[UPDATE] It appears that they've photoshopped out the State Flag of Oklahoma. They really couldn't find a a similar picture of the Stars and Stripes flying above the Louisiana state flag?
Not that I have anything about the great state of Oklahoma, but it is very curious that Louisiana Congressman John Fleming would choose to put a graphic up on his Congressional website that shows Oklahoma's state flag flying right beneath the Stars and Stripes.
If you take a look at the flag graphic right next to the Fort Polk graphic, take a look at the flag flying beneath the US Flag. Doesn't it look suspiciously like the State Flag of Oklahoma:
I don't think it's too much to ask that a Congressman from Louisiana honor the state flag of the state he actually represents in Congress on his website, do you?
During last year's qualifying period, candidate John Fleming had this to say: (scroll to the bottom)
"I believe it is critical to elect a congressman who will live in the District, as I will, as an actual resident and not just a legal resident so voters have a chance to see and speak directly with their congressman."
Today, The Hill reported that Congressman John Fleming recently bought a $825,000 house on Capitol Hill ... and wait for it ... is receiving the DC homestead exemption for the property:
Why is receiving the homestead exemption significant? Because one must declare that it is their primary residence in order to receive it.
Now it's possible that the DC taxing authorities have screwed up ... but we shall see. Until then, Mr. Fleming may just have gone DC on us.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This is good news for the Carmouche campaign, but I wouldn't get complacent. This is a district that has been Republican since 1988.* Mr. Carmouche needs all the help he can get ... so if you have the cash, click on the icon on the right to donate. Remember, Dick Cheney is making his last stand in LA-04 tomorrow morning. Help Mr. Carmouche put this election away if you can afford to help. Even $5 goes a long way.
-------------------
* Although one can argue that this district hasn't been represented by a Democrat since 1980, as former Gov. Buddy Roemer represented this district from 1980 to 1987. I've met Mr. Roemer, and he is among the most tone-deaf people I have ever met, as I wanted to discuss politics and education in Louisiana with him, and he was more interested in selling me his latest business venture.
The Shreveport Times informs us all that Vice-President Dick Cheney will be making his last stand at a fundraiser for Republican hopeful John Fleming on Friday.
Fleming asks the citizens of LA-04 to shell out $10,000 to have their pictures taken with DarthVice President Cheney.
This tells us all what kind of Congressman that John Fleming plans to be - one that will be a values voter ... and then, on the economic issues, do whatever the Republican leadership tells him to do.
He's already started down that track by doing what his consultants told him to do - toe the Republican line on Social Security - let's allow folks to put their payroll taxes in the stock market - to win the primary, and then muddle the waters by putting up an ad claiming that you're going to keep Social Security out of the stock market during the general election. That's not honest leadership ... that's misleading the voters.
The Democratic candidate, Paul Carmouche, is a Louisiana Democrat, which means on the cultural hot-button issues, he's not going to be voting the way, say, Speaker Pelosi would. But on the economic issues, he stands with us:
Paul will end corporate welfare for companies that are shipping good paying American jobs overseas.
Paul opposes higher taxes and new taxes, especially for the middle class and small businesses. The wealthy and big corporations that move American jobs overseas should pay more of their fair share.
Paul will look for opportunities to make the tax system fairer for working people, the middle class and small businesses.
Help Mr. Carmouche counter the hundreds of thousands that Cheney will raise for Republican wingnut John Fleming!
UPDATE: The Carmouche campaign has invited the public to join Mr. Carmouche for coffee and donuts on Thursday morning to discuss their concerns. The meeting is at the Carmouche HQ - 4847 Line Ave. in Shreveport on Thursday morning starting at 8:30 AM. The first 25 people through the door will receive a rubber duck to symbolize the Vice=President's status as a lame duck.
Yesterday, we brought you this video of Fleming speaking to seniors about Social Security on October 1st:
Well, apparently Mr. Fleming either flipped his position, or he's lying to the voters of LA-04, because he's running this ad in which he states that he will work to, wait for it ... "keep social security out of the stock market":
Republican candidate John Fleming announces that he is in favor of privatizing Social Security:
I find his position incredible, especially since Social Security disability payments and survivor's benefits saved his family when he was a high school senior and attending college. Apparently, his mother got hurt on the job, and his dad passed away from a heart attack months before John's graduation from high school. From his bio on his website:
"Things were tough financially. It would take a while for my dad's Social Security survivor's checks to start coming and for funds from his life insurance policy to arrive. All we had was a small check from my mother's disability.
Mr. Fleming, you claim you haven't forgotten where you came from. If that is the case, why would you advocate putting Social Security benefits in the stock market? The stock market is not always rising ... matter of fact, it's dropped near 3000 points in the last two months, which has caused many people to lose a good chunk of their retirement funds that they were counting on.
Social Security is, was, and always should be a safety net for the American people. Putting it in the stock market will take away that safety net ... and put folks on a high wire ... trying to determine the best time to cash out, thereby make some folks winners and some folks losers. And no matter what, among the winners will always be banks and financial institutions that administer the mutual funds. That was never the intention of framers of Social Security ... it was intended to ensure a basic standard of living for folks after a lifetime of working.
(Including the dubbed-in sound effects of Fleming's footsteps, which make it seem like the good doctor is wearing high heels).
Fleming wants us to be sure to visit the "Issues Page" of his website, which outlines his basic platform on the "issues." I also suggest a visit: The man wants to eliminate all taxes on individuals and businesses, destroy the IRS, and institute a Fair Tax, which will require doubling (if not tripling) the sales tax on all goods sold.
As a man who owns five trillion Subway franchises and is set for life, he can speak personally to the incredible financial burden of taxes:
Yes, I am a physician. A medical practice is a business. For over 20 years, I have owned and developed non-medical businesses that have created jobs for over 500 Louisiana families. I brought the first Subway store to north Louisiana in 1986 and we have grown that business to 30 stores. I own other restaurants in the Shreveport area. And my company, Fleming Expansions is a regional developer for the UPS Store, a subsidiary of UPS, which has sold and continues to provide support services to 130 stores across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. My business experience helps me understand that the most powerful thing that we can do to stimulate economic development, the growth of business, the creation of new jobs and the growth of personal income for Americans is to dramatically reform the tax system. Tax reform ought to be a national economic imperative. As your Congressman, I will make tax reform my priority. On Wednesday, January 23rd, I signed the Americans for Tax Reform's Taxpayer Protection Pledge. I have committed in writing that I will not increase marginal tax rates, or vote for any new taxes whose net result is that Americans pay more in taxes. I strongly support the concept of the Fair Tax. The Fair Tax will abolish the federal income tax and the IRS. April 15th will become just another beautiful spring day! The Fair Tax will replace the income tax, corporate taxes, capital gains taxes, and estate and inheritance taxes with a national sales tax.
Hooray for ignorant grandstanding!
All those so-called "economists" with their fancy degrees don't understand that the only way to further enrich the franchisees of the American economy is by not taxing them anymore. Duh!
Don't tax the owner of the Subway stores. Instead, just increase the taxes on those lazy Americans who buy Subway sandwiches.
The sales tax rate, as defined in the legislation, is 23 percent of the total price including the tax ($23 of every $100 spent—calculated similar to income taxes). This is equivalent to a 30 percent traditional U.S. sales tax ($23 on top of every $77 spent).[4]
With the rebate taken into consideration, the FairTax would be progressive on consumption,[3] but would also be regressive on income at higher income levels (as consumption falls as a percentage of income).[5][6] Opponents argue this would accordingly decrease the tax burden on high income earners and increase it on the middle class.[4][7] Supporters contend that the plan would decrease tax burdens by broadening the tax base, effectively taxing wealth, and increasing purchasing power.[8][9] The plan’s supporters also argue that a consumption tax would have a positive effect on savings and investment, that it would ease tax compliance, and that the tax would result in increased economic growth, incentives for international business to locate in the U.S., and increased U.S. competitiveness in international trade.[10][11][12]Opponents contend that a consumption tax of this size would be extremely difficult to collect, and would lead to pervasive tax evasion.[5][4] They also argue that the proposed sales tax rate would raise less revenue than the current tax system, leading to an increased budget deficit.[4][13]
On national security, Fleming wants you to know he is a hawk:
Frankly, I abhor the way modern Democrats in Congress are soft on national defense and how they undermine the morale and the mission of our troops.
Those anti-American modern Democrats keep getting in the way of our hope for an all-out global war against radical Muslims:
I will work hard to support the brave American men and women who at this very moment are fighting against our terrorist enemies - the radical Muslims, in Afghanistan and Iraq. This is not a fight that we started. This is not war by choice. Islamic fanatics decided to wage jihad on America. They flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and planned to destroy other targets - either the White House or the U.S. Capitol. We must not forget that in a malicious attack they killed over 3,000 innocent civilians. Given the opportunity, if emboldened by a weak response, if continuously encouraged by irresponsible politicians who blame America first, these diabolic zealots will attack again and again.
You see, Dr. Fleming, just like John Kerry, was in the Navy. The only difference is that Fleming, unlike Kerry, didn't have to serve on the front lines of Vietnam and earn a slew of medals to know that service to our country requires a completely blind and uncritical allegiance to a Republican political agenda. It's a part of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
I've never heard this sentiment expressed by any candidate for national office, and with all due respect to him and his family, the notion that the people of Iraq should financially compensate the United States for a pre-emptive invasion that has led to the deaths of over 4,000 Americans and nearly 600,000 Iraqis seems to be the most ignorant and seriously misguided policy statement ever expressed during the past decade. It's not just insensitive; it's idiotic.
Fleming displays his incredible political acumen when he describes the "real reason" Republicans are now in the minority:
I am calling the Republican Party back to its roots. We are in the minority in Congress today, not because we are too conservative, but because when we were in the majority, we were not conservative enough. The 2006 elections were not a repudiation of conservative principles. They were a repudiation of politicians who forsook Republican values and acted just like Democrats. I will be a Congressman who acts in a manner consistent with reducing taxes and spending and reducing the size and power of the federal government.
Really? Republicans like Rick Santorum and Tom DeLay lost their seats because they weren't conservative enough. Riiiight.
Incidentally, Fleming's platform is conspicuously similar to Santorum's and DeLay's.
Well, if the 2006 elections weren't a repudiation, I wonder what he thinks about the 2008 elections. There seems to be a willful suspension of disbelief at play here-- the notion that, in this electoral climate, the best path for Republicans is to take a hard right turn. It's the classic "Elect the Ideologue" strategy.
Which is why, in typical form, Fleming wants us all to believe that our country's sacred heritage is being threatened by the non-existent boogeyman of secular intolerance:
America was founded on the Christian principles contained in the Word of God. Our nation is the greatest nation in the history of the world because God has blessed America. The United States has never been the secular nation that today's liberal myth-makers proclaim. And we must never allow it to become such. The American people, in the vast majority, are a profoundly religious people. We must never allow the noisy liberal minority and radical groups like the ACLU to impose their secular vision on the majority. We must resist the oppression of religious liberty. We must never allow the Liberal, anti-God, anti-religious freedom minority to remove the words Under God from the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. We must never allow them to abolish our National Motto: In God We Trust.
Aside from Fleming's blatant misrepresentation of American history (which reveals his ignorance of the writings and beliefs of men like Thomas Jefferson, John Madison, and John Adams), he is premising his candidacy on waging a culture war-- a war, I might add, which is only fought on the fringes and has no real place in the daily work of a serious Congressman.
Just as Fleming abhors those dastardly modern Democrats, I abhor candidates, whether they are Democratic, Republican, or Independent, who are only interested in fracturing our democracy along cultural lines-- candidates who attempt to claim our country as, exclusively, belonging to people who look and think just as they do, candidates who use wedge issues to construct a tenuous majority.
With all of that said, I have respect for Fleming's personal history. We both lost our fathers when we were teenagers. In writing about his life, Fleming displays a sensitivity to and understanding of the issues facing disabled Americans. But you have to look hard to find this information. It's almost hidden.
Instead, front and center, Fleming presents himself as a hard-right "culture warrior," not as a legitimate, serious candidate for Congress-- a candidate who, instead of speaking in hackneyed abstractions, speaks to the specific needs of his district.
Put another way, instead of basing his campaign on increasing development, encouraging the augmentation of Barksdale as a cyber command center and Fort Polk as a major training facility, investing in infrastructure reinvestment, and improving the over-all quality of life for residents of District 4, Fleming has based his candidacy around a series of divisive cultural issues.
One can only hope that his opponent, Mr. Carmouche, will not fall for the bait and will decide to engage him on the real issues facing the good people of Louisiana.
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.
Well, Election Day is almost here. It starts tomorrow, folks, thanks to early voting, which occurs today (the 21st) through Saturday (the 25th), and then again on Monday (the 27th) and Tuesday (the 28th). I am convinced that the more folks that vote early, the less problems (if any) there will be on November 4th.
If you want to help boost turnout in Louisiana, you can follow this handy checklist that the Louisiana Obama team came up with:
October 21
Your first task is for you yourself to go and vote the first day of early voting. Find your local Registrars office and get a friend to go with you.
October 22
The next task is for you to send a message to everyone about early voting in your email lists especially if you have multiple emails. Also, if you are a part of social networks like facebook or myspace send messages out to friends on those networks and create early voting events.
October 23
Before the weekend rush of so many businesses we want to deliver some flyers to their location and see if they will put them in their place of business for us. This can include barber shops, beauty salons or any other place that you know would not mind having them in their window.
October 24
Call 5 of your family members or friends here in the state of Louisiana and tell them to get up and go early vote for Obama.
October 25
Identify three of your friends or colleagues where you work who are Obama supporters and encourage them to go vote early. If you do not work, 3 people in classes you take or 3 people in local businesses that you are a regular to (example. Hair salon, barber shop)
October 26
Knock on three neighbors doors that you know are Obama supporters and inform them about early voting and try and commit them to a day to go and early vote for Barack.
October 27
There is only one day left after today, we are challenging you to drive a friend, family member, colleague or just a regular voter to the polls to guarantee they early vote.
October 28
Get one person to volunteer for a November 1-4 Get-Out-The-Vote shift. Identify the shifts in your local office and commit someone to a shift.
Not that hard, eh? As for voting locations, the list is after the jump! This does not include all the locations, I'm afraid. There are some extra locations in Orleans, Jefferson, Washington, East Baton Rouge that I am aware of. Please call the phone number of the Registrar of Voters for the Parish you reside to find out the other locations!
UPDATE: I'll be live-blogging the results from Jim Harlan's Victory Party tonight. It's being held at the Holiday Inn's Pontchartrain Room in Covington. The address is 501 N. Highway 190.
Today is primary day. There are 4 Congressional races that will be impacted by today's vote, as well a slew of races throughout the rest of the state:
LA-01: The Democratic Primary in this district is pretty much a formality, as Vinnie Mendoza has run numerous times in the past while not coming anywhere near close to winning.
LA-02: This is a big one. Congressman Jefferson has been indicted, and the trial starts next winter. He's facing off against 6 Democrats - James Carter, Troy "C" Carter, Byron Lee, Helena Moreno, Cedric Richmond, and Kenya Smith. It'll go to a run-off to be held on November 4th ... which is tantamount to election, as there are few Republicans in this district to make a difference. The question is, WHO will be in the run-off?
LA-04: Both the Democrats and Republicans have party primaries today. The Democratic Primary is largely a formality, as Paul Carmouche is very well-known in the district, having served as the Caddo Parish D.A. for the past 30 years.
On the Republican side, it's going to a run-off. There are 3 candidates - John Fleming, Chris Gorman, and Jeff Thompson. It's gotten mighty nasty, and I expect the run-off to be even nastier.
LA-05: This is a Republican primary, which will decide the election, as no Democrat stepped forward to challenge the ethically-challenged Rodney Alexander. He faces off against 25 year old Andrew Clack, who is running a shoe-string campaign.
New Orleans: There are a lot of races on the ballot, the most important of which is the District Attorney's race, as well as some very important questions regarding permanently funding the Inspector General's office and a bond for building yet more jails in Orleans Parish.
Baton Rouge: The Mayor, the entire City Council, and the District Attorney's offices are up for re-election. The current Mayor, Kip Holden, has done a fine job, and should cruise to re-election without the need for a run-off.
The current District Attorney, Doug Moreau, is retiring. The two candidates running to replace him - Democrat Hillar Moore and Republican Dan Clatoir - have been campaigning for over two years now. This should be settled tonight.
I haven't been keeping up with the rest of the state's elections ... what else is out there that you want me to live-blog the results of later tonight y'all?
This approach to politics is what earned Mr. Carmouche the Shreveport Times endorsement (pdf alert) for the Democratic nomination in the LA-04 race to replace retiring Rep. Jim McCrery way back in August, when the party primaries were going to be held in September.
Mr. Carmouche has also racked up quite an impressive list of endorsements from fellow District Attorneys from the 4th Congressional District, as well as from around the state:
2nd Judicial District D.A. Walter May
Allen Parish D.A. Doug Hebert, Jr
Beauregard Parish D.A. David Burton
Grant Parish D.A. Jay Lemoine
Natchitoches Parish D.A. Van Kyzar
Red River Parish D.A. Bill Jones
3rd Judicial District D.A. Robert Levy
15th Judicial District D.A. Michael Harson
16th Judicial District D.A. Phil Haney
Avoyelles Parish D.A. Charles Riddle
Jefferson Parish D.A. Paul Connick, Jr.
Rapides Parish D.A. James "Jams" Downs
Terrebonne Parish D.A. Joseph Waitz
Winn Parish D.A. R. Chris Nevils
In addition to his fellow District Attorneys, Mr. Carmouche has received the endorsement of the Shreveport Firefighters Association Local 514, and State Rep. Michael Danahay (D-Beauregard Parish).
As the race heats up over the next two months ... yeah, I said two months, as it is increasingly unlikely that the Republican primary will be won outright by any of the three nattering nabobs of negativity running for that nomination. That means one more month of negativity flowing freely from the Republicans prior to a December general election.
That's Paul Carmouche on the right giving an interview to a lonely (and cold) cameraman from one of Shreveport's local news channels. 
