Yesterday, Elliot Stonecipher was on the Jim Brown show and both of them agreed that we are not going to see real ethics reform unless we see campaign finance reform right along side it. You can listen to the interview here.
The interview discussed those issues that I have raised, that a politician can collect more than just the “campaign maximum” from an individual as long as that person owns several corporations.
One key point Mr. Stonecipher made was to a caller who was concerned that people want to believe in the Governor and questioned that Mr. Stonecipher was already questioning the plan of Governor-elect Jindal. Mr. Stonecipher said that he has tried to contact Mr. Jindal about his concerns to no avail. He then said this:
We will know when we see what passes the legislature what were really going to get in ethics reform. But my concern is the following. We… are now in a place where Governor-elect Jindal has raised the expectations so high that at 55 years old I know we are never going to get to revisit this in my lifetime. Whatever it is he offers up, the people of Louisiana will say is ethics reform because they want to believe that. That will not make that true. So, I don’t have any agenda here accept trying to get the real deal done instead of a political deal done. And that I feel is the difference.
That is a great point. Just because people want to believe they elected Jindal to bring ethics reform, it does not mean that what Bobby Jindal will actually bring real ethics reform. We need to hold his feet to the fire and make sure we get that real ethics reform. The only way to get real ethics reform is to include real campaign finance reform. Real campaign finance reform includes, but is not limited to, eliminating corporate donations.
Edited to add this additional comment by Mr. Stonecipher:
Let’s remember and let me be specific about this. Bobby Jindal’s political goals and objectives are not best served by [his] really totally revamping the ethics apparatus in Louisiana. … Now, the people who think I’m slamming Bobby Jindal believe that Bobby Jindal will just automatically do the things that are best for Louisiana. I’m sorry, nobody ever does that. That’s all I’m going to say. Im not throwing rocks at Bobby Jindal. Im saying they are political animals and they do what’s best for them and whats best for the state (we hope). But its a blend of the two. If bobby Jindal can send the old LA ETHICS #1 bill to the legislature … if he sends a bunch of easy changes to make and the legislature can pass it and pat themselves on the back … its going to look like a political win and he gets to claim victory. I would conend thats the very thing Blanco would have done, the very thing Foster would have done … that is not in our best interest. It is in their political interest.
Very well stated! And as Jim Brown followed up, we don’t want to let someone hit a single and claim they hit a home run.
We all know that whatever is introduced by the Governor will have to be passed by the state legislature. What makes you think that anything will get passed the corrupt bodies that make up our state legislature?
Most corrupt politicians want voters to beleive they are not corrupt. So as long as they can get away with what they have gotten away with in the past, they will have no problem passing other legislation that is passed under the guise of “ethics”. This is why Bobby Jindal is so willing to push “ethics reform” while still allowing people to circumvent campaign finance laws via corporate donations.
And we all know Bobby Jindal’s suggested legislation will not include any item that will hurt his ability to raise funds for the 2011 election like he raised funds for the 2007.
Personally, I think it is important to hold people’s feet to the fire, both Republican and Democrat, and get them to pass meaningful ethics legislation. And if those people do not pass meaningful legislation then those people should be replaced with others who will. But don’t be fooled and think that if we don’t get meaningful ethics reform that it will be just the fault of the legislature. Bobby Jindal will also be to blame.