I just completed the move to New Orleans yesterday. Now unpacking boxes ... so blogging will be light today. May not have a post up at all. There will be, however, quite a few posts for tomorrow.
This morning, Governor PBJ finally broke out the veto pen on the legislative pay raise. I guess he realized that the recall effort against him wouldn't look good to the higher-ups in the Republican Party doing the vetting for their Veepstakes.
He can now kiss all of his legislative agenda for the next three years goodbye, as a rather curt thank you from the Legislature for breaking his word to them.
If you've driven across Lake Pontchartrain lately, along the I-10 East Twin Spans, from New Orleans to Slidel, then you've noticed the industrial boom right here in our back yard. The Federal government is spending major money around New Orleans..... and, it's time for whiny, ungrateful locals to stop blaming "the government" - and open their eyes to the BIG picture.... the astounding progress.
You can't help but notice the new and continuing construction of the elevated I-10 E Bridge Spans across Lake Pontchartrain. But, why is there one portion on the South Shore... then water.. then another span of concrete in the middle.. then water... then another span at the North shore of the lake. What's that all about?
going on regarding what politicians and other people have been saying about this current flooding and what they said after the federal flood about New Orleans and those it impacted. I was cynical enough and had had my suspicions as I noticed that something was missing.
To wit: Nobody, even though some of the currently-affected communities along the Mississippi which had also been affected in the flooding of 1993 have been flooded again, has been telling the folks in these communities that they should not rebuild......
If you ever needed a reason to believe that the Faux News Channel is a propaganda machine, just listen to this:
At the height of the legislative pay raise frenzy down here, we've got Faux News Channel interviewing Governor "Chemical Castration Bobby" Jindal about the "Chemical Castration Bill" that he signed into law yesterday. Ain't it interesting that he can stand tough against criminals, but his spine disappears when he needs to stand tough against the Legislature?
Laurinda Calongne, who challenged the good ol' boy network within the Louisiana GOP this spring, and made the primary run-off, only to fall short against Louis "Woody" Jenkins, has announced that she will NOT be a candidate for Congress this fall.
Rather, she will start a group called the Conservative Leadership Council, which aims to recruit young conservatives to run for office, with a particular emphasis on conservative women. In short, she wants to be, perhaps, an Emily's List for the right?
This is very good news for State Senator Bill Cassidy, who can now spend his money and train his fire against Woody Jenkins for the next three months all by his lonesome. Will Woody survive the carnage headed his way? Only time will tell.
(Yeah, PBJ needs to veto the legislation ... in order to appease his base. But don't hold your breath waiting for it, Jim. - promoted by ryan)
You can talk about everything else the Louisiana Legislature did in its just completed session. But when all is said and done, it comes down to the pay raise. "But what about all the other good things we have accomplished in the past five months?" protested Governor Bobby Jindal. Maybe a little more wisdom comes with age. It's perception, not substance Governor. And the overwhelming public perception is that when all was said and done, the legislature opted to look out for themselves rather than the people who elected them.
Jindal seem to agree at his press conference on the lawn of the Governor's mansion the day after the legislative session shutdown. "I've learned my lesson," he said. "Going forward, we're certainly going to keep a much tighter rein on the legislature in future sessions." But it's not really the job of any governor to keep a "tighter rein" on the legislature. As Jindal has said repeatedly, there are three branches of government and each should act independently.
What Jindal seems to be missing is his authority within the constitutional mix. Yes, there are three branches of government. And each has their own final decision-making power. But the Louisiana Constitution specifically gives the Governor a limited veto power over actions of the legislative branch. The veto power is not complete. By a two thirds vote, the legislators have the constitutional authority to call themselves back into a special session, and override any veto exercised by the Governor. Nothing in the Constitution about "keeping a tight rein."
Today's Advocate front page blared the headline, "I've learned my lesson" with a huge picture of Governor PBJ. Here's my question - what exactly did you learn, Governor?
It surely was not the lessons you told the Advocate, namely:
[being] more involved with the session by issuing veto threats and by speaking up when bills go through committee.
No, more likely the lesson you learned was to fire Teepell, which may or may not happen, and/or not make a promise like that again. Because you sure don't want to deal with scenes like this anymore: (Hat Tip to Greg over at Central La. Politics)
By the way, love the backstab graphic on that guy's coveralls. Nice work.
Today, State Senator Don Cravins, Jr. announced his candidacy for Congress as a Democrat! Cravins said that he's running because:
The people of Louisiana are ready for a change and deserve representation that is line with their values. I am running for Congress because we need a leader who will work to find solutions to the hard times we face right now, like the skyrocketing cost of gas, groceries, and health care. I promise to bring my record of effective leadership and my strong faith and Louisiana values to Congress."
It's about time we take this seat back from Congressman Boustany, who can't be bothered to bring home all the bacon he can so towns like Cameron, LA can rebuild after Rita. It's about time we take this seat back from a Congressman that flip-flopped on healthcare for children ... he originally opposed SCHIP, the health care program for children. Then he saw that the Democratic Party was gunning for him, and he changed his tune. We need somebody who has better judgment than that the first time around, and doesn't need to be threatened with a election challenge to do the right thing.
First, with apologies to Congressman Jefferson, who was the only Louisiana Democrat to stand up for the 4th Amendment, and against retroactive immunity for the telecommunications companies that helped President Bush spy on the American people, this is what a DEMOCRAT sounds like:
Yeah, it's a 38 minute speech. But totally worth listening to. Some thought it was the start of a quixotic filibuster, as there are quite a few Senators who put forth a motion for cloture, including Louisiana's only Democratic Senator, Mary "I'm afraid of AT&T" Landrieu. You know that spine you grew for getting Louisiana federal money to recover from the '05 hurricanes and Federal Flood? Use it more often, Senator.
And by the way, this is to all y'all, that call for more drilling for oil off our coasts and in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge? Not only is it shitty for the environment, as there have been over 8 million gallons of oil spilled since Hurricane Katrina washed ashore, but even the Republican nominee for President, John Sidney McCain III, believes it's bullshit:
At a town hall in Fresno, CA, McCain admitted that the offshore drilling proposal he unveiled last week would probably have mostly "psychological" benefits, NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy notes. "Even though it may take some years, the fact that we are exploiting those reserves would have psychological impact that I think is beneficial."
Psychological impact? Gee, that'll help my wallet. Thanks, Mary, Don and Charlie! Why not call for using Louisiana sugar for ethanol? It'd be better than corn ... and bring jobs back to South Louisiana. Or have CAFTA, FISA, and that rarefied Washington atmosphere taken your spines away?
So the Lege left town yesterday. They passed some bills. They left some hanging. The Governor signed some, and let others become law without his signature. He's also (gasp!) vetoed some! But not the one everyone wants to him to veto. At least not yet, anyway ... so here's the list of legislation that I said I'd watch earlier this year, along with some new ones, broken up into The Good, The Bad, The Ugly and The Left Behind.
The Good
There was ONE really GOOD bill ... Cedric Richmond's amendment to HB 906, which would have reinstated the original standard that the Ethics Board had to surpass in order to charge someone with violating the Ethics laws. Unfortunately, the Senate stripped the amendment from the bill, which caused State Rep. Richmond to vote against the final bill in the House. Kudos to him for standing up for stronger ethics rules.
My two cents are on Senator Kostelka of Monroe as the culprit of the strip in the Senate. Can someone please recall him? Pretty please?
The Pay Raise. It's quite sad, but this one has the potential to turn Louisiana politics upside down. There are recall efforts underway, with one geared at Speaker Jim Tucker, and one potentially geared at Governor PBJ if he fails to veto the bill. We've got 13 days left of the 20 day death march.
The Recycling Bottlecap Bill, also known as SB 747 (pdf alert), which was introduced by Senator Dorsey of Baton Rouge. The bill would have instituted a refund if you brought your bottles to be recycled. It would have helped to lower the litter, and saved energy, as recycled glass used to make new glass uses 95% less energy. Hopefully, Senator Dorsey will reintroduce it, and the sad and idiotic environmental lobby in this state will recognize the megaphone that exists in Daily Kingfish to get their message out. Until then, this bill will likely continue to die in committees.
The Handguns on Colleges Bill. Hallelujah! The Legislature did use some sense in not passing this abomination of a bill, which would have allowed anyone to carry a concealed weapon on college campuses, provided they passed a background check.
If y'all have any bills to add to this, please do so in the comments! I can only research so much!
Early Friday afternoon, I called Senator Landrieu's office and spoke to a very nice young woman who answered the phone. I asked her where Senator Landrieu stood on the new FISA bill, upon which the House Democratic Leadership capitulated to the telecommunications industry, and the Bush Administration. That nice young lady told me that the staff was going through the provisions of the legislation, and would be advising the Senator. So I am posting this open letter, which I know will be read by her staff, and hopefully passed on to the Senator herself.
Dear Senator Landrieu:
I write to you today to ask that you vote NO on the latest FISA bill that will be in the Senate at some point this week. Not only am I asking you vote NO, I am asking you to filibuster this shredding of our 4th Amendment.
I understand that the current bill brings back the pre-Bush FISA regulations in quite a few ways, and in many ways is superior to the bill voted down by the House earlier this year. However, if there is a line in the sand to be drawn on this issue ... it is retroactive immunity.
I get that the Bush Administration asked the telecommunication giants to help them shred the 4th Amendment in the name of national security and protecting us from the terrorists. While I don't necessarily agree with that faulty reasoning, as I am of the Ben Franklin school - "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety" - and as such, believe shredding the 4th Amendment to be a step on the path to fascism.
My grandparents' generation, and your parents' generation, Senator, saved us from worldwide fascism ... and it's long past time that you, along with your fellow Senators heeded their sacrifices in a way more meaningful than passing resolutions honoring them, or building monuments to them. Honor them by standing up against the idea of giving corporations that broke one of our cherished values - freedom from governmental spying without probable cause - retroactive immunity from lawsuits.
AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, Nextel, among others, know they broke the law. And they are scared of losing multi-million dollar judgments in court for their complicity in helping the Bush Administration violate their oaths of office to defend our Constitution. That is why they are seeking retroactive immunity, Senator. They broke the law, and they don't want to be held accountable for it. How un-American of them. How unpatriotic of them.
"I could not believe that the president of the United States, staged by Karl Rove himself, had come down to the city of New Orleans and basically put up a stage prop. It was like you had gone to a studio in California and filmed a movie. They put the props up and the minute we were gone they took them down. All the dump trucks were gone. All the Coast Guard people were gone. It was an empty spot with one little crane. It was the saddest thing I have ever seen in my life. At that moment I knew what was going on and I've been a changed woman ever since. It truly changed my life."
Senator, if the criminal response to Katrina on the part of the Bush Administration truly changed your life ... please, send the President yet another a lesson (that you don't mess with the American people or our Constitution) by filibustering this bill until retroactive immunity is taken out of it. If you can't do that, at the very least, support a filibuster by any other Senator, AND, most importantly, vote against any version of this bill with retroactive immunity in it.
[UPDATE II] Both Cazayoux and Melancon voted for shredding the 4th Amendment. Thanks for that, gentlemen. At least the corrupt Jefferson voted against it. It's now up to the Senate. Hopefully, Senator Obama will use his platform to speak out against this horrendous legislation. Ditto Senator Clinton.
[UPDATE] The bill just passed the House by a vote of 293 to 129. The Democratic Majority, the ones that whine all the time about how the Bush Administration violated the FISA law on the campaign trail, couldn't even stand together on this bill, voting in opposition by a vote of 128-105. I just hope that Congressman Cazayoux, Melancon, and Jefferson voted against it, or they will get an earful from me tomorrow night at the Jefferson Jackson Dinner.
Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a corporate Democrat if there was ever one, was negotiating with the GOP to ensure that AT&T and other telecoms receive immunity for spying upon American citizens at the request of the Bush Administration. Hoyer and other Blue Dog Democrats will likely argue that it leaves the issue of telecom immunity to federal courts on a case-by-case basis, subject to these telecom companies having a Get Out of Jail free letter from the Bush Administration saying that what they did was necessary for reasons of national security:
One source said that the court would review whether there was "substantial evidence" that the companies had received assurances from the government that the administration's program was legal.
A Senate Intelligence Committee report on an earlier version of the legislation detailed how the companies had received such assurances from the Justice Department and the White House.
Those telecoms already have the Get Out of Jail Free letter, y'all. This is being pushed through right before the July 4th recess, at a time when most Americans are not paying attention. The bill is actually being debated on the floor RIGHT NOW. To be sure, there are Democratic Congressman in opposition, like Rep. Conyers of Michigan.
My question is this ... where do Congressman Cazayoux, Congressman Jefferson and Congressman Melancon stand? I have no hope that our Republican Members of Congress from Louisiana will vote against this sellout of our Constitution. However, I would hope that our Democratic Representatives, particularly Congressman Cazayoux, having been educated at Georgetown Law, would appreciate the importance of the 4th Amendment, which is what this fight is all about:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
In short, the Bush Administration assured the telecoms that spying on Americans without a wiretap, without probable cause, was legal, in plain defiance of the U.S. Constitution, Amendment 4.
So, Congressman Cazayoux, Melancon, and Jefferson ... we're watching what you do. The support of Democratic voters in your districts hinges on how you vote on this piece of legislation. If you vote the wrong way, I, for one, will be looking for a better Democrat to primary you ... if not this year, then definitely in 2010. The Netroots has already started talking in the language we all know you understand all so well ... raising money for eventual primary challenges. If you can, donate.
Readers, please thank Congressmen Cazayoux and Melancon for shredding our 4th Amendment rights by calling them at the number below. And thank Congressman Jefferson for doing the right thing.
On the heels of the news that the Legislature passed a pay raise in perpetuity based on the Consumer Price Index to start this year, there are recall efforts underway.
(Disclosure: I advocated for a pay raise, noting that the base salary for the Legislature has not been raised since 1980. However, I disagreed with the original 300% pay raise, and I advocated for not having it go into effect until after the next round of legislative elections, to be held in 2011.)
Mr. Roberts has started Recall "Payraise" Tucker. You can visit the website, named recallpayraisetucker.com. There is also a Recall Jindal website domain name is currently under construction.
Whether these efforts will get anywhere remains to be seen, but it adds to the excitement that always surrounds Louisiana politics.
Just a little blurb about the race that is shaping up in LA-06 on the Republican side:
Woody Jenkins is widely expected to run yet again. I'm guessing he's banking on higher turnout to push him over the top in the fall, as it is a presidential election year. He also put out a robo-call throughout the district late last week.
Laurinda Calongne is also expected to run again after coming up short in the run-off to Woody in April. Her campaign manager put out this statement to the Advocate:
It [will] take people with real business experience to solve the country's economic problems.
Uh, yeah ... I think the "real" business people led us down this economic morass, Mrs. Calongne. Let's let the people help figure out how to get us out of this mess.
Bill Cassidy, a State Senator from Baton Rouge is also expected to run. The biggest problem he will have is that he just got elected to the State Senate two years ago. He has little legislative experience to run on, so it will be interesting to see if the Republican voters of this district decide to back an inexperienced candidate for Congress over a candidate that has served over 20 years in the State Legislature in Woody.
The Red To Blue list is a fundraising mechanism for the DCCC. To end up on that list, a candidate has to surpass demanding fundraising goals and skillfully demonstrate to voters that they stand for change and will represent new priorities when elected to Congress.
I'm hearing that Congressman Steve Scalise in LA-01 may face yet another Democratic challenge this fall. The candidate is Jim Harlan, who is reportedly willing to self-finance the campaign.
I'm also hearing that the campaign manager for Travis Childers (D) in Mississippi, a Joel Coon, is serving in that capacity for Mr. Harlan. Mr. Childers, if you don't know, recently won a special election in northern Mississippi to replace Roger Weicker (R), who was appointed by the Governor of Mississippi to fill out the remainder of Trent Lott's term.
I found out late Wednesday afternoon that I have been selected as a Democracy For America/Netroots Nation scholarship recipient. They asked me to keep it on the down low until they sent out a national email blast to all those voted and applied.
Congressman William Jefferson's (D) hopes for re-election were dealt a major, if not fatal, blow on Wednesday by the news that one of his sisters, Brenda Jefferson, has pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony. What that means is that she will likely be sentenced to probation, and definitely testify against her siblings and/or niece in cases that have been filed against them.
The court documents filed Wednesday make clear that Brenda Jefferson can help prosecutors make their case against her sister, 4th District Assessor Betty Jefferson, who is also the congressman's sister; their brother, political strategist Mose Jefferson; and Coleman, their niece. The trio is charged with plundering more than $600,000 from three charities they controlled.
A summary of the government's case lays out specific allegations of how Brenda Jefferson and other family members skimmed money from charities:
Coleman and Betty Jefferson made out a series of checks to Brenda Jefferson without her knowledge. They then forged her name on the backs of the checks and deposited the money in their own accounts.
At Betty Jefferson's direction, Brenda Jefferson sent a phony report to the state claiming that a certain individual had provided tutors for 25 pregnant teenagers in 2005. The person did not work for the charity, and the teens were never tutored.
Also at Betty Jefferson's direction, Brenda Jefferson directed an accountant to write checks from the nonprofit group's account to people who she knew did not work for the charity.
Again at Betty Jefferson's direction, Brenda Jefferson forged the name of an unnamed person on grant applications. The person was the purported director of the charity; in fact, she did not work there.
At Mose Jefferson's direction, Brenda Jefferson opened a bank account that was a repository for state grant money. She disbursed the money at Mose Jefferson's direction.
"My family and I have sworn a great oath to trust God and to fight on to vindicate ourselves and our good name. This we will do. And, in none of it, will I or they sacrifice our continued strong commitment and effective delivery of the things our people need to recover from the storm and from a bad economy."
Congressman Jefferson's quest also faces the obstacle of a intra-party primary for the first time in his career. Expected challengers include:
Byron Lee
Helena Moreno
Karen Carter-Peterson Cedric Richmond
Once I find websites for the other candidates for this year's race, I will update that. If you know of their websites for this year's race, please let me know! Qualifying takes place July 9th to July 11th, so we'll know what's what in less than 3 weeks.
How this will play out is anyone's guess. It remains to be seen if Brenda Jefferson has any information about William's legal troubles, which deal with bribery and foreign nationals.
The front page of the nation's newspapers yesterday were all about how President Bush has joined presumptive Republican nominee John McCain in pandering to the public sentiment that we need to drill for more oil in order to bring down the ever-increasing costs of a gallon of gas.
For us Democrats here in Louisiana, we have the spectacle of Senator Mary Landrieu agreeing with far-right gasbag Congressman Steve Scalise on this very issue.
There are two things that most folks don't know about offshore drilling:
The first is that there is are vast areas of offshore locations for oil companies to drill, specifically in the western part of the Gulf of Mexico, as shown by the Advocate graphic to the right.
The second is that the oil companies are content to just sit on the leases they have. Why should they invest in more oil rigs when quite a few of them are experiencing record profits? Why cut into their profit margin now, especially when it will be years before a drop of oil is extracted from their leases anyway?
But the real culprit of the high gas prices we are seeing here in the United States these days is not because of a higher demand for oil. It's a small part of the picture, but not all of it. The bigger part of the picture, folks, is the value of the American dollar.
Quite frankly, it's in the shitter, compared to where it was during the later Clinton years, or even in the first two years of the current Bush Administration. Here's why, courtesy of The Cunning Realist, an excellent financial commentary website (emphasis added):
Last week, several indicators showed Fed-created liquidity at its highest level ever. Consequences: a new bout of dollar weakness, gold up about $70 in the past few weeks (are we "running out" of that too?) and of course oil at $130. And, most important for policymakers during an election year, a surging stock market (until Tuesday). While the Fed was doing its best imitation of Arthur Burns in '72, Bernanke, Paulson, and even Greenspan (not spending his days in a Venice gambling hall, apparently) all claimed that the worst of the credit crisis may be over. So why do the extraordinary measures continue? This madness is ripping the guts out of entire segments of society: wage earners, prudent savers, Social Security recipients and fixed-income retirees, independent truckers, mom and pop restaurants and retailers, the rural poor, long-distance middle class commuters -- basically anyone who doesn't own an oil well, corn field, or sit in front of a half-dozen trading screens in midtown Manhattan. Multiply the impact felt here and here many millions of times over.
Last month, Paul Volcker said the Fed's recent actions "extend to the very edge of its lawful and implied powers." While he later clarified that as criticism more of market participants than of the Fed itself, I predict that if monetary policy continues on its present course the destructive consequences will one day prompt calls for prosecution of those responsible. This might happen based on policy that's already public, or off-the-books measures by the Fed, Treasury, or an administration proxy to support the stock market or specific companies that we'll learn about in the future. Statements like this would do nicely as an exhibit for the prosecution. If I was involved in monetary policy, I'd tread very, very carefully right now. I'd also pray that something came along to blame for the price of oil. Is October too obvious a month for a "surprise"?
In the meantime, it's essential that Congress step up its oversight. The Fed should have to submit a public report once a week, explaining and justifying its specific actions during the previous week. And if Bernanke's determined to keep the spigots open before November's election, thus ensuring even higher prices at the pump and ruinous inflation years into the future, he should testify under the hot lights once a month. Also, instead of using the phrase "some participants felt" and then briefly stating how each committee member voted, the minutes of FOMC meetings should conform to basic standards and indicate by name who said what during the discussion. Better yet, have a representative from Congress or the GAO sit in on all Fed meetings and issue an independent report.
For us Democrats here in Louisiana, we have the spectacle of 
