You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Home Front: Politix
Scandal-hit Jefferson wins Louisiana runoff
2006-12-10

U.S. Rep. William Jefferson easily defeated his fellow Democratic opponent in a runoff election Saturday, despite an ongoing federal bribery investigation.
What federal bribery investigation?
In complete but unofficial returns, Jefferson, Louisiana's first black congressman since Reconstruction, received 57 percent of the vote over state Rep. Karen Carter, who had 43 percent.

Carter was unable to capitalize on a scandal that included allegations the FBI found $90,000 in bribe money in Jefferson's freezer. In a concession speech, Carter embraced family members and pledged to work with Jefferson, especially on the area's recovery from Hurricane Katrina. "I guess the people are happy with the status-quo," she said.
Very politely put, Karen.
Jefferson was forced into the runoff against Carter when he failed to win 50 percent of the vote in a crowded open multiparty primary. Carter had sought to become the first black woman from Louisiana elected to Congress.
Posted by:gorb

#9  Get yourself elected to the Cook County Board, DB, and we'll get you one. At least one. Mebbe more.
Posted by: Steve White   2006-12-10 16:11  

#8  Hell, Steve, I wish I could get a pension.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2006-12-10 15:17  

#7  And said Illinois (specifically, Chicago) parent politico manuevered this in such a way that she retires from the County Board with a double pension.

Wish I could get a double pension.
Posted by: Steve White   2006-12-10 12:31  

#6  Hah! In lllinois we have had the THIRD child of a politico appointed to their parents office WITHOUT RUNNING FOR ELECTION. No matter how you hard you try, you are bush league in corruption and usurpation of democracy
Posted by: Angaper Shereting9641   2006-12-10 12:00  

#5  The lead story in the local business section today is on the housing market here - inventory is up 50% and prices are tumbling. People here who have jobs and property are trying to get out; we know the corruption and incompetence of the powerful is too much for a Katrina recovery to overcome.
But wait, there's more: Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc. are for the most part not taking donations (no demand/room). You'd think with all these people who 'lost everything' there'd be demand for this serviceable used stuff, but it appears that only 'new' is good enough for them.
On the other hand, a few shops catering to luxuries for the elite (eg. $2000 Christening gowns) are doing very well. Somebody has money - presumably from the various layers of corruption and 'consultants' that are consuming all the 'recovery' money before it gets to the actual victims. Last I heard (a week or two ago), the actual grants paid out still totalled under $100,000. That is not a typo. Out of over a billion dollar budget.
Seriously, contact your elected officials and tell them to quit flushing money down the Mississippi River.
Posted by: Glenmore   2006-12-10 09:32  

#4  Back when the British were running India, from the days of Cornwallis they had a simple way of making sure that officials were honest: combine paying them enough money to live a solid middle to upper middle class lifestyle relative to their peers with an absolute guarantee of punishment and disgrace if they failed to live up to the high moral standards set for them. It worked very well; I've had a number of Indian graduate students, including some with a very nationalistic bent, tell me that the British Raj was by far the most honest, even if rather hidebound, government India has ever had.
Posted by: mac   2006-12-10 08:31  

#3  I'll beat this dead horse again. You pay cheap, you get cheap. If you pay well enough, you'll actually attract people of substance, in skill, intelligence, and integrity to put up with the crap that is the American political game. But hey, it feels good to make them appear to 'serve' the public interest, that the position should not be full time, that .... and on with all the myths. And you think the LLL is living in another universe. Tell me where is the professional team that has the lowest payroll usually end up in the standings at the end of the year?
Posted by: Procopius2k   2006-12-10 08:15  

#2  Brilliant work Mac. LA, politicians are the cheapest. Course it's a poor state. $90,000 ain't gonna get Mister Charley.
Posted by: Shipman   2006-12-10 06:40  

#1  Hey, NOLA! Want to hear my response to your requests for any more Fed cash? Thanks though for providing yet another absolutely irrefutable proof of Dem corruption and dishonesty. NOLA and the Dems: if you put all their elected officials in a barrel and rolled it down a hill, you'd always have a crooked bastard on top. You deserve each other.
Posted by: mac   2006-12-10 05:30  

00:00