Bobby Jindal

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Ethics reform should begin now, not later

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Ethics reform should begin now, not later
 
Sam Hanna, Jr., Ouachita Citizen
August 7, 2007

Since ethics reform and honesty in government, or the lack thereof, has become a fairly hot topic in the fall elections thanks to one candidate for governor, let's embrace ethics reform now in lieu waiting for a new governor and a new Legislature to take office after the first of the year.

…

And that brings us to Bobby Jindal, the frontrunner in the 2007 governor's race who has made ethics reform a centerpiece of his campaign.

Jindal's timing is excellent, though we must remind ourselves that Roemer's timing was excellent some 20 years ago.

According to most current polling on the mood of the people in Louisiana, the people, for the most part, desire a "change," and they appear to be sick and tired of the politicians who have implemented the policies that have been detrimental to Louisiana improving its station in life. The whole lot of them.

When Jindal insists that Louisiana must clean up its act—internally and in the eyes of the people around the country—he's right on the money, so to speak.

One way Louisiana can show the rest of the world that we're serious about cleaning up our act is to require every candidate for public office to disclose how much money he or she earns in personal income; every candidate should disclose the source, or sources, of his or her income, too.

Every last penny should be disclosed.

And it should be disclosed right now among the current crop of candidates for every office from the courthouse to the highest office in the state.

In the meantime, Jindal is correct when he insists that no one serving in an elected capacity in government in Louisiana should do business with the state.

No one.

No exceptions.

That, my friends, would go a long way in implementing true ethics reform in Louisiana.

It won't be easy.

If we want Jindal to be successful reformer, it's up to Louisiana to give him such a large mandate, that the Legislature will fall in line and accept the bitter medicine of reform along with the more palatable medicine.
 
View the full article at http://www.ouachitacitizen.com/news.php?id=1172.