I haven't blogged much about the legislative session, mainly because I have been so disappointed in the lack of fight shown by the Legislature when it comes to coming up with a revenue stream (or budgetary reform) to help the state get through our fiscal crisis over the next few years.
Instead, up until yesterday, they have been content to let corporate welfare win, and win BIG. By corporate welfare, I'm talking about the former Pilgrim's Pride chicken processing plant, which was sold to Foster Farms of California. How did the Governor "save" those 500 jobs? By ensuring that Foster Farms will get $50 million from Louisiana taxpayers. That's $100,000 of state funds spent to save each job. Not exactly the fiscal responsibility I was hoping for from a conservative Governor.
And I'm also talking about the $85 million dollar deal with the Saints. While I am not the biggest Saints fan around, (as they quite frankly, stink), I do appreciate how they bring Louisianans together across socio-economic and racial lines, if only for a few hours every Sunday during the NFL season. The Saints are making money hand over fist, and they need money from the state coffers (which we as taxpayers put there) to make even more? I'd love to see the books for the Saints made public ... and if I were advising the Guv, I'd urge him to make that a precondition to any deals the state makes with the Saints from here on out.
I just wonder when the Legislature will realize that they are elected to protect the people of Louisiana ... not the corporations that donate gobs and gobs of money to their re-election efforts.
