“Today is a great day for Louisiana…”
My prediction of what might happen at the end of the ethics session.
Picture this: It is a nice sunny day right after the special session on ethics is completed. Bobby Jindal holds a press conference with all the legislators as he did to open the special session. As cameras click and his wife stands by his side, he states the following words:
Today is a great day for Louisiana. Our legislature has come together in a bipartisan effort to enact sweeping ethics reform that will forever change the history of this great state. No longer will our state be the laughing stock of the nation when it comes to public corruption. No longer will people question whether they should help Louisiana because of our past failures.
We have shined a light on corruption and with that light brings the dawn of a new day. A day where businesses get an equal playing field. A day where public service means serving the people who elected you and not serving yourselves. A day where Louisiana sets the example on how good government should be run.
We could change, we needed to change, we did change!
Jindal will be met with thunderous applause as he stands there waving to all his supporters. The T-P will write some fluff piece extolling the virtues of their endorsed candidate. His supporters will smile and tell everyone how happy they are that they voted for Bobby Jindal.
Then, since the legislation doesn’t take place until 2012, the old business of Louisiana goes on as usual. Timmy Teepell gets more free tickets, corporations line the campaign coffers of Bobby Jindal in order to push legislation through that will help them, and Bobby “job hopper” Jindal accepts the offer to be V.P. from John McCain. The loopholes will still exist, unethical behavior will still continue, and while the blind Jindal faithful refuse to believe it, other states laugh at our pathetic attempt to simply cast a smokescreen to try and give the perception that we are more ethical. At the end of the day, it will be shown that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
(And actually, depending on how quickly the other states learn that our ethics “reform” was just a smokescreen will depend on whether McCain picks Jindal. If Jindal is embarrassed too quickly, he will be damaged goods outside the state.)
I am sure the Jindal apologists will just say “you want Bobby Jindal to fail because you are part of the corrupt crowd”. My answer to them is this. I want true meaningful ethics reform. I believe that government needs to change the way it does business. I just don’t see Bobby Jindal as being sincere on ethical reform. He claims that he wants his administration to set the example on ethics reform, but then gives free tickets away to a concert. He claims he wants to increase transparency, but balks on increasing transparency in the governors office. If at the end of the day we actually get some true ethical change that does not leave the loopholes for corrupt behavior to continue, I will be the first to say I was wrong and to praise Jindal for his efforts. And it is sad, but I know that at the end of the day, if Jindal passes legislation that fails to solve our ethical problems, he will still be cheered by his supporters and any failures will just be blamed on the “corrupt crowd” who fought Jindal when in reality it was Jindal who did not want meaningful reform from day one.