Stan Brosky Member-at-Large, Lafayette Parish Republican Executive Committee

CONSTITUTIONAL: WHAT IS THE QUESTION OF ‘SAFESPEED VANS?” (As published in the Daily Advertiser)

I will always rise to answer or debate a Constitutional question.  I respond now to Mr. Mike Hinson’s challenge presented in his guest editorial of November third.  A number of our Founding Fathers were educated in military traditions, which was in their day the schools of engineering.  Yet these men also had time to study philosophy and the rights of men.  Perhaps the contemporary curriculum for engineering provides little time for history and philosophy with the technical demands of the discipline.

First a little history; one of the most sophisticated and technologically savvy societies of the 20^th Century was Germany.  Following WWI and the fall of their monarchy, Germany enacted one of the most liberal and democratic constitutions guaranteeing the rights of men and a free society.  Simply said, Germany’s post war economic woes and numerous splinter groups exercising their new found freedoms in the streets bought a popular cry for “order”.  This new order came right out of the free election process in the form of the Nazi Party who restored “order” by suspending the rights of free men under the Achilles Heel of the Wimar Constitution –“‘emergency powers.”  The rest is history and millions of lives were lost in the process.

If you are a hunter or a gun owner Mr. Hinson, thank God for the NRA and people like me who defend your Second Amendment rights.  Your guest editorial was an exercise of your First Amendment rights. Have you ever read the whole Bill of Rights, the first ten Amendments?

Let me enlighten you and the public about the issues at hand.  Under the Fourth Amendment one is guaranteed the right of privacy in one’s home etc. and  the courts have consistently ruled that this applies to one’s automobile as an extension of the home.  One is not “in public” in one’s car. The Fifth Amendment guarantees due process of law not a mailed fine notice with the threat of collections for nonpayment on demand.  The Sixth  Amendment guarantees the right to a trial in a court of law and the right to confront one’s accuser.  The SafeSpeed van operator does not appear only the photograph in an administrative tribunal. 

Those that sacrifice hard earned freedoms for the sake of the order that technology brings to a modern society fail to realize that this is one more step away from the liberties and rights we all are guaranteed under our Constitution.  Not all things that the ACLU and others argue seem prudent but we must be ever thankful to those willing to draw a line on those that would limit our freedoms by misusing the   powers entrusted to them by we the people. 

Stanley T. Brosky

NOTE: For those who have become "clients" of Redflex and received mail from same, you may want to explore this website - http://www.reportredflex.com

Dear Friends,

Recently, I was elected to an At-Large vacancy on the Republican PEC by its members and was humbled to be in the company of two other newly elcted members, former State Representatives Ron Gomez and Ernie Alexander, who filled the remaining vacancies until the February 9th Presidential Preference Primary.  In this election, we three "new incumbents" will stand for election with other party officials for a full term.

As you know, I have retired from my AOC TV series to devote more time to family, charities, and my book.  I will, hovever, use this website to post commentaries on various issues from time to time. I invite you to use the "contact us" link to commuicate or comment on the contents of this website.

Thank you for visiting and I look forward to hearing from you as the year unfolds.  From my family to yours, may you have a blessed and prosperous 2008.

Stan 

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TO DREAM THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM

ETHICS REFORM IN LOUISIANA GOVERNMENT

The Council for a Better Louisiana (CABL) has posted an ethics reform recommendation for Governor-elect Bobby Jindal that includes five key points: the reform package needs to be substantive to cover the obvious issues; it needs to pass the “smell test” that citizens feel good about it improving our ethics and campaign-finance laws; it needs to cover areas where the public knows specific problems exist or bars current practices people just do not like; it cannot be too restrictive with conflict-of-interest rules so as to prohibit many qualified people from serving; and the focus should always be on transparency wherein the public can easily research disclosure information.

Those who know me well know that I have lived and worked in several states serving in government or close to government throughout my career.  I have lived long enough in Louisiana; married into the culture; served in Louisiana government; and run for office in Louisiana; such that I have an understanding of our traditions and cultural-political folkways in Louisiana.  I was there as a state appointive employee when my native state of Pennsylvania adopted a comprehensive ethics reform program after several ranking members of legislature were convicted on Federal corruption charges and our State Treasurer committed suicide on live television following conviction on a mail fraud charges.  Pennsylvania citizens had enough.  Louisiana citizens are still entertained with a former Governor and several insurance commissions in jail among other former officials.

Until the media ferrets-out and exposes questionable practices ad nausea for the public to see and comprehend, we will have business as usual with window dressing reforms for public relations sake. Public officials, whether elected or appointed, must be as Caesar’s wife – above reproach. Our problem, according to a series in the Baton Rouge ADVOCATE is the very basis of our state’s economy.  Government is the economic engine that drives our economy.  Government in its various state and local forms is the major employer in Louisiana and the major source of contracts for services and supplies.  According to The Advocate, only 42 per cent of our citizens work and more than half that number, 22%, work for state or local government.  That means that only twenty per cent of us produce the wealth that supports 80% of our fellow citizens as government consumes wealth.  Until the focus of our economic development expands the wealth creation horizons of our state, we are mired in the status quo and can only hope to reduce excess but not eliminate conflicts-of-interest.

In my native state of Pennsylvania, all elected and appointed officials must report to the state ethics commission all annual household income, themselves, spouse, business interests, investments and investment income.  It is now common for Pennsylvania politicians to release their income tax returns as campaign practice.  These same officials cannot accept gifts, meals, sporting events tickets, junkets, or transportation.  Lobbyists are barred from the floor of the legislative chambers and they must report their political contributions and annual operating budgets and expenses.  In this manner the public knows who is seeking favor and of whom.  Elected and appointed officials may not contract with government entities nor hold more than one public salary position. So there are no school board employees holding a city council seat etc. At present this is almost impossible to imagine in Louisiana. 

There will always be the spouse as a contractor; children as employees of regulated or contracted business; and stocks held by officials who are somehow engaged with government.  The media keeps tabs on these circumstances and officials know when to recues themselves when a vote or an executive decision comes before them.  Most try to avoid conflict or seek an opinion from the ethics commission. 

So long as Louisiana citizens view public officials and appointive officials as humorous “hogs at the trough” enjoying the spoils of the election process, we will have no serious ethics reform and we the people will continue to pay the cost of those eating at our expense.  We can do better and we should insist that our officials rise to a higher standard.  The result will be that we all live better as no one will have a privilege over the common soul.  Our economy will expand as business will be more interested in doing business here if there is not a cover charge of political corruption.

I am optimistic that we will have some substantive ethics reform with Governor Jindal but this will not be comprehensive and the pursuit of true reform will be always just be just beyond our grasp.  Public pressure and a motivated media will eventually turn the tide.  This is going to be a long term process and there will be no simple “fix” in the present milieu.  Too many of the “reformers” have a vested interest in the status quo and many practices will be “grandfathered” at best for current incumbents.  We the people need to keep the pressure for reform constant.  Keep in mind that those in office will want some “compensation” for reform in the form of higher salaries for holding office under the guise that this is “required” to attract people into government.  Perhaps it is better to pay them now than to see what we really paid them latter in the cost for phony services and useless research.  Now is the time to draw the line in the sand.

STB