Trollfessor - 03 November 2008 10:52 AM

And also the new Louisiana Academic Freedom Act, allowing Intelligent Design into our science classrooms.  Yes, there are several unconstitutional laws on our books.

The other thing is, how would you control this without thought policing? Both parties do it and too a large extent it is justified. The real answer is, before we elect them, we ought to look at who’s surrounding them and that would give you a great idea of who they are going to appoint. If you don’t want those people, don’t vote for their candidate.

Avman - 03 November 2008 11:56 AM

maurepas1 - 02 November 2008 10:30 PM

Trollfessor - 02 November 2008 10:22 PM

maurepas1 - 02 November 2008 07:49 PM

All eyes will be on the Ethics Board to see if it goes after any individual who was appointed to a state board who it was later discovered made a contribution to the office holder who appointed that individual to that position.

Is that unlawful?  If someone donates to Jindal’s campaign, then Jindal can’t appoint that person to a position?  I didn’t realize that was the law, do you happen to have the citation for that?

Maybe such practices were legal during the Edwards Era, but today, with the emphasis on ethics, how could it not be unethical?  Are we so screwed up that we can’t even see the problem with such behavior?

Maurepas, is it ethical for candidates to hire people who worked on their campaigns whether paid or volunteer service? People who have money tend to be more qualified and also tend to agree with candidates on issues. It’s unethical if it’s quid pro quo, that the services or money was on condition. That being said, it seems to me that this would end up in thought policing.

All candidates have a tendency to help the people who helped them, it’s human nature, it’s responsible politics, and provides stability in our nation. Could you imagine what it would be like if candidates couldn’t hire their supporters? That they actually sought out people that worked against them? There’d be far more scandals than we currently have.

What you are forgetting is that only a tiny fraction of the voting public ever contributes to a campaign. You are assuming that the only qualified people to sit on boards or commissions are those who make significant contributions to campaigns. This clearly isn’t the case.

I have never contributed (monetarily) nor will I ever contribute (monetarily) to a campaign. I don’t like the way candidates spend their ill gotten gains.  I have said this before but I think it is worth repeating, I think there should be SEVERE penalties for lying in campaign ads, debates or any forms of media.  I have volunteered and I probably will again. I have never seen a reason to spend my money on a candidate as an individual.  If I owned a company that stood to gain millions of dollars in government contracts, kick backs I mean uhm tax incentives i. e. Albermarle then I would have to follow tradition and amend that way of thinking wouldn’t I ?

FormerLa - 03 November 2008 01:05 PM

I have never contributed (monetarily) nor will I ever contribute (monetarily) to a campaign. I don’t like the way candidates spend their ill gotten gains.  I have said this before but I think it is worth repeating, I think there should be SEVERE penalties for lying in campaign ads, debates or any forms of media.  I have volunteered and I probably will again. I have never seen a reason to spend my money on a candidate as an individual.  If I owned a company that stood to gain millions of dollars in government contracts, kick backs I mean uhm tax incentives i. e. Albermarle then I would have to follow tradition and amend that way of thinking wouldn’t I ?

If you were asked by the Governor to serve on a Board or Commission, say covering an industry in which you worked or were an expert in, would you feel guilty accepting the appointment even though you hadn’t contributed a nickel to the Governor’s campaign?  Would you feel so guilty that the minute you’d say yes you’d be writing a check out to the next campaign fund of that public official?