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From the Advocate
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[Archive]
(8/10/98) OPINION: No easy solution to campaign bills |
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Give the creativity award to the Public Campaign organization
out of Washington,
for a felicitous rhyme. Instead of the Golden Fleece, the award that former Sen. William Proxmire, D-Wis., gave for years
to agencies or individuals who allegedly wasted taxpayer money, the Public Campaign group... |
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[Archive]
(6/19/98) OPINION: Ieyoub's problem is not just image |
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The end of a long federal probe that focused on Attorney General
Richard Ieyoub is good news for his constituents as well as himself. For too long Louisiana citizens were
left wondering whether a high official in charge of upholding laws is a lawbreaker himself. So its a... |
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[Archive]
(6/16/98) NEWS: AG cleared by federal prosecutors |
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Federal prosecutors have decided against charging Attorney
General Richard Ieyoub with criminal wrongdoing, ending a nearly two-year probe of his business dealings and potential conflicts
of interest as an elected official. The U.S. Justice Department probe included a review of... |
| The search for campaign money can be interesting |
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| The money hunt |
Louisiana
At least $9,105,072 -- Includes 1993-94 campaign contributions and 1996 lobbying
expenditures
June 9, 1997
The Pelican State has a state lottery, three Indian casinos, pari-mutuel betting, legal bookmaking
and charitable games, video poker, a slew of riverboat casinos, and one non-Indian land casino in New Orleans.
With this explosion of gambling has come a flood of gambling money into politics -- and the widespread corruption that saw
several legislators indicted for bribes and kickbacks, and former Gov. Edwin Edwards tossed out of office for his gambling
ties. Individual parishes (read counties), when they get tired of corruption, have the option of outlawing any or all types
of gambling.
Under
public pressure, the Legislature last year enacted a law to chase gambling money out of the statehouse: Act 67 prohibits persons
"substantially interested in the gaming industry" from making campaign contributions to, or expenditures on behalf of, candidates
or any committee that supports or opposes a candidate. But they may still spend unlimited amounts on committees supporting
ballot initiatives -- and unfortunately, our investigation suggests this is precisely where the lion's share of gambling's
political money is spent.
Louisiana campaign
finance and lobbying expenditure, but not compensation, reports are only available on paper, for 25 cents a page, so Mother
Jones relied mainly on the reporting and analyses of Louisiana newspapers. For campaign contributions,
the New Orleans Times-Picayune found that the gambling industry gave $1,066,747 to state legislators in 1993-94, three times what the petrochemical
industry gave -- we have no record of what legislators reaped from gamblers in 1992 or 1995-96.
For
ballot initiatives, the Baton Rouge Advocate reported a massive $6.7 million spent by gaming interests to influence 1996 parish elections on video poker, riverboat casinos,
and the New Orleans casino. As for lobbying, the state Ethics Administration told us that gambling lobbyists
themselves spent $13,325 wooing legislators in 1996, but that doesn't count the huge fees that gambling companies paid these
lobbyists. For instance, the Times-Picayune reported that as of December 1994, Grand Palais Riverboat Corp. and Casino
America Inc. had paid at least $1,125,000 to lobbyist William C. Broadhurst, a close friend and former law partner of former
Gov. Edwards; and that several riverboat casinos had paid at least $200,000 to another lobbyist and friend of Edwards, Randy
Haynie.
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