In fact, we'd like to invite you to join Louisiana United for Change in recognizing both the President's 100 Days of Progress and "YES WE CAN" as well as Congressman Joseph Cao's 100 days of "No We Can't" this Wednesday, April 29th.
We will be gathering outside Congressman Cao's New Orleans office this Wednesday at 4pm to call on him to start representing the struggling Louisianan middle-class by supporting the President's efforts to turn the corner on the worst economic crisis in generations.
Representative Cao and the Republican Party of No overwhelmingly opposed transformational legislation signed into law by President Obama that is helping lay a solid foundation for economic growth by strengthening the middle class, including legislation to expand children's healthcare program for 4 million kids in need, legislation to help ensure women receive equal pay for equal work, and a jobs and economic recovery plan that is ahead of schedule and under budget towards creating or saving 3.5 million jobs and providing 95 percent of Americans with tax relief.
On the heels of Representative Cao's most recent opposition to President Obama's historic budget plan, local constituents will call on the Congressman to change course, abandon the failed policies of the past, and support the President's blueprint for long-term economic growth through transformational investments in healthcare, education, and clean energy when it comes back to floor of Congress for a final vote as soon as this week.
What: Rally to call on Rep. Cao's to stop saying "No We Can't" to his constituents. Where: Congressman Cao's District Office
If you haven't watched the ad, please take a moment to do so and then read what you can do RIGHT NOW to get involved with the efforts to deliver on healthcare, education, and energy reform both today and in the weeks and months ahead.
So how can you help today to help deliver REAL CHANGE?
First, you can commit to attending Wednesday's event by contacting LA United for Change by emailing:
morgan AT americansunitedforchange DOT org
Second, you can write a letter to the editor (LTE) to your local newspaper in support of the President's budget and the path it provides us to comprehensive health care, energy and education reform.
Third, you can call Congressman Cao to let him know you are tired of "No We Can't" and that it's time for "YES WE CAN" both at his local number and DC office:
Local - (504) 483-2325
DC - (202) 225-6636
We hope you'll take a moment to get involved and hope to see you this Wednesday or at future events!
Stay tuned for more....
Rebuild & Renew America NOW! on the web.
Americans United for Change on the web.
I was going to let the day pass without comment, and let all the GOPers agitatin' go the way of Code Pink ... into irrelevancy.
But seriously, they're protesting the outrageous spending of the Obama Administration because it means that our grandchildren will be paying off our debts. How convenient their short memories are ... they've already forgotten what the Bush Administration did over the last 8 years.
Let's take a look at the amount of public debt the U.S. Government has taken on over the last 8 fiscal years, courtesy of the Bureau of Public Debt: (hat tip to bonddad)
Date
$$ of Public Debt
9/30/2008
$10,024,724,896.912.49
9/30/2007
$9,007,653,372,262.48
9-30/2006
$8,506,973,899,215.23
9/30/2005
$7,932,709,661,723.50
9/30/2004
$7,379,052,696,330.32
9/30/2003
$6,783,231,062,743.62
9/30/2002
$6,228,235,965,597.16
9/30/2001
$5,807,463,412,200.06
9/30/2000
$5,674,178,209,886.86
Bush started his first year in office with a little more than $5.7 trillion in public debt. He left office with the public debt over $10 trillion, and the wingnuts are NOW noticing?
As bonddad states in his diary over at Kos, they are not protesting the spending ... they're protesting the fact that a Democratic Administration is doing the spending.
Jindal described the premise of the question -- "Do you want the president to fail?" -- as the "latest gotcha game" being perpetrated by Democrats against Republicans.
"Make no mistake: Anything other than an immediate and compliant, 'Why no sir, I don't want the president to fail,' is treated as some sort of act of treason, civil disobedience or political obstructionism," Jindal said at a political fundraiser attended by 1,200 people. "This is political correctness run amok."
"My answer to the question is very simple: 'Do you want the president to fail?' It depends on what he is trying to do."
We're facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, two wars, a worrisome race for oil with China, and playing catch-up with respect to green technology, and our erstwhile Governor wants certain things that Obama is doing to fail?
The text of the speech is below the jump for those of y'all who are on dial-up.
Can we now put the "Obama/Democrats believe government can solve everything" meme to rest? Or do I need to continue pointing out more statements where he/Democratic officeholder says that government is not the answer for everything?
The first one is highlighted in bold below the jump. More to come if necessary.
The poll that I linked to earlier on the 2010 Senate race has some really useful information for politicians considering running against Vitter, but also tells about how Louisianans feel about a few of their elected officials:
Candidate
Very Favorable
Favorable
Unfavorable
Very Unfavorable
No Opinion
Net (Fav - Unfav)
President Obama
14%
33%
31%
13%
9%
3
Sinator Vitter
12%
37%
21%
21%
9%
7
Governor PBJ
21%
33%
23%
16%
7%
15
Sec State Dardenne
15%
33%
12%
10%
30%
26
Governor PBJ has a net favorable/unfavorable rating of 15. Only 54% of Louisianans now have a favorable opinion of him, and that's after it was in the 60's for most of last year. Why folks are surprised that PBJ's numbers aren't that hot is beyond me, really. He's had a rough year and a third as Governor thus far:
He is misperceiving the public mood out there ... folks actually want the government to step in and fix the problem. They are realizing that the robber barons of Wall Street caused this problem, not the government. And they also realize that the only entity with any power to rein in said robber barons is ... well ... the government. And his speech last Tuesday night made that crystal clear to Louisianans.
Events like this aren't gonna help, especially when the Governor is committing what they call political suicide in Texas by leaving millions in federal money on the table.
If it wasn't bad enough that Gov. Jindal got an "F" from both Republicans and Democrats for his style points the other night in his post-Obama Joint Session speech to Congress response (and I am being very kind), it turns out he has a problem with reinventing history.
Editor's Note: Even worse than admitting the story he told us all in the speech was false, Governor PBJ can't even admit it to us himself. He's left it to his Chief of Staff Timmy Teepell and Communications Director Melissa Sellers to clean up the mess he made. Oyster has nailed down yet another problem:
[Jindal spokeswoman Melissa Sellers] said the story Jindal told in his response to Obama actually took place some days later in Lee's office -- though still in Katrina's chaotic aftermath -- as Lee was "recounting" his frustrations with the bureaucracy to someone else on the telephone.
Indeed. But if Jindal was witnessing Sheriff Lee "recount" the story a week later, why would Jindal quote Lee as saying:
"before I knew it, [Lee] was yelling into the phone: 'Congressman Jindal is here, and he says you can come and arrest him too!'
On Mardi Gras night, President Obama addressed the nation. He gave an operatic masterpiece, but there is one small quibble I had with it - his line about developing alternative energy sources included clean coal.
The Coen Brothers just directed a commercial that makes light of the "clean" in "Clean" Coal technology:
If "clean" coal technology is unfeasible, and it certainly looks like it is, there are better alternatives for us to invest in - solar, wind, and energy efficiency. Investing the money President Obama wants to invest in clean coal technology in those three technologies instead would create more green jobs in this country, and wean our nation off carbon producing energy sources, which would clean our air, and help stem the trend of global warming.
Folks, President Obama (Lord, how good it feels just to type that) hit this speech outta the ballpark. My brother told me that former President Bush said essentially the same thing with respect to the characterization of America as a nation of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus and non-believers, and that we would work with all nations to defeat the terrorists. This is true.
But then Mr. Bush began listening to Mr. Cheney and Mr. Rumsfeld, rather than Mr. Powell. How far we fell thanks to the advice given by those two men.
Our job, folks, over the next four years, is to hold Obama to the words he spoke today. But for the first time in at least 8 years, in the battle between a President's angels and demons, we finally have more than a fair fight.
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!
President-elect Obama has been busy putting together his Cabinet over the last few weeks. But he still found the time to cut a radio ad and an automated call for Democratic candidate Paul Carmouche. The ad went up today, and the calls will likely go out in the next few days, in advance of Saturday's election.
Here's the text of the radio ad:
This is Barack Obama.
Together we made history, but there is still one more important election in Louisiana on Saturday, December 6th.
Democrat Paul Carmouche is running for Congress.
To change America and to get Louisiana's economy back on track - I need leaders like Paul Carmouche working with me in Washington. Let me tell you about Paul Carmouche. Paul is an effective and fair district attorney...who stood up for the victims of violent crime...Paul supports tax relief for the middle class and will work with me to create jobs and get Louisiana's economy moving.
Paul Carmouche is the kind of leader we need in Washington...to make a difference for the people of Northwest Louisiana.
On Saturday, December 6th please support Democrat Paul Carmouche.
"[Bingaman] has pushed several proposals to expand oil exploration in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. But, he says, the outer continental shelf, where offshore drilling takes place, is owned by the federal government, not the states - and channeling profits from drilling there to coastal states depletes the federal Treasury of money meant to benefit all the states."
Mr. Bingaman would do well to tour the Louisiana coast and learn the sordid history of why Louisiana didn't receive a dime in oil royalties for drilling off the coast of Louisiana period until Senator Landrieu pushed it through the Senate this past year:
Interestingly, this issue traces back to a greedy, short-sighted, racist power-broker from Plaquemines, Judge Perez. He pushed "all in" in a game of poker with Harry Truman and lost the pot:
Leander Perez is best known in Louisiana history as the bullying segregationist and powerful boss of Plaquemines Parish, who built a political and financial empire.
But when current Louisiana politicians talk about Perez, it is his stubborn refusal more than 50 years ago to cut a deal with the Truman administration over sharing offshore oil and gas royalties that dominates the conversation.
Two generations of Louisiana lawmakers have tried, so far unsuccessfully, to claim a share of the billions of dollars in revenue that Perez passed up.
None of this maneuvering would be necessary had Perez not scuttled an offer in 1949 by President Truman to settle a long-running dispute over control of the resource-rich waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Truman offered the state 100 percent of the royalties paid by oil and gas companies up to 3 miles from shore and 37.5 percent for anything farther out.
Perez, whose power stretched far beyond Plaquemines Parish, insisted Louisiana hold out for 100 percent of it all, the 3-mile limit and beyond.
Truman withdrew the offer, and the state has since received only a narrow slice of the estimated $155 billion in royalties paid to the federal treasury.
That coastline was decimated by the oil and gas industry in order to provide the rest of the country with cheap oil and gas. Why should Louisiana bear the entire cost of providing the country with cheap oil and gas? It's time for the rest of the country to reimburse Louisiana ... and rebuild our coastline.
Senator Bingaman has told anyone who will listen that he doesn't want the job. Let's keep it that way, as President-elect Obama can find someone who is not opposed to helping Louisiana pay for rebuilding her coastline. If he appoints Senator Bingaman, one must question the seriousness of his promise to help Louisiana rebuild and reclaim our coastline.
I write today with mixed feelings about this campaign season. While I am elated that this nation has seen fit to send Barack Obama to the White House, I am not surprised that Louisiana did not put her 9 Electoral Votes in Mr. Obama's column. I am however, looking into buying a "Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Obama" bumper sticker for my car when I go out of state in it.
I am elated that Senator Mary Landrieu won her campaign relatively easily. Did you notice that you can drop Orleans Parish from the totals, and she STILL would have won? This means that no Democrat running a state-wide campaign from here on out should even think about not running a state-wide field operation. That field operation, which contacted many Democrats for the first time in years(!), gave Senator Landrieu her impressive margin.
I am not surprised that Jim Harlan lost in LA-01. It's unfortunate, but the results of this election show that there is much, much, much more work to be done. I don't anticipate seeing a Democrat elected in that district for some time to come.
I am incredibly upset about the result in LA-06. I'll have more to write on this one later, but suffice it to say that I hope someone out there sees fit to give Mr. Cassidy hell for the next two years by starting a blog marking his every move for the next two years, to make it a little easier for any Democrat that decides to run against Mr. Cassidy in two years in terms of opposition research. Here's one such example of a fine blog tracking a Republican Member of Congress.
I am disappointed in the result in LA-07. But I am optimistic about State Senator Don Cravins, Jr. I think he has a future in the Democratic Party of this state since he's only 38, and the fact that he started the campaign LATE. Hopefully, if he decides to run again, he'll start the fundraising process in January, and continue to meet with voters throughout the 7th District during the two years.
One of the things that stands out to me about this election season is that the candidates that tried to out-Republican the real Republicans in their races LOST. Mr. Harlan, Mr. Cazayoux, Mr. Cravins, Jr ... all ran ads emphasizing their pro-life, pro-gun views. That's all good and fine ONCE.
In LA-01, all of Mr. Harlan's ads mentioned that he was pro-life and pro-gun.
In LA-06, quite a few of Mr. Cazayoux's ads mentioned his conservative views. This is NOT a completely conservative district. Yes, the voters are culturally conservative, but they will vote for a pro-union Democrat. A majority of them did on Tuesday.
In LA-07, Mr. Cravins ran four ads - 2 focusing on him ... one on his conservative views, and the other on how he's a church-going man.
The Republican playbook is to smear Democrats on the cultural issues. There is nothing we can do about that. They're going to do it even when it is obvious that the Democratic candidate has the same views on the cultural issues as the Republican does! Focus on why you're a Democrat. Remind people that there are other issues to consider ... like the economy, health care, the environment, and on and on. And do it not only on the stump, where few voters see you, but also on television.
The results in our congressional elections affirm Howard Dean's message of 2004: If voters are given a choice between a Republican and Republican-lite, they'll choose the real Republican every single time.
Now, for those of you wondering if it is possible for Obama to pull out Louisiana, let me give you some numbers:
The black vote is going to go 90% or higher for Obama. There are 885,797 black voters in the State of Louisiana. Let's be conservative and assume 90%70% of them turn out, and Obama gets 90% of that vote, which is what John Kerry Al Gore received among black voters in 2004 2000 nationally.
885,797 * .90.70 = 797,217 620,058 black voters voting 797,217 620,058 * .90.70 = 717,495 558,052 voting for Obama
There are only 2,908,342 registered voters total in the State of Louisiana. You cut that in half, and you get 1,454,171 + 1 = 1,454,172 to win outright, assuming a 100% turnout.
1,454,172 - 717,495 558,052 = 736,677 896,120 white voters Obama would need in an election that has 100% turnout. That's would mean Obama has to pull 38% 47% of the white vote to win. But that's assuming a 100% turnout, y'all.
The high water mark for a Louisiana election in terms of turnout was the Edwin Edwards - David Duke gubernatorial election in 1991, when 78.9% of registered voters voted.
So, let's assume we tie the high-water mark, y'all:
Using the same #'s from black voters as before, that means Obama needs to capture the votes of 429,847 589,290 white voters. That's a mere 22.6% 31% of white voters.
This is a single digit election, y'all. Obama can win Louisiana. It will be difficult, but not impossible. If you are a Democrat, and you want to be celebrating a return to a government that looks out for the little guy, and you have family or friends in the great state of Louisiana, then you have to get on the phone and talk to them. If you live here, you have to talk to your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and tell them to vote for Obama.
LEAVE IT ON THE FIELD, y'all. LEAVE IT ON THE FIELD.
