[StBernard] Melancon Versus Romero

[Westley Annis]

Westley,

Just a reminder for everyone who will vote.  I can recall a long, detailed
story NPR news did on their daily afternoon news shows "All Things
Considered" (which airs on WWNO FM-89) last year after Charlie Melancon had
been in office only a few months.

The story focused on how many member of Congress were getting expensive,
luxury vacations paid for by the lobbyist groups in Washington, D.C.  While
they mentioned several members of Congress, one the worst they highlighted
was Charlie Melancon.  I can even recall the reporter saying how it didn't
take Melancon long capitalize on the perks of being a Congressman, stressing
the point that he had only been if office a few months as a rookie
Congressman and already he was taking foreign trips that cost well into the
tens of thousands of dollars.

Now imagine that...535 member of Congress and they highlight the corruption
of "our" rookie Congressman.  But it was funny how the NPR story never
mentioned anything about David Vitter or Bobby Jindal - that's because they
hadn't taken any trips from lobbyist.  The NPR story pointed out that in the
very least Melancon's accepting the trips was highly unethical and was on
the verge of being illegal if not properly reported in his campaign
disclosure reports (which all members of Congress must file).

I think this poor judgement on Melancon's part speaks volumes of who voters
should consider to be their Congressman.

If anyone questions the news story I just referenced on National Public
Radio, you can contact them and get a complete transcript of any story
they've done over the past 20 years.

- John Scurich