Right or wrong, trading votes entrenched in political system
by Robert Morgan - The Town Talk (excerpt)

For all those idealists who think they know how government should work, Gov. Bobby Jindal's agreement with Tom Benson to keep the Saints football team in New Orleans must be a big disappointment.

Not that keeping the team is wrong in itself, but it probably galls some people that the votes for the Saints deal are tied to votes needed to bail out a chicken processing plant in North Louisiana.

According to published reports, North Louisiana lawmakers were not too keen on voting to approve an $85 million deal that will keep the Saints in New Orleans until 2025.

They reportedly became a little more amenable to the idea when New Orleans area and South Louisiana lawmakers dropped their opposition to spending $50 million to help a California company buy a chicken processing plant that employs 1,300 people and benefits 300 farmers in North Louisiana.

In plain language, that is called trading votes, something that has been condemned at times over the years by "good government" organizations.

But just about anyone who has been around the political system for any time would likely tell you that is how democracy works.

Cartoon by LaRochelle