The news came today that Governor PBJ has appointed one of his major campaign contributors to the Board of Regents. That campaign contributor is Mrs. Charlotte Bollinger:
Donor
Address
Date
Amount of Donation
Charlotte Bollinger
P.O. Box 250
Lockport, LA
10/15/2003
$1,000
Bollinger Fourchon Inc.
P.O. Box 250
Lockport, LA
10/15/2003
$4,000
Bollinger Fourchon Inc.
P.O. Box 250
Lockport, LA
11/7/2003
$1,000
Bollinger Fourchon Inc.
P.O. Box 250
Lockport, LA
11/7/2003
$1,000
Charlotte Bollinger
P.O. Box 250
Lockport, LA
5/11/2007
$250
Charlotte Bollinger
P.O. Box 250
Lockport, LA
6/11/2007
$1,000
TOTALS
$8,250
The donations from Bollinger Fourchon Inc. are included, as they are from the same P.O. Box as the donations from Mrs. Charlotte Bollinger, which leads me to believe that she controls the pursestrings of Bollinger Fourchon Inc.
Of course, Mrs. Charlotte Bollinger is of the Bollinger family, the ones who own and run Bollinger Shipyards and various subsidiaries, which donated an additional $22,000 to Governor PBJ's gubernatorial campaigns in 2003 and 2007. Seems to be that in order to get an appointment to any board that the Governor controls, one needs to donate substantial sums of money.
A friend who works for Color of Change emailed me about this petition that they are sending to Governor PBJ and AG Caldwell (and current US AG Mukasey and incoming US AG Holder):
Dear Governor Jindal and Attorney General Caldwell,
I just learned that in the weeks following Hurricane Katrina, racist vigilantes in Algiers Point attacked, and according to their own accounts, killed Black men seeking refuge from the floodwaters. I'm outraged to hear that New Orleans law enforcement officials have consistently refused to investigate these crimes, and acted to cover up their own complicity in the violence.
Based on evidence recently presented by A.C. Thompson in The Nation, it appears that while at least 11 Black men were shot or shot at, none of the white vigilantes have been brought to justice. And there's damning evidence that police officers allowed a man to die, and then burned his body to cover it up.
Louisiana-style justice has once again failed to protect and serve the state's Black citizens. State officials such as yourselves must act immediately to change this. I urge you to push for the identification of victims of these crimes, prosecution of the perpetrators, full cooperation with any federal inquiries, and aggressive investigations into the role of local law enforcement officials in committing and suppressing the exploration of these crimes.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
While Color of Change purports to be a voice for Black America, I highly recommend that all Americans and Louisianans sign this petition, because anyone's suspicious death deserves to be investigated.
Happy Belated New Year, folks. I decided to take a break for the past two weeks, since I was pretty much on the go for the past few months - law school, daily blogging, and the daily commute back and forth between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
Now I've got to start the process of finding post-law school employment, as well as getting prepared for the bar while finishing my last semester at LSU Law.
I'd long heard stories about folks taking matters into their own hands during the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I know folks who went home days after Katrina's landfall, armed to the teeth, to protect their property from looters.
As a transplant to Louisiana, I'm sadly familiar with the state of race relations in this beautiful state. Suffice it to say that folks of both races are suspicious of the other race. There are exceptions, but in general, neither side really wants anything to do with the other. And it's sad, because until the working folks of Louisiana realize that they need to pull together, nothing is going to get better. Louisiana will continue to rank near the bottom of lists you really don't want to rank near the bottom of.
But this Nation article simply blows my mind. I mean, did Algiers Point move back to the Jim Crow South in the aftermath of Katrina (or perhaps, did they never even leave?), where white folks could hunt down black men, assault them, shoot them, and in some cases, kill them, and simply get away with it?
The only victims to tell their story thus far were interviewed by the reporter for The Nation:
The sudden eruption of gunfire horrified [Donnell] Herrington's companions--his cousin Marcel Alexander, then 17, and friend Chris Collins, then 18, who are also black. "I looked at Donnell and he had this big old hole in his neck," Alexander recalls. "I tried to help him up, and they started shooting again." Herrington says he was staggering to his feet when a second shotgun blast struck him from behind; the spray of lead pellets also caught Collins and Alexander. The buckshot peppered Alexander's back, arm and buttocks.
Herrington shouted at the other men to run and turned to face his attackers: three armed white males. Herrington says he hadn't even seen the men or their weapons before the shooting began. As Alexander and Collins fled, Herrington ran in the opposite direction, his hand pressed to the bleeding wound on his throat. Behind him, he says, the gunmen yelled, "Get him! Get that nigger!"
Not surprisingly, they were not the only victims:
[Charles] Thomas, the surgeon who treated Herrington, staffed one of the few functioning trauma centers in the area, located just outside the New Orleans city line, not far from Algiers Point, for a full month after the hurricane hit. "We saw a bunch of gunshot wounds," he tells me. "There were a lot of gunshot wounds that went unreported during that time." Though Thomas couldn't get into the specifics of the shooting incidents because of medical privacy laws, he says, "We saw a couple of other shotgun wounds, some handgun shootings and somebody who was shot with a high-velocity missile [an assault-rifle round]." The surgeon remembers handling "five or six nonfatal gunshot wounds" as well as three lethal gunshot cases.
In addition, state death records show that at least four people died in and around Algiers Point, a suspicious number, given that most Katrina fatalities were the result of drowning, and that the community never flooded. Neighborhood residents, black and white, remember seeing corpses lying out in the open that appeared to have been shot.
Here's the response of white folks in the Algiers Point militia:
[Wayne Janak] is equally blunt in Welcome to New Orleans, an hourlong documentary produced by the Danish video team, who captured Janak, beer in hand, gloating about hunting humans. Surrounded by a crowd of sunburned white Algiers Point locals at a barbeque held not long after the hurricane, he smiles and tells the camera, "It was great! It was like pheasant season in South Dakota. If it moved, you shot it." A native of Chicago, Janak also boasts of becoming a true Southerner, saying, "I am no longer a Yankee. I earned my wings." A white woman standing next to him adds, "He understands the N-word now." In this neighborhood, she continues, "we take care of our own."
Janak, who says he'd been armed with two .38s and a shotgun, brags about keeping the bloody shirt worn by a shooting victim as a trophy. When "looters" showed up in the neighborhood, "they left full of buckshot," he brags, adding, "You know what? Algiers Point is not a pussy community."
What's been the response of the law enforcement community in New Orleans? Distressing, to say the least:
Under oath [Orleans Parish coroner Frank] Minyard proceeded to say something stunning. The NOPD, he testified, was only investigating three gunshot cases, all of them high-profile--the Danziger Bridge incident, in which police killed two civilians, and the shooting of Danny Brumfield, who was slain by a cop in front of the Convention Center. Minyard's statement buttressed information I'd gotten from NOPD sources who said the force has done little to prosecute people for assaults or murders committed in the wake of the storm.
I contacted the police department repeatedly over many months, providing the NOPD with specific questions about each incident discussed in this story. The department, through spokesman Robert Young, declined to comment on whether officers had investigated any of these crimes and would not discuss any other issues raised by this article.
I don't think we can count on the New Orleans Police Department to do anything about this, to be honest. They've struggling to keep the city safe, and Mayor Nagin just froze their ability to hire more police officers, due to the fiscal crisis the city is currently experiencing.
No, I think this ball is in the new District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro's court. He has the power to convene a special grand jury ... for 18 months, and let them investigate. And have them start with the incidents in Algiers Point. Hopefully, those 12 citizens, if such a grand jury is ever created, will prove to the good, upstanding citizens on Algiers Point that the law is blind when it comes to race ...
The witness shows me a home video he recorded shortly after the storm. On the tape, three white Algiers Point men discuss the incident. One says it might be a bad idea to talk candidly about the crime. Another dismisses the notion, claiming, "No jury would convict."
... just to show that fool that nobody is above the law.
That tells me that Rodney sees the writing on the wall, and will not be a candidate for the Senate in 2010. It is still possible that he could switch parties at the last moment, much like he did in 2004 to undertake a challenge from the Democratic Party, but I just don't see it happening at this point.
It seems all but certain that Alexander will be facing Andrew Clack in a GOP primary again, though it remains to be seen how effective such a challenge will be. If Mr. Clack can get the Club for Growth folks involved, he stands a better chance of wresting the nomination away from Alexander.
The question then becomes whether there is a Democratic candidate out there willing to challenge Alexander in a general election. There were rumors that such a candidate would emerge during the filing period this summer, but none did.
I wonder if Alexandria Mayor Jacques Roy would be willing to take on this fight. Doing so however, would mean foregoing a re-election campaign for Mayor, which is that fall as well.
Sinator David Vitter held a "Mardi Gras in December" fundraiser in Washington last week at which Governor Jindal stood alongside the adulterous Sinator in photos for those that paid $4,600 to have their photos taken with the men.
What is more interesting, however, is the list of hosts:
Senator J. Bennett Johnston
Congressman Jim McCrery
Congressman Rodney Alexander
Congressman Charles Boustany
Congressman Steve Scalise
Congressman Bob Livingston
Congressman Billy Tauzin
Congressman Jimmy Hayes
Congressman John Cooksey
Congressman Henson Moore
Congressman Clyde Holloway
Congressman?Elect Bill Cassidy
Lamar expressed profound disappointment with the fact that a former Democratic Senator, J. Bennett Johnston, has essentially endorsed Vitter by co-hosting this fundraiser for him.
Senate Guru made hay out of the fact that Secretary of State Jay Dardenne didn't co-host, which I don't think was that big of thing, since Governor Jindal was also not a co-host. But it is interesting that Mr. Dardenne also didn't show up, whereas Governor PBJ did.
And Mr. Dardenne certainly didn't do much to quell the rumors that he is considering running for the Republican nomination against Vitter in 2010:
Dardenne, who did not attend Vitter's "Mardi Gras in December" event in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday night, said the encouragement he's received has come from friends and supporters in Louisiana rather than from individuals in Washington.
But, for now at least, Dardenne said he's happy with his role as secretary of state and he doesn't have any timeframe in mind for making a decision about the Senate seat.
"I haven't done anything to advance a candidacy for the U.S. Senate except listen to people who have encouraged me to run," he said.
But what I take from this is that Congressman Rodney Alexander sees the writing on the wall, and is likely not going to challenge Vitter for the GOP nomination.
A few days ago, it came out that Senator Landrieu will be the Chairwoman of the Senate's Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship in the 111th Congress when the Senate convenes in January.
Senator Landrieu released this statement after the Senate leadership announced her ascendancy to the chair(wo)manship of the committee:
"Bolstered by my seats on other key committees for our state, this assignment provides the seniority to fight even harder for Louisiana's more than 350,000 small businesses.
Small businesses are the backbone of the Louisiana economy. I intend to use my gavel to ensure that they play an active role in our nation's economic recovery, and that the federal government is a supportive and efficient partner in their success. Under the leadership of Senators Kerry and Snowe, we have also made significant progress this year in enacting improvements to the SBA's disaster recovery programs, and I hope to build further on our success."
Today, Senator Landrieu outlined her priorities for the Small Business Committee in a letter to President-elect Obama:
Elevate the Small Business Administration to its previous Cabinet-level rank again
Increase SBA funding to help America's 25.8 million small businesses
Ensure that small businesses are given a fair shot at landing the forthcoming infrastructure contracts
I am looking forward to Senator Landrieu's leadership on the Small Business Committee, as I believe she will fight for the small business owner in the Senate over the next 6 years.
Rolfe McCollister of the Business Report has a fundamental misunderstanding of the Auto Bailout that the Senate Republicans blocked the other day. Let's take a look at his inaccuracies:
No bailout for Big Three
It's a waste of time and money-and simply a Democratic "payback" to the auto unions. But what is President Bush's excuse? He's lost his mind-and the support of conservatives. The Detroit model is broken. The Big Three will just be back again for more, and eventually they will collapse.
In 2007, Toyota reportedly sold 9.366 million units worldwide. GM announced it sold 9.369 million vehicles around the world last year, making the Detroit company the world's best-selling automaker for the 77th consecutive year. So, why will GM go broke by the end of the month without a bailout, while Toyota is on sound financial ground? They are broken and built to fail-and will. [The Big Three remind me of another dinosaur, the public school system, also run-and ruined-by the unions. Notice something similar here? Focus on the customer and the outcomes ... and respond or else.]
Other automakers have changed and are doing just fine. Learn from their success, and save our taxpayer dollars. Enough with the bailouts!
Pray tell, how is the bailout a payback to the UAW, Mr. McCollister? The auto workers, sir, have taken pay cuts over the last two contracts, while the executives of these companies have not seen any cuts in anything at all. They are still getting their perks, like flying in corporate jets to Washington with their hands out, and excessive bonuses over the past 30 years for performance that was, well, not so good.
One of the reasons that the American manufacturing base is "broken and built to fail" has absolutely nothing to do with the unions. The unions made the American manufacturer what the envy of the world. It has EVERYTHING to do with the fact that their overseas competitors don't have the huge costs of pensions and health care to deal with, since those countries have taken on those costs and pay for them with higher individual tax rates.
Why is that Mr. McCollister? Is it because folks of your ilk have used class warfare for the past 30 years to ensure that their workers' wages didn't keep pace with inflation while going hat in hand to Washington and the Louisiana Legislature complaining that business was being hurt by "high taxes?"
By the way, wouldn't having universal health care solve one of the major problems facing the Big 3 right now? They would no longer be responsible for ensuring that their workers had health care, and could save the billions they already spend each year on health care benefits for their workers and push it into Research and Development, and, hopefully, into paying their workers, not their management, more.
Where do you stand on universal health care, Mr. McCollister? My guess, sir is that you would be opposed to universal health care simply because the unions support it! That's right, sir, you're so predictable ... if the unions are for it, you're against it.
UPDATE: TPM flagged this, as did Oyster and Atrios, but if you believe that Vitter's gonna comment on the fact that the Bush Administration is allowing the CEO's and top management to still receive their over the top bonuses, I've got some prime beachfront property in Leeville, LA I wanna sell ya.
Last week, our junior Senator, David Vitter, or as Danger Blond referred to him, clASS act, got up on the floor of the United States Senate, and called the plan for the auto bailout "ass-backwards."
While I find it disconcerting myself to have to bail out the management of the American car manufacturers, who have buried their head in the sand for the last 30 years (and taken home MILLIONS in compensation), I find it incredible that Senator Vitter is so blase about the fact that thousands of Americans will be out of work if we allow the auto companies to fail. And it's not just the workers for GM or Chrysler that will lose jobs, it's the sales people of the car dealers across the nation, the folks who take care of the lawns at those dealers, the auto parts industry, and on and on. It will cascade into another Great Depression.
Yet, Senator Vitter and his Republican allies in the Senate are adamant that before they bail out the auto industry that the UAW, the union that represents the auto workers, take pay cuts, cuts in benefits and cuts in pension benefits before they would agree to a bailout the auto companies. Need proof? Here ya go:
"This is the Democrats' first opportunity to pay off organized labor after the election," read an e-mail circulated Wednesday among Senate Republicans. "This is a precursor to card check and other items. Republicans should stand firm and take their first shot against organized labor, instead of taking their first blow from it."
These class-warfare lovin' Republican Senators frequently cite the fact that American automakers pay their workers the $75 an hour compared to the $40 an hour Honda and Toyota pay their workers in the "right to work" South. The $75 an hour is a flat-out lie. The UAW tells us, that after the wage and benefit concessions in the 2005 and 2007 contracts, their workers' pay ranges from $14 an hour for new hires to $33 an hour for the skilled labor.
One of the many reasons why the American auto companies are struggling is that people aren't buying their gas guzzlers anymore, but also because we have an antiquated health care and pension system that puts the onus on the employer to ensure that their workers have health care and a pension. That needs to change, and it is what the Republicans are gearing up to fight in the coming year.
Perhaps the UAW's Shreveport Local 2166 President Morgan Johnson is on to something with respect to Vitter:
"I don't know what Sen. Vitter has against GM or the United Auto Workers or the entire domestic auto industry; whatever it is, whatever he thinks we've done, it's time for him to forgive us, just like Sen. Vitter has asked the citizens of Louisiana to forgive him. Otherwise, it would appear, he'd rather pay a prostitute than pay auto workers."
Is it a coincidence that I don't recall Senator Vitter asking the bankers to agree to pay cuts in return for the $700 billion bailout a couple of months ago?
This evening, after doing some Christmas card writing with my wife, I came home to find an email in my inbox informing me about a diary on the Big Orange blog. This diary is part of a series called KINship, with the KIN standing for Kossacks in Need. These diaries are the result of liberal bloggers from across the nation taking to heart the fact that we are our brother and sister's keepers. They have a link up to donate money to help the folks highlighted in the KINship diaries.
The one that I've copied below deals with a Louisiana family. Lord knows that a lot of us are struggling. But if there are any lawyers or psychologists willing to help these folks out, let me know, and I'll get your information to the family. Here's the diary:
Now, I wish to highlight a very unique situation where funds are far less important (albeit necessary) than professional expertise and personal connections.
Tina* and Barry* (names changed to protect their identities) have been married about 28 years. Twenty-Six years ago, they had a daughter, Karen* and two years later, they had Katie*. Karen and Katie were both born with severe medical problems. They have a rare Leukodystrophy disorder that is listed under the types of Leukodystrophy disorders under the United Leukodystrophy Foundation.
Karen (age 26) and Katie (age 24) will never be able to live on their own. They both must use metal hand crutches and wheelchairs to get around; their skin is thick, dry and scaly. Doctors have told their parents that their own lives will be shortened by 25 years just by breathing in the dead skin that falls daily around the house. In the United Kingdom, Tina was told, people come into these patients homes DAILY with Haz-Mat suits and vacuum the dead skin. (There is a type of tub that would help their skin, but it costs a few thousand dollars and Medicaid has refused to pay for it). Karen is mildly mentally handicapped but Katie is severely mentally handicapped. Doctors are unable to estimate an approximate mental/emotional age on her because of her behavior. She throws temper tantrums, as well as hits herself in the head, etc. and is uncontrollable at times.
In addition to the disorder that their daughters share, Tina and Barry share severe pain and disabilities, and are selling their house in order to pay off all of the living and medical expenses that have accumulated. Tina suffers from anxiety and depression disorders, and has been told that she needs to seek psychiatric treatment - unfortunately, the psychiatrists provided by Medicaid won't see her until nearly February.
They really need an attorney willing to fight for Barry's disability; they also need medical treatment for their neck and back injuries; Tina needs psychiatric care and support - she is barely functioning anymore. They are living on the SSI checks Karen and Katie receive each month. They need emotional support to know that people actually care and they need financial support until he can FINALLY get approved for Disability.
I know I am asking for a lot for them, but they are just emotionally, physically, financially and spiritually overwhelmed. If you have any suggestions, please, let me know. Is it possible for them to be "adopted" by other members willing to help them through this hard time? Everyone is going through difficult times right now, but their story is one that you would not believe could happen in America.
This family lives in Louisiana. Their needs are as follows:
An attorney to fight for Barry's disability (SSD refuses to release Barry's records to their Senator, who has offered to help. She says she's never seen them do that before). He has been told he needs to return to work by 2010, or he'll lose all benefits.
GOOD psychiatric treatment for Tina, preferably sooner rather than later.
Medical treatment for Tina and Barry.
Emotional support - and I'd like your opinions here. How can we lend them some emotional support here? Ideas?
Financial support - if you wish to donate and wish the money ONLY go to this family, please send kinshipplanning@gmail.com an email letting us know the amount of your donation and the email it came from, and we'll ensure it gets directly to them.
Mover and Shaker support - do you know ANYONE that might be able to help this family out, politically or professionally? If so, please email us.
"Years ago I recognized my kinship with all living things, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on the earth. I said then and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free."
-Eugene Debs
If any of y'all have any answers to this, just send me an email. The link is in the far right column, right above MEDIA.
For the first time in over two decades, there was a competitive general election for this Congressional seat, thanks to the retirement of out-going Republican Rep. Jim McCrery. The Democratic candidate in this race, Paul Carmouche, traded on the goodwill his service in Caddo Parish as their District Attorney for the past three decades to make it a competitive race.
One of the smart things done by his campaign was to highlight his law and order credentials, and remind folks that he's been the District Attorney for most of their lives. Not a week went by during his campaign that my inbox did not have an email announcing an endorsement from one of Louisiana's District Attorneys or Sheriffs.
However, it baffles me that so many Louisiana Democrats feel the need to run a "Republican-lite" campaign. If voters are given a choice between a Republican-lite candidate and a Republican, they'll choose the Republican every single time. Yet, Mr. Carmouche felt the need to run such a campaign.
Most of the literature, as well as two of the three ads from his campaign that I know of, have some variation of "Louisiana values" mentioned, usually pro-life and pro-gun. Those are fine values to hold. But when you're running as a Democrat, even here in Louisiana, you want to ensure that Democrats get out and vote.
Most Democrats I know in this state want to hear about how you're going to help bridge the ever-increasing income gap between the rich and the rest of us. They want to hear about your ideas to keep their children in Louisiana once they finish high school and/or college. They want to hear about your ideas to improve education.
I have no doubt that Mr. Carmouche told voters these things in person. But he can only meet so many voters. These things NEED to be mentioned on the air, whether it's radio or television. These things need to be mentioned in mailers to voters. And I didn't see that.
But what really galls me about this race is a mailer sent out before the general election:
Take a look at the upper right corner ... pro-family = traditonal marriage? Seriously?!
What really bothers me, and many others, is why the Democratic State Central Committee (DSCC) allowed their mail permit to be used for this mailer. After the palm card debacle in 2004 that didn't include State Senator Don Cravins Sr's name, which led to the black community largely staying home in the December run-off between State Senator Willie Landry Mount and eventual winner Charles Boustany, one would think that the DSCC would be much, much more careful as to what they were paying for, or what their name was going on. Apparently not.
Gay marriage was NOT an issue in this campaign. And yet, for some reason, it's in the mailer sent out on behalf of the Carmouche campaign. When contacted by LGBT groups in Louisiana and Shreveport about the mailer, Mr. Carmouche refused to meet with them, or even return their phone calls.
Why I am making such a big deal out of this? Well, for one, who cares if two men or two women choose to spend their lives together? And if they do, they deserve the same rights that heterosexual couples enjoy ... like inheriting Social Security payments, visiting their loved one in the hospital, and some 1300 other rights that are automatically granted to heterosexual couples once they say "I do." They deserve it not only because it's the right thing to do, but also because the Constitution states that all are equal in the eyes of the law. Gay couples sure ain't equal to heterosexual couples under the laws of this nation.
On top of that, when in the world did being in favor of marriage between a man and a woman equal being "pro-family?" Families come in many forms ... some by blood, and some by choice. I know people who consider their friends to be more of a family to them than their blood relations. And while I'm on the topic, what is so pro-family about disowning a child because they are gay?
Back to the election in LA-04, there's an LGBT group called PACE up in Shreveport. They have over 200+ members. And I'm certain that there are more LGBT folks than that in LA-04. After they got that mailer, do you think they were enthusiastic about voting for Mr. Carmouche? I think not.
But even more galling is the fact that Mr. Carmouche refused to meet with LGBT groups that asked for a meeting, and even refused to return phone calls to them! How much time does a phone call take? A simple phone call could have won this election for Mr. Carmouche. What makes me say that?
"Of more than 92,000 votes cast throughout the 13 parishes of this district, it appears that our campaign has fallen slightly short. I will not ask for a recount of any of the paper ballots, and I offer my warmest congratulations to Dr. Fleming.
"Over the past 10 months, I enjoyed getting out every day and
listening to and talking to the people of this area. It has been the highest honor to serve as the Caddo Parish District Attorney for the past three decades and I look forward to exploring ways in which I may be of continued service to this great community.
I'll have a post-mortem on this race in a bit. It'll be explosive, I can promise you that.
Congratulations to Mr. Fleming ... hopefully, he won't marginalize himself by introducing his insane 23% sales tax idea as a bill in Congress.
Despite being down by 356 votes after Saturday's electronic voting, Democratic candidate Paul Carmouche has not conceded the election. He told Shreveport's KTBS Saturday night:
Carmouche said he wants to see what happens when voting machines are rechecked on Tuesday. He said he also wanted to make sure that all provisional ballots -- paper ballots cast when there is a problem at a polling place -- have been counted.
So, keep your powder dry folks ... this thing ain't over yet.
One more point ... there is a discrepancy between the text-based site and the flash-based site, both run by the Secretary of State's office, in terms of the % of the precincts reporting. The text-based site is reporting 100% as of 11:21 PM CST, but the flash-based site is only reporting 95% as of 11:22 PM CST. Which is it, Mr. Secretary?
Although the Secretary of State is reporting that Fleming (R) has 356 more votes tonight in the unofficial tallies of electronic and absentee voting. Might it be provisional ballots? What's causing the AP to hold back?
Aight, we've got 640 precincts in this district ... it's a large district, roughly the size of the entire state of Rhode Island, methinks. With 640 of 640 precincts in:
Candidate
Votes
% of Vote
Paul Carmouche (D)
44,141
47.69%
John Fleming (R)
44,497
48.07%
It's down to Bossier Parish, y'all ... a traditionally GOP parish. Folks, this one is gonna get REALLY REALLY REALLY close. All precincts in save for 37 from Bossier Parish.
The numbers are not going to add up to 100% because there are two minor party candidates that will only take roughly 3-4% of the vote at the most. My guess is they'll combine for 2% when it's all in.
With 492 precincts in this district, we'll likely not be done anytime soon. The New Orleans precincts that Jefferson will be counting on to push him over the top will likely not come in until 10 PM CST.
With all 492 in:
Candidate
Votes
% of Vote
Joseph Cao (R)
33,122
50%
Bill Jefferson (D)
31,296
47%
Malik Rahim (G)
1,880
3%
There are still 101 precincts to come in from New Orleans itself. The newspapers and CNN are calling it for Cao. Holy crap, a wingnut Republican just won in a majority black district. We're gonna have no Democratic representation in the House, save for Charlie Melancon.
And for the Third District State Senate seat, there are 87 precincts to report. With 78 of 106 in:
UPDATE: Just got an email reminding me that the DCCC virtual phonebank is still up and running. The polls below show that it's anybody's game. Every single vote will count, and if you don't believe it, just ask Al Franken in Minnesota. If you have 15 minutes, you can do this ... just click here for the DCCC virtual phonebank.
The citizens of LA-04 are voting in the last truly contested election of the 2008 election cycle. The polls of this race have been all over the map: (hat tip to swingstateproject for the polls)
The Kitchens Group (11/18-19, likely voters, 11/6-7 in parens):
Paul Carmouche (D): 48 (45)
John Fleming (R): 37 (35)
Undecided: 13 (16)
(MoE: ±4.0%)
SurveyUSA for Roll Call (11/17-18, likely voters):
Paul Carmouche (D): 45
John Fleming (R): 47
(MoE: ±3.9%)
Public Opinion Strategies for John Fleming (11/17-18, likely voters):
Paul Carmouche (D): 42
John Fleming (R): 43
(MoE: ±4.9%)
That's Paul Carmouche on the right giving an interview to a lonely (and cold) cameraman from one of Shreveport's local news channels.
This race is going to hinge on the turnout. The DCCC has been active ... sending folks to the district, and utilizing their volunteer base to remind folks to vote. President-elect Obama has been less involved, cutting a radio ad to remind folks to vote, but his campaign team did send out two or three emails for funds and volunteers.
Turnout, according to various sources, has been "leisurely." I'm guessing that means it's not nearly as high as the turnout on Election Day. Check back here tonight for the live-blogging of the results, as the SoS website has a tendency to crash under the weight of interested partisans wanting to know what's happening.
Happy Election Day New Orleans ... this morning, y'all have the opportunity to vote in one of the last federal elections of this incredible 2008, as well as a Senate District 3 election featuring an outsider and a son of a New Orleans political dynasty.
The Congressional race is between Dollar Bill Jefferson and his dishonest Republican opponent, Joe Cao. Adrastos makes a good point that both our fathers taught us ... if someone spends time telling you that they are honest, they're usually lying. By the way, you're gonna wanna click on the link to Adrastos ... he's some nice pictures of the mailers that the Republicans are putting out there for Cao.
For instance, Cao was on Jeff Crouere's radio show yesterday, and another NOLA Blogger, Daniel Z., called in to ask Cao about the Family Research Council endorsement he received. (For those of you who don't know the FRC, it was started by James Dobson, and the Louisiana chapter is run by Tony Perkins ... who is considering a 2010 primary challenge against Vitter). Here's Daniel Z's account of the exchange:
So when I had the opportunity to ask him three questions I asked him:
A) Did you actively seek the endorsement of the FRC?
B) Do you accept the endorsement of the FRC?
C) Do you agree with the ideals of the FRC?
He answered the first answer truthfully. However, on the other two questions, he danced around the answer by saying how he does support the family and many people in this area support families. Well, that argument is like saying "I am a patriot so of course I support the Patriot Act". And because he answered like a typical politician, and did not reject the extremist conservative ideals of the FRC.
I have a hard time believing that a Republican candidate running for office in Louisiana doesn't have an idea who the FRC is. For some reason, Oyster thinks Cao is a "babe in the woods." You don't get into bed with the LA GOP and not know who the FRC is, Oyster. Sorry.
Dollar Bill is crooked. Everyone knows that. But he is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. While his lawyers are playing the delay game by asking the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to hear his appeal of the trial court's refusal to dismiss the case en banc, and then will likely appeal that to the Supreme Court, I am confident that at some point next year, Bill Jefferson will be convicted.
But that does not mean I want a Family Research Council supported candidate representing New Orleans for the next two years, regardless of what he claims is a progressive agenda. He will not be voting in favor of EFCA. Dollar Bill, if still in office, will.
On the State Senate race, J.P. Morrell is the son of former State Senator Arthur Morrell, who now serves as the Criminal Court Clerk and City Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell. Shawn Barney is a financial consultant who grew up in New Orleans. His father was the head of the New Orleans chapter of the Urban League.
This is a Democratic district, so both candidates will be good on the issues. I get the feeling that J.P. Morrell is facing the heat of a well-run Barney campaign, as his campaign is likely the culprit behind the rumor that "Jefferson convinced Barney to run to boost turnout in the black precincts of New Orleans." The rumor troubled the Barney campaign enough to blast out a press release disputing the allegations:
At a time when his district lies devastated and our economy is in shambles, J.P. Morrell is smearing Shawn Barney to distract the voters from the fact that Morrell represents more of the same. It is an absolute lie that Congressman Jefferson convinced Shawn Barney to stay in the race for State Senate District 3 despite Morrell's endorsements by the old political establishment.
Mr. Morrell is scared because despite the fact that the status quo is supporting him, his increasingly desperate campaign to protect his family's dynasty is not resonating with voters.
Morrell is out of touch, therefore he is resorting to dirty tricks to hide from the voters of District 3 the fact that his only accomplishment while in office was his vote to give himself a 200% pay raise. Shawn Barney is a fresh face with new ideas who has brought millions of dollars in private redevelopment to District 3, while creating over 100 jobs in the metro area. J.P. Morrell may be a self described avid video game player, but he is not a serious candidate for public office.
Ouch ... Morrell voted to give himself a raise during the first go-round by the legislators in the legislative pay raise debacle? Talk about being short-sighted.
I'll be live-blogging the results this evening. Check back here at 8 PM CST.
What I LOVE about this is they are now captioned! To turn them on, press play, and then hit the little ^ icon in the lower right corner. Click on the CC symbol that pops up. As someone with a hearing loss, I am thrilled that the nascent Obama Administration is ensuring that all Americans can understand what President-Elect Obama is saying. Thank you, Obama Internet Team.
This plan is fantastic. Investing in our future? Roads, bridges, broadband? Awesome! Now if we can get high-speed rail liines that will connect the east coast, and another that will connect the west coast, and leave the connection of them for later, we'll really be talking.
For those with slow internet connections, the text of the address is below the jump!
This morning, the jobless report came out from the Department of Labor ... businesses have shed 533,000 jobs in the last month. It's the worst one month loss of jobs in 35 years. For the entire year, it's one million nine hundred and sixty-three thousand jobs lost. 1,963,000.
Here's Democratic candidate Paul Carmouche's response to the numbers:
"Today we learned that the monthly jobless numbers are the worst in 35 years. The unemployment rate jumped to 6.5 percent and our economy lost 533,000 jobs. We did not need these numbers to confirm what we already know: Main Street is hurting badly. In Congress, my number one priority will be to do what's right to get our economy moving again, to ensure that we bring good jobs to the area, and to protect your taxpayer dollars.
What's Fleming's proposal - cut taxes even more? What good will that do for folks not working? Put Social Security in the stock market? Yeah, I really like the idea of rewarding the Wall Street with the money in our safety net ... when they've already brought us to the brink of the Great Depression 2.0.
It's going to take a massive infrastructure spending program to get our nation back up and running again ... something along the lines of FDR's WPA program. And John Fleming won't be there to help out ... he'll align himself with the neo-Hooverites in the GOP who see their salvation in the ruin of the Obama Administration.
We need Carmouche. And you can help remind folks to vote through the DCCC's virtual phonebank. It's easy, and you have to sign up, but after that, it's a breeze. And 30 minutes of phone calls will go a LONG way to ensuring a victory on Saturday night.
That's Paul Carmouche on the right giving an interview to a lonely (and cold) cameraman from one of Shreveport's local news channels. 
