by Josh IsraelNov 9, 2015 3:28pm
CREDIT: David Vitter campaign ad
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In his campaign to be Louisiana’s next governor, Republican U.S. Senator David Vitter is promising to “root out corruption and cronyism.” But his own record does not align with his current rhetoric.
Vitter, who will face state representative John Bel Edwards (D) in the November 21 runoff, claims that Louisiana is awash with “criminal investigations, sweetheart deals, [and] ethics violations.” He claims to be a “tireless champion for good government” and vows that, as governor, he would “will have a zero tolerance policy towards corruption and cronyism.”
The first item on his list of proposals is to “amend the ethics law to prohibit politicians from using campaign funds for personal perks like golf memberships and sports season tickets, or to pay immediate family members.” This item mirrors federal legislation he has offered repeatedly in the Senate.
But Family Affiair, a 2014 report by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), faulted Vitter for engaging in almost identical behavior.
“Sen. Vitter used funds from his leadership PAC to pay for a family outing and paid a cousin with campaign funds, leading CREW to include him in Family Affair, a look at how senators and their family members profit from their official positions,” the watchdog found.
It alleged that “In July 2013, Sen. Vitter’s leadership PAC reported paying the Baltimore Orioles $212 for game tickets, and the senator later posted on his Facebook page that his two daughters and his son visited Washington, D.C., and had ‘lots of fun — staff barbecue party, Orioles game and more.'” It also noted that “Sen. Vitter’s campaign also paid his cousin, Jim St. Raymond, more than $19,000 over the 2010 and 2012 election cycles for campaign strategy and direct mail services.” Technically a cousin would not violate Vitter’s proposed “immediate family” standard and single-game tickets would not quality as “season tickets.”
Vitter was cited by CREW on its 2007, 2011, and 2012 “Most Corrupt” Members of Congress Lists. These reports note that he was admonished by the Senate Ethics Committee for actions that undermined a “basic principal of government service,” and that he likely violated state prostitution laws.
Vitter’s opponent is currently running an ad suggesting that Vitter “chose prostitutes” over being present for a vote honoring soldiers killed in action. Vitter released a spot on Monday suggesting that his prostitution scandal taught him how to help Louisiana find redemption from its current “hard times.”
Louisiana, which not long ago claimed to be the “gold standard” for state ethics, received an “F” in the Center for Public Integrity’s 2015 State Integrity Index, released on Sunday.
The Vitter campaign did not immediately respond to a ThinkProgress inquiry about Vitter’s ethics record.
Senator Named ‘Most Corrupt’ Now Campaigning On Ethics Reform
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ADevilYouKhow
Rhyme Reason
This is why we can't have nice things.
Domingo Halliburton
Handmade in USA
No more Bobby Jindal 
Vitter's opponent has put out the most etherous attack ad I have seen in quite a while.
:sodemonic:
:sodemonic:
Dafunkdoc_Unlimited
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'White people' gon' 'white people'.
If I told the average American that this exact scenario was happening in Russia, they would chuckle and make a thinly veiled condescending remark about the unmitigated corruption over THERE
the cac mamba
Veteran
Vitter's opponent has put out the most etherous attack ad I have seen in quite a while.
:sodemonic:
even without this dude being a scumbag, give me someone who went and fought for this country EVERY fukkIN TIME, over the next man
we voted seth moulton in up here, some harvard dude who chose to go to iraq. ill take those dudes over the average candidate all day
This race is interesting in that it'll probably tell us whether any Democrat can win statewide in the south. Jack Conway failed as a strong candidate vs a weak opponent in Kentucky. Bel Edwards is as palatable a dem as you can get in Louisiana vs an objectively horrible, horrible opponent in Vitter.
A loss really doesn't arguer well for the Democratic Party.
A loss really doesn't arguer well for the Democratic Party.
even without this dude being a scumbag, give me someone who went and fought for this country EVERY fukkIN TIME, over the next man
we voted seth moulton in up here, some harvard dude who chose to go to iraq. ill take those dudes over the average candidate all day
the cac mamba
Veteran
fukk are you talkin about? whats wrong with taking the dudes dikk cheney sent to die, over dikk cheney?
even without this dude being a scumbag, give me someone who went and fought for this country EVERY fukkIN TIME, over the next man
we voted seth moulton in up here, some harvard dude who chose to go to iraq. ill take those dudes over the average candidate all day
This train of thinking is exactly why the republican base can just trump out baseless slogans about protecting our freedoms and other imaginary shyt to increase the military budget at the expense of social programs.
Going overseas to fight is not the only way to serve your country.