Another Cool Thing About Shreveport

Every year in May, there is a great airshow at Barksdale AFB. During the days before, the flyers practice, and they fly right over my apartment.

Here's a picture of the Blue Angels flying over my head.

If you get a chance, you oughtta go. It's a blast!

Free T. Wong? Maybe So!

It goes like this, according to WAFB and the Baton Rouge Business Report.

In 2000, Robert Guidry, former owner of the Treasure Chest Casino, cut a deal with the feds and was a key witness against EWE. Guidry testified that he had paid bribes to EWE by putting them in a dumpster. Guidry’s testimony was the linchpin of the feds’ case against EWE, who was convicted.

In 2004, Guidry’s former attorney, James Perdigao, gets busted in a $30 million wire fraud sting. WAFB says Perdigao agreed to cooperate with the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana in exchange for leniency. The E.D. of LA must not have been very lenient because Perdigao now wants them recused from prosecuting him.

Here is Perdigao’s story:

Guidry, with the help of William Jefferson, paid a bribe to then U.S. Attorney Eddie Jordan in exchange for a more lenient sentence and lower restitution. Perdiago also says that Guidry paid substantial sums of money to the Assistant U.S. Attorney responsible for preparing Guidry to testify. Perdigao and his lawyer insist that they can prove these allegations.

Perdigao says the U.S. Attorney failed to act on his tips because to do so would undermine the Edwards conviction and sully the reputation of the U.S. Attorney’s office. I have not read the motion, but I gather that Perdigao thinks the reason he could not cut a very good deal is because the U.S. Attorney refused to act on his tips.

EWE will meet with his defense lawyer next week, and Jim Letten calls Perdigao’s allegations “malicious misrepresentations”

So how might all of this affect EWE?

According to Mike Small, EWE’s defense attorney, one of the grounds for EWE’s appeal was the failure of the feds to disclose the full extent of the “sweetheart deal” between Guidry and the feds. The feds are required to disclose to defendants the terms of plea bargains granted to prosecution witnesses. And a bribe to the U.S. Attorney? Well, that would be quite a material term.

Would this be enough to upset EWE’s conviction? Is Perdigao blowing smoke? Stay tuned.

I'm Tired of Politics

Well, at least for now I am. So I would rather blog about my new, adopted home-- Shreveport.

Before January of last year, I had lived my 44 years within a 10 mile radius in and around Baton Rouge. When our business in Shreveport was found needing adult supervision, I was the only person available. I resisted moving here on a "permanent" basis until last October, when we put the house in BR up for sale and moved all of our worldly belongings here.

Like most moves, this one has been a mixed bag. I miss my BR friends and the family I left there. My two older kids (one a sophomore in high school and the other a freshman at LSU) have roots and friends in BR that keep them there. We visit often and talk on the phone very often, but part of my heart is still in Baton Rouge.

Shreveport, however, has a lot to offer us. We are grateful for our friends at the Cathedral of St. John Berchman and the school there. We have made and continue to make new friends here.

Another great thing about Shreveport is the abundance of outdoor activities nearby and within a half-day's drive. My son and I ride our bikes on the path along Clyde Fant Parkway and the Red River. The best investment I have ever made is in a trailer bike. It is basically the back half of a small bike which clamps onto the seat of mine. I can and do pull him all over town. He pedals once in a while.

We have a sandbar that we visit often that we call "Treasure Island." We also ride to Downtown Airport and watch the planes take off and land. When the farmers market opens, we cycle up the bike path and fill up my knapsack full of fresh produce.

This weekend, we made a three hour trip to Hot Springs, AR. I used to picture a lot of old people waiting around bathhouses when I thought of Hot Springs. Now, I think of a place with a lot of good places to eat and a whole bunch of hiking path and biking opportunities.

Anyhow, my younger son and I rode up and down some serious hills and hiked some trails. I posted a picture of him at the Garvan Woodland Gardens, just outside of Hot Springs and well worth the trip.

A Whole Lot of Quid

Jindal’s detractors cry foul! They assert that there was quid pro quo in a recent award of a contract supported by $14 million in state dollars. We hear terms like “legalized bribery,” “legal corruption,” and “return on investment” being batted around. Jindal insists otherwise.

Two Inescapable Truths

Like most cases, we will not be able to prove quid pro quo in this one. I rarely agree with Jindal, but, heck, there might not be any ill intent on his part. Which leads me to my second conclusion.

This is largely a matter of perception. It stinks on ice! Makes it look like Jindal was bought like a sack of potatoes. Jindal promised to improve Louisiana’s image but has largely ignored campaign finance reform. This recent debacle shows that Jindal cannot improve our image without addressing campaign finance issues.

Quid Pro Quo? Prove It!

Quid pro quo means “this for that.” Quid pro quo implies bribery. Corruption.

The owner of the company to whom Louisiana awarded the contract, his relatives, and other companies he owns contributed at least $135,250 to Jindal. That sure is a lot of quid, especially considering the supposed $5,000.00 per donor contribution limit.

Neither can we reasonably argue that a large contract supported by $14 million in state dollars is not quo. And a whole lot of it.

Since there is both quid and quo, the only thing missing here is the pro, or the “for.” To determine whether the pro element exists, we must examine the motives of both the Jindal administration and the contractor. Unless both had an ill intent, there is no quid pro quo.

That pesky “pro” is what gives politicians and contractors plausible deniability. Aside from riverboat gaming licenses, the pro is almost always invisible and, most likely, unspoken. Winks, nods and nudges.

It would be interesting to know how much quid these donors gave to Blanco. According to Jindal’s economic development leader, contract discussions began with the Blanco administration. Giving money to politicians with such differing political philosophies raises questions about the contractor’s intent. But it would not prove quid pro quo.

Showing that Jindal favored the contractor by acting contrary to his usual philosophy would likewise raise questions about his intent. Jindal has shown a penchant for favoring corporations, so I do not see him acting contrary to his philosophy. Even if he did, it would not prove quid pro quo.

So, while giving his detractors a golden opportunity for mudslinging, the whole quid pro quo issue is largely academic. The fact that those benefiting from state government also contribute to political campaigns is no revelation.

Campaign Finance Reform—Change the Perception

Corporations and other entities cannot contribute to federal election campaigns. We need the same rule in Louisiana—individuals only. This would prevent (or at least make more difficult) the “bundling” of contributions that arises when related companies can each make a $5,000.00 contribution. Presently, individuals controlling numerous corporations or entities can easily circumvent the $5,000.00 limit by having each of their companies contribute $5,000.00. That is exactly what happened here.

Alternatively, we could require that individuals’ contributions be aggregated with those of corporations in which they control or own a certain percentage in calculating the limit. Contributions by corporations with interlocking ownership/directorship/officers could likewise be aggregated with each other in calculating the limit.

Campaigns should require individuals contributing more than a certain threshold ($250?) to disclose their employer. Campaign finance law should penalize employers who either coerce their employees to donate or who use employees as conduits by funneling money through them. At a minimum, there ought to be transparency in corporate employees’ contributions.

Politically, this will be a difficult sell. Bundled contributions are the crack cocaine of statewide campaigns.

Will limiting corporate contributions solve all of our perception problems? No way. Still, it is a good start. It will counter the perception that our elected officials are bought and paid for by those receiving benefits from the state.

To Spur Economic Development, Jindal Should Focus On Education

Jindal’s consistent mantra is that we need to bring business to Louisiana. That we need to create jobs. These are admirable goals, but is Jindal’s approach flawed?

Forbes magazine recently ranked 200 cities in its Best Places for Business and Career. Baton Rouge and Shreveport’s rankings of 142 and 162 overall would surprise few, but the components of the analysis just may surprise you.

Forbes evaluated three aspects of the cities: 1) cost of doing business, 2) job growth, and 3) educational attainment. In evaluating cost of doing business, Forbes considered costs of labor, energy, taxes and office space.

Despite ranking 5^th in cost of doing business and 81^st in job growth, Shreveport ranked 162 overall. Why? Because Shreveport ranked 158 in educational attainment. Baton Rouge ranked 50^th in cost of doing business and 43^rd in job growth, but it ranked 142 overall. Baton Rouge ranked 126 in educational attainment.

Little Rock, Arkansas, on the other hand, ranked 31 in cost of doing business and 32 overall. Why? Little Rock beat us out on educational attainment. It ranked 104^th in that category.

We could dismiss the Forbes list as skewed, an anomaly. Unfortunately, Money magazine’s Top 100 list for 2007 lists no Louisiana cities either. No love from Forbes or Money.

To be fair, there is more to the Forbes ranking than simply adding up the rankings numbers. Some cities that Forbes ranked better than Baton Rouge and Shreveport had higher total numbers. It appears, however, that the cities with higher educational attainment numbers ranked disproportionately higher in the overall rankings.

The Forbes rankings probably give us a glimpse into how captains of industry view our state. If so, having an educated workforce is the most important attribute for attracting new business.

This suggests that much of the Jindal administration’s initial legislative efforts amount to wheel spinning. Louisiana’s large cities already boast a comparatively low cost of doing business. Lowering it further by reducing taxes will not render us more attractive to business. And nowhere in the Forbes article does governmental ethics merit even a single mention.

A recent article in The Advocate suggests that we ought to reduce taxes on individuals, not business. Elliot Stonecipher says that the reason North Louisiana is losing population is because our young people are taking jobs in other states with no income taxes. So we are in a “race to the bottom” for business taxes while we overtax our young, encouraging them to seek jobs elsewhere. Go figure.

Bad Bet on the Bayou

Ok, I am way behind in reading this book, which was first published in 2001. It chronicles the rise of gambling in Louisiana and the fall of Edwin Edwards, who sometimes used the name “T. Wong” when gambling.

I remember receiving the news that Edwin Edwards had been convicted. It was as though Tom had just chewed Jerry up into small pieces and swallowed him. After that, the screen said “That’s All Folks,” and the story was over. For good. Having some recollection of Edwin’s escape from previous troubles, I truly had thought that the feds would never catch him. Hearing that a jury had convicted EWE was a major shock to my system and many others’ as well.

I had followed his last trial with some interest. Practicing law at the time, I had several matters pending in federal court during the trial. It became a big hassle to find a parking place. Nevertheless, it was fun to talk to all of the cameramen perched outside the courthouse door. They spent most of their day sitting around and waiting for something to happen.

The camera crews were nice to me. I usually forgot to take my cell phone from my pocket until I was at the metal detectors. The U.S. Marshals would not hold my phone for me. Before the cameramen, I had to go back to my car. When they arrived, I could just ask one of them to keep an eye on it for me. And they would.

Two things were eye opening about Bad Bet. First, I had no idea how deep and wide gambling’s influence was/is. Bad Bet talks about folks from North, South, East, and West. Folks from Louisiana, New York, California, Hawaii, and elsewhere. Legislators, other elected officials, bureaucrats, and businessmen. I had no idea how pervasive gambling’s influence really was.

The other eye opener was how blatant the corruption really was. The cronyism in making appointments to gambling regulatory boards looked bad. The blatant extortion exercised by EWE and Stephen was unbelievable. If the writer is to be believed, EWE and Stephen were quite blunt when they exacted payments for licenses. I was constantly thinking, “Man, if they were that blatant, it’s no wonder they got caught.”

Another good thing about Bad Bet is that the writer, Tyler Bridges, really built suspense as he described the feds tightening the noose on EWE and the rest. I knew how the story ended, but I still found myself thrilled by the dramatic tension Bridges created.

If you like stories of political intrigue and corruption, you will probably like Bad Bet. It was a bit repetitive, but a good read over all.

I Can’t Speak!

I have not felt much like blogging lately. Following the legislature and the governor lately has me in a bit of a funk. Even though his philosophy and mine are usually diametrically opposed, I still had hopes that he could move our state government in a better direction. Despite philosophy, it seemed that good, smart, sincere leadership could produce gains for the state.

So far, the "good" and "sincere" part seem missing. Looks like more of the same to me, the only difference being philosophy. "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who is playing over and over in my head.

When I first started practicing law, the attorney supervising me said that if you expect the worst in people, you will only rarely be disappointed. Not having had my ideals completely beaten out of me yet, I cannot adopt these diminished expectations. I am sometimes disappointed but will hang onto my ideals as long as I can.

So here’s a random post. I have had some sort of cold or something for about the last week. It affected my voice. I couldn’t sing in choir this Sunday. Missed choir practice yesterday. Will miss singing at Chrism Mass today and will likely miss Holy Thursday also.

I do not hold myself out to be particularly pious or "good," but I do love music. In the hour or two I spend at choir rehearsal, all of my other cares and worries completely fade. Listening to and helping make this beautiful music makes the idea of a loving, benevolent God much more plausible.

Today, I can barely speak at all.

For the most part, I speak for a living. Used to write more than speak, but now I mostly speak. So you can imagine how frustrating this day has become.

First thing--I needed to call a source of referrals for my business. They were trying to send us a client yesterday and wanted us to follow up by phone today. Between writing and speaking in the little bit of raspy voice I could muster, I asked one of our staff to make the call. Suffice it to say that I was constantly writing and whispering while she was on the phone. A frustrating experience for both of us.

Afterwards, I tried to take two phone calls. Not a good experience! One of the callers kept telling me to speak up. She had called me from a noisy restaurant where she was having lunch. Imagine Yosemite Sam saying "oooooooooohhhhhhhh!"

Days like today remind me how much we rely upon the spoken word to communicate. Despite email, IM, and texting, most of us communicate mostly by the spoken word. Virtually all of my communication with family is by speaking. Same with my friends. I know that the younger generations do a lot more texting and IM’ing than I, but I suspect they still rely more on speaking.

I don’t know where I am going with this, but what would we do if we suddenly could not speak? Some people lose their ability to speak through stroke or some other medical condition. Some hearing impaired folks do not speak.

I have always been thankful for many things but have pretty much taken my voice for granted. Now that I know what life without a voice is like, I am thankful for it also. How in the heck did this paragraph get into a smaller font? I didn't do it, and I surely can't call customer support!