAC had raised over $30,000.

T-PAC’s first donation: $1,000 to Nick Lorusso.

According to a subsequent report, T-PAC officially supported the following Republican candidates: Jack Causey, Jonathan Perry, Lance Maxwell, Kirby Roy, Rick Nowlin, Frank Howard, Patrick Connick, Nickie Monica, Isabella Delahousaye, Raymond “LaLa” LaLonde, and Cameron Henry. They actually “supported” three Democrats: Bernard LeBas, Simone Champagne (who ran unopposed), and Fred Mills.

All of their Republican candidates received $1,000. Fred Mills also received $1000, but Champagne and LeBas only received $500.

Ten days before the General Election, they reported a string of other donations, all to Republicans. $1,000 to Joe Harrison, $2500 to Mitch Theriot, $1000 to Clif Richardson, $2500 to Michael McMyne, and $1000 to Chris Hazel (who they reported giving an additional $1000 in another report).

Unfortunately, run-off reports have not yet been disclosed, but during the primary, T-PAC donated to 16 Republican candidates and 3 Democratic candidates (one of whom was running unopposed).

But T-PAC is not the most offensive part of this story.

Karen Carter is.

Carter, a Democrat, had wanted to become Speaker of the House, and when she realized she could not have received the necessary votes, she told the media, three days before the run-off, that she was now supporting Tucker, who, at the time, was trailing Cazayoux by nearly thirty (likely) votes. Indeed, Cazayoux had likely already had the majority (the consensus) of the House before the run-off.

Jindal then swooped in, broke (once again) his campaign promise of not interfering in leadership races, and endorsed a Republican who had (conveniently) donated to a slew of Republican candidates (through his political action committee) and who has a reputation for being divisive and intensely partisan.

But the vote is more than two months away, and Democrats waged an intense battle to retain their majority. I seriously cannot understand how anyone would be willing to sacrifice their rightful places in leadership positions simply to assuage the Republican Party. Are Democrats really willing to give the Republicans, the LCRM, and all of their related political action committees a consolation prize?

How can we expect a true ethics reform package (a package that would include campaign finance reform) when the Speaker of the State House is a Republican with his own nursing home political action committee?

H/t to PointeCoupeeDemocrat.

KSYL: Major Ryder Claims Slocum Misled Public About House Arrest Program

Yesterday, during an interview with KALB News Director Michele Godard, KSYL fielded a phone call from Major Carla Ryder, who described herself as the “overseerer (sp)” of the House Arrest Division for the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Department. According to Mrs. Ryder (a former employee of Charlie Wagner), Mike Slocum “on several occasions” claimed to have invented her program, even though the program was actually created by another deputy.

Responding to the question of how she felt after Slocum spoke about this program during KALB’s debate, Major Ryder said she was “stunned because I have never even discussed my program with Mr. Slocum. I wish he would have contacted me before he went on air.“

Later in the broadcast, Bobby Bordelon “with the Sheriff’s Office,” called in and told listeners, “Intimidation is going on in the Sheriff’s Office….As an employee, I can tell you I have been transferred because I did not support Mike Slocum.“

Mr. Bordelon also claimed that Mike Slocum approached him on the primary election day. According to Bordelon, Slocum said he had an audio recording of Bordelon “insulting” him and that he had hired an attorney to pursue charges.

Listen to the KSYL interview here.

Yet Another PAC Takes Out Yet Another Commercial Targeting Roy, Jr.

A group that calls itself “GOPAC Louisiana” (but is actually simply known as GOPAC) recently took out a television commercial targeting Chris Roy, Jr. in his bid to become State Representative for District 25. The attempt to re-brand GOPAC as a local political action committee is not too surprising, considering this is the same PAC that was sued by the Federal Election Commission for failing to disclose financial statements and not adhering to the federal maximum contribution limits.

GOPAC was founded in 1979 by Delaware Governor Pierre du Pont IV, but it first rose to prominence during the 1990s, when Newt Gingrich’s “Republican Revolution” took control of Congress. GOPAC’s tactics in the 1990s were controversial, and Gingrich was eventually reprimanded for using GOPAC as his own personal “slush fund.” From the December 5, 1995 edition of The LA Times:

According to the commission, Gingrich used GOPAC as a personal slush fund to save his 1990 campaign, which he won by 974 votes. GOPAC paid his American Express fees, put him up in the fanciest hotels and provided his campaign with consultants to, in the words of one advisor, “help Newt think.” Internal GOPAC memos admit that “Newt support” cost the organization $250,000 in 1990 and that “helping Newt” was “probably the most single high priority we’ve got in dollars.”

By not registering as a federal political action committee, Gingrich and GOPAC violated the legal requirements to disclose the names of contributors who provide more than $200, limit individual contributions to $5,000 and ban corporate contributions. Instead, the commission found that GOPAC accepted millions of dollars in secret contributions from individuals and corporations in a concerted and successful campaign to seize control of Congress.

GOPAC attempted to bend campaign finance laws in order to avoid registering as a federal PAC; this maneuver allowed GOPAC to withhold financial information while they became increasingly embroiled in marquis “State” races.

Today, GOPAC is led by former Lt. Governor of Maryland Michael Steele, who succeeded J.C. Watts as chairman. Their strategy is still very “State-centric.” During the jungle primary, GOPAC launched a radio advertisement targeting Bob Odom. Their latest advertisement against Chris Roy, Jr. may represent their first foray into the Louisiana television marketplace, and it is precisely what one would expect from an out-of-State political action committee that has a long history of misleading voters and misrepresenting the truth.

Predictably, the commercial attempts to morph Roy as a certain type of “liberal” Democrat, without offering any evidence or sourcing anything specific. Despite the fact that Roy has a pro-life, business-friendly platform, the commercial suggests that he is somehow a radical. And instead of focusing on the issues that affect District 25 the most, the commercial relies on recapitulating the hackneyed talking points of the far-right.

With all of the money being spread around by outside political action committees on behalf of Lance Maxwell, one wonders who, exactly, Maxwell intends on representing– the people of this district or the small group of party insiders bankrolling his campaign?

The Town Talk: Slocum Supporters (May Be) Campaigning Awfully Close to the Courthouse

Yesterday, a candidate for political office was accused of parking his truck, which allegedly contained a large campaign sign in his flatbed, directly in front of the Rapides Parish Courthouse for an extended period of time, an allegation that, if proven true, should constitute a blatant campaign ethics violation, considering the Courthouse is currently a polling place in which record numbers of voters have already arrived to vote early. To some, such a minor infraction may seem to be unworthy of any real concern, but this alleged incident may be a part of a larger pattern. Robert Morgan, political columnist and blogger for The Town Talk, recently wrote about personally witnessing similar (potential) violations. In a blog post entitled “Politicking Close to the Polls,” Morgan writes:

There are three vehicles parked next to the back door of the Rapides Parish Courthouse, putting them less than 100 feet from the Registrar of Voters Office.

Each of those vehicles has a Slocum for Sheriff bumper sticker on it.

State law prohibits politicking within 600 feet of a polling place during an election.

Early voting is under way at the registrar’s office, making it an official polling place.

So why are the vehicles not moved?

Registrar Joanell Wilson said, “The law says it (electioneering sign) must be stationary. Automobiles, by law, are considered movable and are therefore not stationary.”

In short, there’s nothing she can do.

Perhaps this is part of the law that needs to be clarified. Typically, as some of you probably know from personal experience, poll watchers cannot emblazon any type of campaign insignia. They’re usually asked to remove whatever campaign bumper stickers they may have placed on their vehicles, simply to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Moreover, civil service regulations prohibit many government employees from overtly campaigning on behalf of a particular candidate. These people are not poll watchers, but they’re definitely supporters.

Of course, this could be a fluke. Mr. Morgan may have simply witnessed three Slocum supporters who all conveniently parked nearby in order to cast their votes early. And the allegations about the other candidate who parked his truck nearby, well, perhaps he was there on other business. But still, you have to admit: There appears to be a pattern here, and it is never wise for a campaign to encourage (or to passively allow) supporters, many of whom are government employees, to teeter on the blurred edges of the law– when such actions only perpetuate other, related allegations about intimidation and using public resources, personnel, and property for political purposes.

Economic Development Department Is Important for Louisiana’s Future

For some strange reason, a handful of Louisiana Republicans cannot understand that when you’re trying to attract a German steel company or a Japanese car company to Louisiana, you typically have to fly to Japan and Germany, meet with the individuals behind those companies, and attempt to put together a deal. Secretary Michael Olivier has traveled across the world in an attempt to bring commerce and industry to Louisiana. He and his department have a consistent track record of placing Louisiana in the short list for a string of mega-billion dollar projects, many of whom were hampered by the hurricanes and intransigence of a group of anti-Blanco Republicans (individuals who excused their votes against positive progress as a mere representation of their “lack of faith” in Blanco’s leadership). That said, despite the inherent difficulties of attracting large industries to a State plagued by the devastation of two catastrophic hurricanes and despite the sudden politicization of statewide economic development, Olivier and his department have continued to work for the entire State. And their efforts have led to tangible results:

Read more