| The last post until my thoughts of being a poll watcher tomorrow afternoon sometime. Without further ado:
President: Barack Obama
LA-Senate: Mary Landrieu
LA-01: Jim Harlan
LA-02: Vote your conscience
LA-04: Vote your conscience
LA-06: Don Cazayoux
LA-07: Don Cravins, Jr.
EBR Bond: This is an important issue for the future of Baton Rouge. The downtown core needs to be revitalized, and this will help ensure that it is. Vote YES.
New Orleans DA: Both campaigns have gotten down and dirty as of late. As a future lawyer, I have to give more credibility to the fact that District Attorneys across the region have endorsed Capitelli. But his campaign just smeared Cannizaro this afternoon with door hangers linking him to Jefferson. Vote your conscience.
New Orleans Charter Change: This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen on any ballot anywhere. They want the voters of New Orleans to agree to changing the City Charter, but they won't tell the voters how it will be changed. Vote NAY.
Amendment # 1: This amendment would impose term limits on state boards and commissions - the Board of Education and Secondary Education (BESE), Civil Service Commission, the State Police Commission, some other appointed boards of higher education, the Forestry Commission and the Public Service Commission.
I am in general, against term limits, because they tend to concentrate power in the hands of the special interests, who will often write the legislation and find a legislator to introduce it. In this state, that means the corporations and the right-wing fundamentalist Christian groups.
By the way, you really want to help Entergy ram their proposals through the PSC, rather than get blocked by consumer advocates like Foster Campbell? I think not. Also, I don't trust Governor PBJ that much ... I think he's doing it to consolidate power within his Administration even more. If you're conservative, do you really want to see a liberal have that much power? I don't think so. Vote NAY.
Amendment # 2: This amendment would require that the Governor give seven days notice of special legislative sessions, rather than the current five.
While there was some grumbling about Governor Jindal's call for the second special session on a Friday afternoon, folks knew it was coming. Vote NAY.
Amendment # 3: This amendment would establish a procedure for naming "temporary" legislators to fill in for those called to active military duty for more than 180 days.
This happens rarely. But it is happening for State Rep. Nick Lorusso (R-New Orleans), who was called up for one year, and it starts in the spring. While I applaud Mr. Lorusso's service to the nation, I don't much like the idea of changing the state Constitution to benefit one legislator. Vote your conscience.
Amendment # 4: This amendment would, over time, give parishes that have oil, gas and mineral production a greater share of the severance tax. It will also dedicate some of the severance tax collected from state lands to the Atchafalaya Basin Conservation Fund.
The parishes could put the money to better use than the state currently does. And more money to preserve one of the state's environmental gems? Vote YES.
Amendment # 5: This amendment would allow a homeowner over the age of 65 or in the military whose assessment is frozen to transfer the frozen assessment to another home if the home is taken by the government or sold to them for public use purposes.
Seems fair to me ... they lose their home for the public good, these folks should be protected. Vote YES.
Amendment # 6: This amendment deals with some slop work, as a law professor of mine would say, committed by the State Legislature in the aftermath of Kelo v. New London, a Supreme Court case in which the Court said it is constitutional for a state to take property for economic purposes, thereby equating economic purposes with the public good. The "slop work" limited the authority of state and local government in Louisiana to transfer "blighted" property to private parties. This amendment would remove the restriction of transferring "blighted" properties to new owners.
This is a NOLA based amendment, y'all. Proponents say it will help recovery efforts in New Orleans. I'm not so sure ... I don't trust the big real estate developers that much, nor the New Orleans City Council. I voted NAY. Vote your conscience.
Amendment # 7: This amendment would allow public entities to invest post-employment benefits in the stock market.
Supposedly they would be barred from investing pensions. I think they're insane to invest ANYTHING dealing with retirement in the stock market ... because a downturn can and will happen. Vote NAY. |
