Wooley's arrogance gives Odom a run for his money

Insurance Commissioner "Pimp(le) My Ride" Robert Wooley is giving Agriculture Secretary Bob Odom a run for his money as the most arrogant elected official in Louisiana. Not only does he not reverse or apologize for his having the state’s taxpayers buy him another luxury vehicle after just one year, he tries to justify it.

Some gems from this public servant:

The House Appropriations Committee hardly bothered to vet his department’s budget, which its chairman John Alario argued was because “Since it's not general fund you're tapping into, I guess it doesn't bother us as much.” Wooley was next to him and announced that he took this to mean that he was a model public servant because he cut his agency's spending 5 percent at the governor's request. Great; so did almost everybody other department head. But you didn’t see the likes of Treasurer John Kennedy then rushing out to buy a new vehicle after your present one got only a year’s use. And the reason hardly anybody raised a fuss was the committee is stacked 17-2 in favor of good old boy and girl Democrats who probably would do the same thing if they could get away with it

Wooley also said that he opted for a regular paint job rather than the flame decals that were part of the package. I am so impressed with the concern for the public weal this man Wooley has! What a sacrifice he made, sticking it to the taxpayers for only about $40,000 instead of $41,000!

The truck replaced a 2004 Ford Eddie Bauer-designer edition Expedition that had 30,000 miles on it. Uh, OK, I have a shade under 75,000 miles on my seven-year old van. Maybe he might try to squeeze a few more miles out of his state vehicles if he rather than the taxpayers paid for it.

Wooley said he declines other perks, such as having the state charter him a plane or pay for his cell phone calls. Wow, so it’s all right to abuse the taxpayers a lot, instead of a whole lot?

Wooley said he has saved the state millions of dollars by paying cash for the new building his department occupies. He said he didn't fuss when asked to cut his budget or when told to lease equipment that the state owns free and clear. That is so big of him! Imagine a state official actually treating the resources of his agency not as his own but as the taxpayers’? In other words, actually doing what his job requires? To what do we owe for this munificence?

Wooley said his enemies are trying to embarrass him. “They're not going to intimidate me out of doing my job,” he said. Sounds like he’s doing a good job of embarrassing himself by himself, and if he means living high of the taxpayers, he’s doing a good job of that already.

We don’t need this kind of arrogance in state government. It shows the lack of real understanding that Louisiana voters have about politicians to put this guy in office instead of an upstanding, citizen-conscious man like Dan Kyle as happened in 2003. We’re stuck with this loser for the next couple of years, but let’s at least control this disregard for taxpayers by passing bills like Sen. Art Lentini’s SB 44 which would stop abusive practices like Wooley’s.