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Archive for August, 2009

Aug 30

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Disingenuous

The Louisiana GOP suddenly discovered that the Census always counts people living in the United States, not just residents of the United States, and that DHS, USCIS, and local law enforcement don’t accompany Census takers. And they’re outraged! The Associated Press per The Town Talk (bold mine):

The chairman of the Louisiana Republican Party says the GOP is considering legal action to oppose federal plans to count illegal immigrants in the 2010 census.

GOP Chairman Roger Villere said if illegal immigrants are counted, Louisiana would lose one of its seven congressional seats.

U.S. census information is used to determine the level of federal aid states get for numerous programs. The census numbers are also used for redrawing election districts to reflect population shifts. Some analysts have said including non-citizens have inflated the count in other states, such as California and Texas.

Villere said options include working through Congress and the Obama administration to change census plans and going to court.

Does anyone follow Villere’s logic here? Because, to me, there is one gigantic and and blatantly obvious logical flaw in suggesting that the more people we count in the Census, the more likely it is that we will lose a Congressional seat.

But then again, maybe Villere is banking on the counter-attack: Because if the Louisiana Democrats were to call overt attention to his obvious logical flaw, he could (and probably would) retort, “They support counting illegal immigrants, because they believe it increases the chances of keeping a majority-Democratic Congressional district.”

Villere’s earning some media by grandstanding on immigration and hoping his adversaries will take the bait.

It doesn’t matter that he’s illogical and disingenuous.

Villere? What is that, French!?

Aug 27

Benefits of Health Care Reform in Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District

Per the House Committee on Energy and Commerce:

America’s Affordable Health Choices Act would provide significant benefits in the 5th Congressional District of Louisiana:  up to 12,400 small businesses could receive tax credits to provide coverage to their employees; 6,300 seniors would avoid the donut hole in Medicare Part D; 1,600 families could escape bankruptcy each year due to unaffordable health care costs; health care providers would receive payment for $271 million in uncompensated care each year; and 143,000 uninsured individuals would gain access to high-quality, affordable health insurance.  Congressman Rodney Alexander represents the district.

Aug 27

3 Comments

Charlie

“I’ll be a Senator that you can be proud of.”

I imagine this will be a running theme.

Aug 26

7 Comments

Rising Tide Reflections

I am finally back from New Orleans, after a long weekend and a couple of days of meetings, tours, and even a trip by Lil’ Wayne’s old apartment. (No, not on purpose). This was my first year attending Rising Tide, an annual conference of New Orleans area bloggers, and I am pleased to report that RT IV was an absolute blast.

Harry Shearer was both insightful and hilarious (we were even treated to Montgomery Burns), and he is, undoubtedly, a true champion of the City of New Orleans.

Hopefully, I was only underwhelming as a panelist on the politics panel, but I learned a great lesson: If you’re ever on a panel with John Slade, don’t share a microphone. In all seriousness, Mr. Slade was great, as were Clancy DuBos and Ethan Brown (whose new book looks chillingly awesome). I hadn’t done much homework on the New Orleans Mayor’s race, which was the most popular item on the agenda, but it definitely appears as if this race will soon be on hyperspeed.

And I would recount the other topics we discussed, but I’m really not in the mood for a protracted debate.

That said, it was a real pleasure to finally meet, in person, Adrastos, Clancy DuBos, Oyster, E., Loki, Mominem, Jeffrey, Liprap, Karen Gadbois, Greg, sophmom, Tim, Michael, Blake, Maitri, and the rest of the gang, some of whom shall remain anonymous.

I second Eli: A Rising Tide IV.5 (or at least another blogger’s roundtable) is an awesome idea.

Aug 26

9 Comments

Edward Moore Kennedy

Exactly one year before he died:

On my drive up from New Orleans this morning, I was thinking about health care and how meaningful it would be if Senator Kennedy could live to see the passage of health care reform. I didn’t know he had already passed away.

This is a sad day for America and for the State of Louisiana, whose native daughter Vicki lost her husband yesterday.

I wasn’t in the room when Ted Kennedy delivered his speech at last year’s DNC; I was camped out in the blogger’s tent, watching the entire event with bloggers and journalists from all over the world. And I can vividly recall how his presence and his speech deeply moved so many of the people around me, some of whom openly wept as Kennedy spoke.

This summer, I read The Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy, which I highly recommend, and today, I am particularly struck by the truth of the book’s central thesis: That Ted Kennedy fell before he rose, that he redeemed himself in our country, and that, because of his redemption, tens of millions of Americans, myself included (he sponsored the Americans with Disabilities Act), benefit from a country with less tolerance for bigotry, with more opportunities for minorities, the disabled, the working class, and the poor.

We are a better country because of the contributions given to us by Edward Moore Kennedy.

Aug 26

1 Comment

Socialism Around Us…EVERYWHERE!!!!!! (gasp!)

I’ve been thinking of writing something very similar to this for the past month or so, but ran across this piece in the Shreveport Times today. The author, Jared Clemons, says it as well as I ever could…

Socialism is bad. And as Elmer Fudd would advise, we need be “vewy vewy quiet” when speaking of something as truly heinous as socialism.

But I’ve always had a penchant for being taboo, so I will have to respectfully go against Mr. Fudd’s recommendation.

So what is socialism? According to Merriam-Webster, socialism is defined as “any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.” OK — simple enough, right?

At a recent town hall meeting in Lebanon, Pa., a livid Katy Abram fulminated against health care reform, specifically the public option because it would be the “systematic dismantling of this country” and would end up “turning (the U.S.) into Russia” or some other socialist country.

I can totally understand why Ms. Abram would want to cure this country of the socialist malignance that has continually pervaded this country since the Constitution was drafted.

Here are a couple examples of socialism’s ominous influence:

Libraries: Oh my God, Becky, look at her… books? How does she have that? I’ll tell you how — because of your tax dollars. Yes, the government collects your, my, our tax dollars for the purpose of erecting a commonplace where we can share a service, essentially, for little-to-no cost.

As horrible as this sounds, this idea is still being allowed to permeate across this nation and as we speak, somebody is using my tax dollars to enjoy a service that simply perpetuates this socialistic demon. Down with the library!

Medicare: Yes, even Granny is a socialist. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administers Medicare (the nation’s largest health insurance program) to nearly 40 million Americans age 65 or older, some disabled people under age 65, and people of all ages with End-Stage Renal Disease (permanent kidney failure treated with dialysis or a transplant).

Yes, you read correctly, 40 million elderly individuals are a part of this socialistic plague. And it’s important to note that they even realize that they’re contributing to the problem, as many of our nation’s senior citizens have vehemently expressed their opposition to allowing the government to have a more integral role in regulating health care.

“Keep your government hands off my Medicare” is the battle cry that many folks have been chanting as of recent. Well, rather than tie the government’s hands, let’s go even further and do away with the lurid idea of Medicare altogether! Yippee!
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There isn’t enough time to adequately condemn socialism’s insidious existence, but here are a few more examples of how socialism has invaded our nation: public transportation, the interstate system, social security, and sidewalks — yes, even that concrete slab in front of your beautiful capitalistic home is a facet of socialism.

As Ms. Abram stated so passionately to Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., on behalf of the other exasperated patrons in the building, “You have awakened the sleeping giant. We are tired of this.” And rightfully so.

America, it’s time to do something about Socialism.

Let’s march the streets in protest — the streets that socialism built, of course.

But for the sake of not allowing hypocrisy to dismantle this anti-socialist movement, only those who haven’t pushed along this socialistic agenda need engage in this protest.

Any able bodies? I’d think not.

Jared Clemons, of Lake Charles, is a senior at LSU majoring in political science.

Mr. Clemons well points out the idiocy of this argument against anything Obama. From health care to the Town Talks rant today against Cash for Clunkers, critics are far too quick to jump on the anti-socialism bandwagon. Of course these same critics seem just a quick to ignore the many aspects of their life that would not exist without that same socialism; they would have you believe that they themselves have never in fact benefited from socialism.

Let’s see…in Central Louisiana we have roads, hospitals (yes although private all of our local hospitals were mostly built with government funds), public schools, police, fire protection, water service, the postal service, the military, ball parks, golf courses, neighborhood parks, drainage, Kisatchie (almost entirely built by those evil socialist nightmares the WPA and CCC), dams & flood control, airports, public universities.

That last one is an interesting one because so many of the voices of the anti-everything-Obama movement are coming from university professors. That’s interesting because every university in Louisiana was built and is funded at least in part by the US government. Centenary’s campus in Shreveport was built by the WPA. LC gets funding from all sorts of government agencies and is actively seeking more funding for a medical school. Even my own Tulane which prides itself in being the only major private university to be fully non-sectarian was originally built by the state legislature as the University of Louisiana. It gets hundreds of millions of dollars a year from state and federal coffers. And of course, every public university in the state is pure socialism and every instructor and professor at those universities are government employees. So when a professor from LSU speaks out against socialism, I find it strange that he would want to dismantle the system that provides his paycheck, insurance, and retirement each month.

Two sides of a coin…(oops, oh wait, coins are socialism too…)

Aug 20

2 Comments

Prepping for Rising Tide IV

In preparation for my appearance on Rising Tide’s politics panel this weekend, I’ve been doing some homework on our friends and neighbors down in New Orleans. Here’s what I’ve discovered:

  • Sources tell me that New Orleanians are set to elect a new Mayor early next year. I don’t have any early favorites, but like Blake at Humid Haney, I have been following the campaign of James Perry.  It is encouraging and interesting to see a candidate so engaged and focused so early on, and it’s also interesting that Mr. Perry seems to be the only candidate, thus far, that fully appreciates the power of social networking in politics. I am not even a resident of the Great City of New Orleans, but because of Perry’s online outreach, I know more about where he stands on the issues than any other candidate. (Bill White, the Mayor of Houston and a candidate for United States Senate, is employing the same tactics, and I think it’s a smart move).
  • The New Orleans City Attorney says there’s a difference between “special” and “other” counsel in order to justify Nagin’s hiring of a high-priced D.C. law firm to defend him against all of those pesky public records complaints… without City Council approval. A friend of mine says, “Sometimes, you just have to make the best argument you can, even when you know it’s a losing argument.” It surely looks like she is attempting to justify subverting their City Charter by inventing distinctions between and definitions of “special” and “other” counsel to pay for Nagin’s legal defense.
  • This Nickelodeon story is hilarious to me. Great for New Orleans, I guess. I am not sure why the City ever got into the amusement park business to begin with; still, the story, as I read it, seems to expose the disconnect between private-sector solutions and public-sector posturing. It appeared as if the Nickelodeon announcement took everyone by surprise, including the City Council and the Mayor’s Office, both of whom seemed already invested in some sort of sports complex concept. Another friend of mine, who is an amusement park aficionado, says the Nickelodeon deal has been discussed on amusement park Internet forums for well over two months now. I guess I missed it. I am sure many of you in New Orleans have been paying closer attention.
  • Every week, I meet or talk with planners and architects who say they’re involved in New Orleans redevelopment projects. Outside of the United Arab Emirates, New Orleans may be the best place for urban planners and architects in the world. The question is: Will any of these fancy plans and beautiful drawings ever become real? Or will all of these plans be subverted by those who don’t want their master plan to have the force of law? I thought the issue was already resolved by the voters; apparently, a handful of people with a lot of money believe otherwise.

Aug 13

19 Comments

“(If You Want Health Care) Go to War or Get a Job” Shouted at Local College Student During Rodney Alexander Town Hall Meeting

Unless you really feel like laboring through two and a half minutes of misinformed right-wing falsehoods, misleading statistics, and extreme xenophobic paranoia, skip ahead to 2:30 on this video, where you will see a brave LSUA student, proudly sporting an Obama campaign t-shirt, respectfully asking a question about health care and the insurance industry to Congressman Rodney Alexander.

To the Congressman’s credit, he personally selected her and remained respectful as she asked her question, which cannot be said of the rest of the audience, many of whom attempted to drown out her question.

This young woman is Caina Munson, and as she attempted to explain, she is a hard-working 21-year-old college student who grew up in a working-class family and who lost her health care coverage when she turned nineteen years old. (Today, she has coverage, something she was unable to explain due to the jeers of the audience; she was simply attempting to underline her experience as an example of the flaws in today’s system).

Instead of Congressman Alexander responding to her question, a man in the audience jumped to his feet, proceeded to explain his qualifications as an authentic American, and then lambasted Ms. Munson, suggesting that if she wanted health care, she should get a full-time job, while some suggested she should simply go to war. What patriots!

By the way, Congressman, Ms. Munson did not claim you voted to take us into war; she said you voted to fund the war.

Aug 12

14 Comments

Disabled Students In Louisiana Are More Likely To Be Subjected To Corporal Punishment

According to a recent report by Human Rights Watch, students with disabilities are much more likely to be spanked or subjected to corporal punishment than students without disabilities. Quoting from the press release:

In the 70-page report, “Impairing Education: Corporal Punishment of Students with Disabilities in US Public Schools,” the ACLU and Human Rights Watch found that students with disabilities made up 18.8 percent of students who suffered corporal punishment at school during the 2006-2007 school year, although they constituted just 13.7 percent of the total nationwide student population. At least 41,972 students with disabilities were subjected to corporal punishment in US schools during that year. These numbers probably undercount the actual rate of physical discipline, since not all instances are reported or recorded.

Corporal punishment, legal in 20 states, typically takes the form of “paddling,” during which an administrator or teacher hits a child repeatedly on the buttocks with a long wooden board. ACLU and Human Rights Watch interviews found that students with disabilities also suffered many other forms of corporal punishment, including beatings, spanking, slapping, pinching, being dragged across the room, and being thrown to the floor.

The report found that some students were physically abused for conduct related to their disabilities, including students with Tourette syndrome being punished for exhibiting involuntary tics and students with autism being punished for repetitive behaviors such as rocking. In some cases, corporal punishment against students with disabilities led to a worsening of their conditions. For instance, some parents reported that students with autism became violent toward themselves or others following corporal punishment.

The report is alarming, though not too surprising, and it underscores the need to ban corporal punishment in the twenty states where it is still legal, including the Great State of Louisiana. No doubt, there are many “advocates” of corporal punishment who believe such methods serve as a deterrent. And it may. But it doesn’t belong in the school, where educators and administrators are often uninformed about a child’s specific problems or disabilities. It should not be the prerogative or responsibility of the American public education system to inflict physical or bodily harm on school children, particularly when we know that disabled students are disproportionately targeted.

I am a disabled American, and I am also a product of the Louisiana public school system. I never had a teacher even threaten corporal punishment against me, except for once, in sixth grade, when a teacher terrified me by saying she wanted to rip my fingers off (I had been accused of flipping off a fellow student, not one of my best moments). But I can recall, very vividly, thinking how ridiculous and cruel it was for a teacher- an adult- to physically threaten a kid who, at the time, got around with a walker.

The New York Times picked up on the study and recently published a story about it, which included this revealing graphic:

Picture 20

In Louisiana, 1.7% of all students received corporal punishment, compared with 2.4% of disabled students. This is simply unacceptable.

I know we’re rolling back our educational standards here in Louisiana, championing a new high school diploma without all of those pesky “academic” requirements as if we’re on the cutting edge of education. But to me, this is a terrible problem with an easy fix: Ban corporal punishment. Thirty other states in the union have already done so, and if you study this map carefully, you’ll notice those states tend to rank way higher in education than those that allow corporal punishment.

In other words, there doesn’t seem to be a causal relationship between corporal punishment and academic excellence.

Aug 9

10 Comments

Realistic Rail Options for Louisiana

There has recently been a decent amount of discussion regarding the possibility of high speed rail in Louisiana.  And while any rail is good in my book, I think both the supporters and detractors of rail expansion are missing the point when it comes to what rail options will work and would actually provide a net positive benefit for our state and region.  As I mentioned in a comment to a previous post, one thing we have to do is to get past this idea that rail is something for New Orleans, Baton Rouge, or only the I-10 corridor.  Rail systems are referred to as networks because they must be treated as a holistic transportation asset that benefit not just one lone area or demographic, but the population as a whole.  Our rail planning for Louisiana must be holistic as well and envisage a plan that benefits the entire state and not just one or two population centers.  So let’s look at a couple of options that unlike those proposed thus far, would actually make money for the state while giving us the chance to move away from car dependence and to a more sustainable, less personally costly model:

High Speed Passenger Rail

High Speed Passenger Rail service works well in certain areas due to the nature of the cities it services.  In Germany, France, and the UK cities are developed in such a way that most business is better accomplished by public transportation than by car.  Subways, trams, metro rail, and buses, bike paths, and very walkable centers make navigating by foot easier and often cheaper and quicker than by car.  There is also an established regional and intercity rail system in these areas which allows the high speed trains to be just one more option in a very diversified system.

Likewise, in the US, the Acela high speed trains of the Amtrak system have succeeded for similar reasons.  Acela trains only serve Boston, Manhattan, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and DC.  The trains go directly to the cities’ business centers and tie in with efficient, established, local service (mostly subways).  The ridership of these trains is also primarily business oriented with people riding between these 5 business centers.  It was less of a gamble to delve into the Acela line because the majority of its ridership was virtually guaranteed and already in place.

Developing Passenger Rail in Louisiana presents obstacles these systems did not have.

The biggest obstacle to success for train service in Louisiana is the layout of our cities.  Louisiana bit hard into the magical cookie of 1960′s urban sprawl.  Life in the suburbs away from…well…everything, was the mantra of generations of residents, developers and city planners.  It has unfortunately left us with metropolitan areas sometimes with no defined urban center, and nearly always with no truly effective form of local public transit.  At one time New Orleans had 22 streetcar lines.  Today it has two and a half.  At one time Alexandria had about 5 lines.  Today even the idea of a streetcar draws cries of absurdity.  In our cities today car is king, gas is gold, and the working commuters of our state fear the day gas once again crosses that $4 per gallon mark.

The fact is, passenger rail cannot succeed in Louisiana until we reinstitute effective mass transit systems at the local level.  Without such an investment we have the option of building trains to nowhere which people will likely not ride.  Years ago I was on an Amtrak train from NYC to Darienne, CT.  For some reason the train had to stop its run short and I was let out in downtown Stanford at around 1130pm.  There is NOTHING in downtown Stanford, Connecticut at night.  The connecting trains were not running until 430am and I spent a nice boring night walking some very empty streets in a downtown with no people and no connections to the parts of town where people may have been.  Aside from New Orleans, that’s what riding a train in Louisiana would be like if we instituted inter-city rail.  No one wants to go nowhere.

Option 1 – Motorail

People need a way to get around when they get to their destination.

With the absence of dependable effective local transit in our cities, the people of our state depend on their cars.  Those without cars are generally poor and thus don’t matter (oops, we’re not supposed to really talk about that are we).  But yes, you need a car to get around our cities and as many Rail detractors have argued, people are not going to ride a train to somewhere just to be stranded without a car.

Well, they don’t have to be.  Motorail — high speed rail cars that transport automobiles is the answer.  These are in successful operation in many countries around the world and run 24 hours a day through the very profitable Eurotunnel (Chunnel).

Motorail cars trailing passenger cars
Motorail cars trailing passenger cars

The Motorail model is very simple.  Passengers who want to ride the train to their destination and then connect to local rail or whatever ride the train as normal.  But those who wish to drive their car at their destination simply purchase a motorail ticket, drive their car onto the car carrier and then go to their seat on the train.  At the end of the journey they simply drive right off just like you would on a river ferry.

The loading and unloading process takes about 10-15 minutes on each end.  Considering there is no hassling with luggage or finding transport at the station, that delay is easily nullified.

This could actually work in Louisiana.

The benefits to the motorail option are obvious.  Train systems would have increased ridership and be able to maintain profitable operation.  The cost of the motorail ticket for travelers would be a fraction of the cost of gas to drive between the same locations.  Rail travel is considerably safer than highway travel.  And travel would be considerably faster.

Consider the numbers:  New Orleans to Baton Rouge is 80 miles or 1.5 hours driving.  Baton Rouge to Alexandria is 110 miles or 2-2.5 hours.  Alexandria to Shreveport is roughly 130 miles or 2.5 hours driving.  This figures a near perfect driving condition that allows for 60-80 mph average speed.  The Acela runs at 200 mph (operating new trains on existing track, what we would likely have here).

So at even a conservative estimate of only 150 mph, you would get: NOLA – BR  (32 min); BR – ALEX (44 minutes); ALEX – SHRV (48 minutes).  Compare that to current rates and travel from Alexandria to New Orleans decreases from 4-5 hours to 1.5 hours (and that includes a 20 minute layover in Baton Rouge).  The difference from Shreveport to NOLA is 2hrs 45 min versus 6.5 hours.

A modern Bar Car

A modern Bar Car

There are a few things about this that are neat.  For one thing it makes dinner in the French Quarter as easy as getting off work at 5, driving downtown, having a few cocktails in the bar car while you watch the LSU game, getting back in your car, driving about 15 blocks, parking, partying, getting back on the train, and watching a rerun of Law & Order, and being asleep in your CenLa bed by 2am.

For another, Motorail cars are much cheaper to build and maintain than passenger cars.  So the added cost to offer this service would be very low.

Motorail — that’s how you get people to ride trains in Louisiana.

Option 2 – High Speed Freight

High Speed Freight service is one option that Louisiana should not ignore.  On a long distance approach, high speed freight still doesn’t work out too economically beneficial.  The reason really comes in the efficiency of our existing nationwide cargo rail system, and the massive cost involved in upgrading the millions of miles of track and of buying new vehicles that a long-distance system would require.  But on a local standpoint high speed rail makes sense, especially in instances where point-to-point transport of goods is required and the ranges are less than 100 miles.

CenLa is one of these places.  As much as I hope to eventually see high speed passenger service (with motorail cars) coming through CenLa I am not holding my breath.  Most people in South Louisiana are still convinced we don’t have electricity or plumbing north of I-10 (oops, time to wind up the ‘puter again), so the reality of hoping that we would get a fair shake in the divvying up of the passenger rail pie is not too great.  But point-to-point high speed freight could absolutely transform the economic landscape of the Central Louisiana region.

Alexandria is home to an international airport which happens to be a first port of entry for international cargo shipments (although this possibility hasn’t been used much).  It is actually the furthest inland air point of entry on the Gulf Coast between Dallas and Atlanta.  Almost adjacent to Alexandria International is the Port of Alexandria — connecting rail and interstate shipments to the Red River.  Additionally local industries are working on a series of proposals that will either add an additional intermodal facility (possibly in Pollock) and/or upgrade the capabilities of AEX and the Port to operate in a more complementary capacity.

That’s all great, but it’s not best of it.  There are currently two approved yet non-operational ports within a 45 – 1.5 hour drive of Alexandria.  The Avoyelles Parish Port in Simmesport (already connected to Alexandria via rail) is situated just 43 miles south of Alexandria on the Atchafalaya River and the Port of Vidalia is 78 miles due east of Alexandia on the Mississippi River (and a good 200 miles upriver from the Port of Baton Rouge).  Between Alexandria and Vidalia is also Jonesville, strategically situated on the Black River which is also navigable, connected to Alexandria and Vidalia by rail (and soon to be interstate) and provides additional access to ports on the Tensas and Ouachita Rivers.

Dedicated high speed freight rail connections between these facilities could result in the combination of a Gulf Coast Inland Strategic Megaport.  Imagine a port that served three of the nation’s major waterways, provided two direct routes to the Gulf, and access to international air, interstate, and rail service a full 200 miles north of New Orleans and (for the most part) beyond the hurricane danger zone.  Add to that the fact that we have access to Free Trade Zone area, and GO Zone programs, and you have an application of high speed rail with so much economic potential that even the most staunchly opposed, Ford Excursion driving, anti-rail Republican could not argue with.

Where do pretty much every River in the midsection of the US intersect? CenLa

Where do pretty much every River in the midsection of the US intersect? CenLa

Port information on the three ports here:

http://portsoflouisiana.org/documents/port_profiles/Alexandria.pdf

http://portsoflouisiana.org/documents/port_profiles/Avoyelles.pdf

http://portsoflouisiana.org/documents/port_profiles/Vidalia.pdf

This is the kind of thinking we need in talking about Rail for Louisiana.  Then later on, after we’ve rebuilt our public transportation infrastructure in our cities, we can look at expanding to things like NOLA-Covington, or NOLA to Slidell, or Lafayette to Baton Rouge Commuter lines or regional rail connecting rural areas to their urban centers.

Aug 9

5 Comments

Vitter Stages, Scripts “Town Hall” Meeting in Pineville

With all the work that went into the pre-production of David Vitter Presents A Town Hall on Health Care- pre-screening and selecting questions, refusing questions from the media, assembling a panel of like-minded conservatives- you’d think Mr. Vitter would have chosen a different jacket.

vitterwonkahefnerWe can all thank The Town Talk for this picture.

In all seriousness, something that has not been reported: According to a friend of mine who was there for the entire production, prior to meeting, outside of the Guinn Auditorium, a small group of protesters (?) chanted, “Kill Nancy Pelosi!” It sure would be nice to locate video footage of this.

Another memorable moment, I’m told, is when one of the panelists declared, “I don’t want someone to decide to end my life before I’m born,” which seems like a koan ripped from the pages of a book of Zen poetry.

You know, the reason why Democratic Town Halls have made news is because they’re actually open to dissenting voices. David Vitter’s version of a Town Hall is exactly like George Bush’s: pre-scripted, pre-selected, and designed to minimize any opposition. Quoting from The Town Talk (bold mine):

The Louisiana Republican spoke at what was billed as a town hall meeting at Louisiana College’s Guinn Auditorium. It was a friendly audience but there was little chance for disagreement to be expressed. The panel of speakers all joined Vitter in opposing the reform package being debated in Congress. Questions from audience members were screened and selected in advance of the event.

Update: ThinkProgress says it better than I can: At Town Hall Meeting With Pre-Screened Questions, Vitter Mocks Democratic Concerns Over Protesters, which includes this video:

Update II: Actually, Greg Peters says it best.

Aug 5

5 Comments

$$$$ Bill: Not Guilty of the Freezer Cash Stash; Guilty of (Almost) Everything Else

I had always believed that the government was going to have a difficult time proving its case about the $90,000 they found in William Jefferson’s freezer. Turns out, the jury agreed and found Representative Jefferson not guilty on that specific charge.

Unfortunately for the former Congressman, the jury found him guilty of 11 of the 16 counts, including violating federal RICO statutes, arguably the most damning charge leveled against him.

For a Harvard-educated lawyer who was elected the first African-American Congressman in Louisiana since Reconstruction, today’s verdict represented an almost Shakespearean demise– and in Shakespeare, as with William Jefferson, a character’s demise is typically self-inflicted, borne out of arrogance, ego, an unquenchable thirst for power, and a willingness to skirt morals and ethics for personal benefit, regardless of the collateral damage.

By pure chance, I briefly met William Jefferson about a year ago (at the DNC), and he seemed like a quiet, avuncular guy. Perhaps in the past, Jefferson carried the air of an important, distinguished Congressman, but when I met him, he seemed detached, slouched, and exhausted.

Louisiana Republicans may decide to pounce on this conviction in order to make blanket generalizations about all Louisiana Democrats. However disingenuous it is (considering their simultaneous defense of David Vitter, whose “serious sin” most likely also violated the law), I acknowledge it is now low-hanging fruit for Republicans.

Here is what they fail to understand: There is absolutely no doubt that the vast majority of informed Louisiana Democrats are also pleased by the verdict. They are equally offended by his abuse of power, his exploitation of his office, and the pay-to-play system he seemingly flagrantly embraced.

And though it may sound counter-intuitive: In the long-term, William Jefferson’s conviction can only help Louisiana Democrats, a party desperately in need of rebranding.

Their message should be simple and succinct: Send him to jail.

Aug 4

2 Comments

Introducing the Louisiana Progress Journal

View and download here: http://tinyurl.com/laprogress1

(Featuring yours truly as well as native Alexandrian and CenLamar contributor, Daniel T. Smith).

FIRST ‘LOUISIANA PROGRESS JOURNAL’ LAUNCHES

AUGUST 4, 2009:  Today the first edition of the Louisiana Progress Journal was released by the Louisiana Progress Initiative(LPI). The public policy publication includes five articles that share original thoughts, proposals, and analysis on current policy debates and challenges in Louisiana. The journal is the result of a volunteer effort by a group of Louisiana-based thinkers, writers, and practitioners with the goal of injecting fresh ideas into the public debate through carefully-reasoned reports, articles, and essays.

“The Louisiana Progress Initiative is a volunteer effort that we hope will gain steam with this and future reports and eventually lead to a new progressive policy organization here in our state,” said journal editors Greg Granger, PhD, and Matt Bailey, JD. “We believe that progress can best be achieved through innovation – new ideas that break from the status quo, challenge our long-held beliefs, and lead to effective solutions to the obstacles we face.”

The journal is free and the public is invited to share and distribute copies of it freely.

ABOUT THE LOUISIANA PROGRESS INITIATIVE
LPI is a new, statewide endeavor which seeks to advance progressive policies in Louisiana through careful research and analysis.  The organization’s mission is to foster a robust marketplace of progressive ideas through the dissemination of periodic reports directly to policymakers, community organizations, and concerned citizens.  LPI is non-profit, non-partisan, volunteer-led, and not affiliated with any other group.

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Aug 1

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The Pelican Institute: Louisiana’s First “Astroturf” Think Tank

A few days ago, The Pelican Institute for Public Policy published a report titled Why Louisiana Should Not Build High-Speed Rail by Randal O’Toole of the libertarian think tank the Cato Institute. (Apparently, the days of high speed rail have already come and gone, even though we have never had a national high-speed commuter rail network, and besides, no one is going to want to ride a train, even though most of us have never had the option. Oddly enough, Mr. O’Toole’s report does not include the words “hurricane,” “evacuation,” “New Orleans,” or “Baton Rouge;” it’s almost as if this is a boilerplate, fill-in-the-blanks diatribe against rail in general).

The Pelican Institute is a Louisiana-based think tank founded last year by native New Yorker and Tulane grad Kevin Kane. Jeb Bruneau, son of former State Representative Peppi Bruneau, is its Vice President. (Peppi, as some may recall, was accused of timing his retirement announcement to maximally benefit Jeb’s campaign for the seat. Jeb lost anyway). Though it labels itself as “non-partisan,” the Pelican Institute is undeniably bent toward conservative and libertarian political philosophies, with a concentration on limiting government. Last year, in an article in The Wall Street Journal, the Pelican Institute was described as a group of up-and-comers confronting the entrenched corruption of Louisiana through serious policy research. Quoting:

“Having a think tank under Edwin Edwards would have been meaningless,” says Stephen Gele, a member of the Pelican Institute’s Board of Directors. “You could have done a 50-page paper, but who would have read it? Edwards would have made up his mind over a game of Bourré” — a Cajun gamblers’ pastime, similar to Spades — “and that would have been the end of it.”

Fighting words, to be sure.

Earlier this year, the Pelican Institute, along with Citizens Against Waste in Government, published the 2009 Louisiana Pork Report, a 36-page report that reads more like snarky opposition to government than serious policy analysis.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m all for calling out wasteful government spending, but there are numerous problems with the Pork Report.

It’s not even worth the time or energy nitpicking through everything in this ridiculous report. To me, its credibility is immediately undermined by its criticism of the Alexandria Zoo:

The Alexandria Zoological Park was built in 1926, near its present location. It started with discarded pets such as rabbits, goats, and deer. In the late 1960s, the US Department of Agriculture threatened to close it down. A full-time zookeeper was hired and the city started making some improvements.

Today, the zoo has a larger variety of animals than when it first started, and it is a major tourist attraction. But the question is whether taxpayers or visitors have to support it. People pay for entertainment all the time such as movies and eating out, and those activities are supported by the money they spend. That’s how businesses stay alive. The zoo should not be any different. Yet lawmakers approved $175,000 for the zoo in 2008.

News flash to the New Yorker and the DC-based CAWG: The zoo is not and has never been a private business, and it’s not simply an “entertainment” option. It’s a habitat for over 600 animals, including nearly 30 endangered species, and it’s one of only three accredited zoos in the State. It’s a major quality of life destination in Central Louisiana, and there is absolutely no doubt that our zoo adds value to the entire region.

Regarding that $175,000: I’m sure that the good men and women of the Zoo and the non-profit Friends of the Alexandria Zoo will be thrilled to have the support of the State.

Unfortunately, the check must still be in the mail.

The report lambastes Mayor Cedric Glover for spending $4,475 to attend the United States Conference of Mayors and the Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C., yet it says absolutely nothing about the tens of thousands of dollars taxpayers have spent to send Governor Bobby Jindal across the country for campaign fundraisers. It criticizes Shaw Group for utilizing $210 million in state incentives, but instead of telling us what, exactly, those incentives were for, it focuses on Shaw CEO Jim Bernhard’s political affiliation. Even though Jindal approved those incentives, the spending is labeled “wasteful” because Bernhard donated to Kathleen Blanco’s gubernatorial campaign.

That’s what The Pelican Institute is: A group of partisan ideologues masquerading as an objective, intellectual “think tank,” outsourcing their “analysis” to established conservative think tanks like Citizens Against Government Waste, the Reason Foundation, and the Cato Institute because they don’t actually employ any real scholars themselves.

The Pelican Institute. Neither pelicans nor an institute. Discuss.