Reports came out yesterday that Louisiana Family Forum head Tony Perkins is considering, yet again, running for the Senate. This time, however, he'd be running against Sinator Vitter and presumably, Stormy Daniels, in a Republican primary.
This would be quite an entertaining threesome primary ... a hypocritical Sinator who likes to commit the crime of prostitution, all the while pontificating about family values; an up-from-the-bootstraps gal that has moved from being a porn star to being a producer of adult films; and a religious political wanna-be that has associated with unsavory characters in the past:
Sinator Vitter once again calls for a resignation. Unfortunately, it's not his own, but that of Illinois Senator Roland Burris, for:
Vitter said that Burris "clearly, at a minimum, misled the Illinois Legislature and the voters of the Illinois" by giving incomplete answers about his contacts with and fundraising efforts for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill.) as Blagojevich was considering appointing Burris to the state's Senate seat.
[When asked about his own sex scandal, he replied]: "I honestly don't know anybody who would compare these situations. They are dramatically different."
Dramatically different? Sinator, clearly, at a minimum, you misled the voters of Louisiana about your family values in every single campaign you have ever run!
The folks that qualified yesterday are in green text, unless they have are a Democrat AND have a website that I can find. If they are Repewblicans, then they have no linky to their site. This is a progressive website, and there is no need to link to those we are trying to defeat. The folks that qualified today are in black. So, without further adieu:
Senator Landrieu plans to qualify on Friday morning, after which she will kick off her "Winning for Louisiana" tour with stops in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Shreveport, Monroe, Alexandria, Lake Charles and New Orleans over the weekend.
John Neely Kennedy kicked off his "Nonsense on a Bus" tour through the state, and will apparently qualify tomorrow.
LA-01
Jim Harlan, Democrat
Steve Scalise, Republican
M.V. "Vinny" Mendoza, Democrat
James Carter, Democrat Troy "C" Carter, Democrat
William Jefferson, Democrat
Byron L. Lee, Democrat
Helena Moreno, Democrat Cedric Richmond, Democrat
Malik Rahim, Green Party
Kenya J.H. Smith, Democrat
"Jerry" Jacobs, No Party
Kenya Smith's filing leaves State Senator Cheryl Gray as the lone Democrat still considering the race. The two Republicans I mentioned yesterday, attorney Joe Lavigne, who finished 4th in the 2006 jungle primary, and Dillard University professor Gary Clark, are still considering it.
So far, no one else has qualified. It'll be interesting to see if any Republicans bother to throw their hat in the ring, considering that Charlie will be seeking his 3rd term this fall, and he won his re-election campaign quite convincingly over former State Senator Craig Romero, 55-40 in 2006.
John Fleming, Republican
Chris Gorman, Republican
Jeff Thompson, Republican
Chester T. "Catfish" Kelley, No Party
Mr. Kelly ran back in '06, and garnered some 2% of the vote as a Republican. My guess is he'll garner about the same as that, or even less than that in a competitive open seat election.
LA-05
Rodney Alexander, Republican
A Republican has stepped forward to take on the traitor ... his name is:
So here's the list of folks who qualified to run for the eight federal offices up for election in Louisiana this year, with a note as to when various folks are planning to qualify:(if there is no link to a website, it's because the candidate is a Republican, or they don't have one)
LA-Sen
None today.
Senator Landrieu plans to qualify on Friday morning, after which she will kick off her "Winning for Louisiana" tour with stops in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Shreveport, Monroe, Alexandria, Lake Charles and New Orleans over the weekend.
John Neely Kennedy kicked off his "Nonsense on a Bus" tour through the state, and will supposedly qualify at some point during the tour.
I believe these two are the only ones planning on running from either party ... there may be some minor candidates that come out of the woodwork between now and Friday, but this will be main event here in LA-01.
LA-02
James Carter, Democrat Troy "C" Carter, Democrat
William Jefferson, Democrat
Byron L. Lee, Democrat
Helena Moreno, Democrat Cedric Richmond, Democrat
Malik Rahim, Green Party
Apparently, Karen Carter-Peterson is not running. There are still others considering it, including Nagin aide Kenya Smith, State Senator Cheryl Gray, both of whom are Democrats. There are two Republicans considering making the race, attorney Joe Lavigne, who finished 4th in the 2006 jungle primary, and Dillard University professor Gary Clark.
So far, no one else has qualified. It'll be interesting to see if any Republicans bother to throw their hat in the ring, considering that Charlie will be seeking his 3rd term this fall, and he won his re-election campaign quite convincingly over former State Senator Craig Romero, 55-40 in 2006.
John Fleming, Republican
Chris Gorman, Republican
Jeff Thompson, Republican
Mr. Banks and Mr. Milkovich are first-time candidates for this seat, I believe. Dr. Cash ran back in '06, and split the Democratic vote with Patti Cox 17% and 13%, respectively, with little or no Louisiana Democratic Party backing. This time, Mr. Carmouche is considered the heavy front-runner for the Democrats, thanks to his long service as the Caddo Parish District Attorney.
On the Republican side, outgoing Congressman Jim McCrery has been instrumental to Jeff Thompson, going so far to endorse him, and secure the endorsements of House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, Republican Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia, Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan and Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas. Needless to say, the Republicans back home aren't sitting on their hands ... they're challenging McCrery's pick.
LA-05
Rodney Alexander, Republican
So far, no one has stepped forward to take on the traitor. Hopefully, someone will, but it will be an uphill fight, as it is late in the game to start the fundraising.
Don Cravins, Jr., Democrat
Charles Boustany, Republican
Peter Vidrine, Other
Boustany has been an absolute disappointment as a Representative for Southwest Louisiana, refusing to earmark any money for this district, which is struggling to rebuild after Hurricane Rita washed ashore in 2005. Mr. Cravins offers an attractive alternative for voters ... and will give Boustany a run for his money.
Today is the start of qualifying for all federal elections being held this fall. To date, I have received emails informing me when the following folks are qualifying for office:
Today, Wednesday, July 9th
John Kennedy, Republican, LA-Sen
Jim Harlan, Democrat, LA-01
Don Cravins, Jr., Democrat, LA-07, 3 PM
Thursday, July 10th
TBA
Friday, July 11th
Mary Landrieu, Democrat, LA-Senate, 9 AM
I assume that Congressmen Alexander (R, LA-05), Boustany (R, LA-07), Cazayoux (D, LA-06), Jefferson (D, LA-02), Melancon (D, LA-03), and Scalise (R, LA-01) will be qualifying on Friday as well, since the act of qualifying is usually good for some press attention, and the House of Representatives is currently in session.
I also believe that the following people will be qualifying at some point in the next few days:
Cedric Richmond, Democrat, LA-02
Karen Carter-Peterson, Democrat, LA-02
Helena Moreno, Democrat, LA-02
Paul Carmouche, Democrat, LA-04
Bill Cassidy, Republican, LA-06
Michael Jackson, Independent, LA-06
The Republicans have caught a HUGE break with Woody Jenkins' announcement that he will not seek the GOP nomination for LA-06 this fall. What does that mean? Don Cazayoux better start moving back to the Democratic Party. If he continues to tack to the center, he's going to face a helluva fight this fall. He'll have the coattails of Obama in the black community here in the Baton Rouge area, but he can't win with the black community alone. And any advantage he will have will be sorely tested by the potential entry into the race by State Rep. Michael Jackson as an Independent, which will catapult him directly into the general election. I hope it doesn't come to pass, but I fear that Don is now facing a perfect storm of his own, a mere two months after the GOP faced their own perfect storm of circumstances in the special election.
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.
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.
I want to thank the campaign staff ... you guys did all the work. I also want to thank all the volunteers, and the folks who canvassed for the DCCC IE campaign, AND the folks who phone banked, and door-knocked directly for the campaign. I met some of y'all last night at the Women's Club and the Hilton, and I wish you luck on your future endeavors.
I think, with a 2800 vote lead, and 3 precincts to report, we can call this one for CAZAYOUX!
I knocked on doors for about 4 hours this afternoon, and here are my results:
85 doors knocked
40 Not Home
45 Voted Cazayoux
0 Voted Jenkins
0 Voted Casey
Keep in mind, I was knocking doors of folks that were ID'd as Cazayoux supporters. We asked if they voted, and every single person told me "I voted for Cazayoux!" By the way, I was in House District 69, which is one of the most Republican districts in Baton Rouge. I did knock on the doors of approximately 15 Republicans, and, surprisingly, all were home, and all told me CAZAYOUX!
So we woke up to a torrential downpour and lightening. A crack of thunder awoke me with a start this morning at 6:15 AM.
Around 8 AM, when I ran some errands for my wife, I passed by the DCCC's office here in Baton Rouge, and saw that AWESOME sight of local folks waiting for their assignments, and getting ready to go remind their neighbors that it's Election Day. Which can only mean one thing ... time to go vote to send a Democrat to represent the 6th CD for the first time in 33 years ... and have the Capital Region represented by a Democrat for the first time since 1997!
For those of y'all worried about the turnout in the African-American neighborhoods ... I saw these signs all over the African American neighborhoods I drove through running those same errands this morning. Yes, they have the disclaimer of who it was paid for. That's what the little white box is all about on the lower left hand side. That sight warms me heart, as it means that former State Senator Cleo Fields has put his operation to work to get out the vote int the African American neighborhoods here in Baton Rouge. Ditto for Joe Delpit in North Baton Rouge.
As I said, it's a beautiful day here the Capital Region, and that will help us with the turnout battle. I'm about to head out and knock on some doors, and will let y'all know how that goes by the time polls close.
Apparently there are robocalls being made to registered African-American voters tonight, with the script saying something roughly along these lines:
"The Democratic Party has never funded any African-American candidate in this district, and Don Cazayoux has no endorsements from any African-American leaders in the community"
First of all, pray tell, what is New Roads Mayor Tommy Nelson? And just who has he endorsed? Oh, YEEEAAAAH, Don Cazayoux.
Finally, there is a history of Republican dirty tricks around election time, especially dealing with robocalls. When either The Giant Squid or I confirm the source of these calls, it will be posted here, and I will forward all the information to the Attorney General's office to see if they can press charges.
So I got a pretty good laugh today from my friend John Leek, who founded the Mississippi blog Cotton Mouth Blog. He sent me this link to a radio ad of Woody's that has Woody saying that he doesn't believe in negative advertising.
All I have to say is ... then let's see you call out your friend Lane Grigsby. And your friends over at Freedoms Watch. And your friends over at Club For Growth, all of whom are all running over the top negative ads in a desperate attempt to pull Don Cazayoux's negative numbers up, (and so far failing), hoping to depress Democratic turnout enough that Woody can somehow slink by.
This is the final Blast From the Past for this election, as election day is tomorrow. As noted in the previous Blast from the Past article, we're going to take a look at the man Republicans and their operatives running ads in LA-06 - Lane Grigsby, Club for Growth, Freedoms Watch, and the NRCC - want to elect: Louis "Woody" Jenkins. The articles are no longer online, but are from The Times-Picayune's coverage of the 1996 Senate race. I have saved the articles in .pdf format, and will include a link to them in each post.
The second article is from October 26, 1996 and is entitled JENKINS' CHARITY VIOLATES LAWS, and was written by John McQuaid of the Times-Pic's Washington Bureau.
Woody Jenkins and his wife, Diane, founded a charity in 1984, called Friends of the Americas, as a "non-political" organization to establish "people-to-people programs between the people of the United States and the people of Latin America" and to provide "humanitarian assistance to the people of Latin America suffering from poverty, natural disasters, or war." The website I got all the quotes from is RightWeb Online, which seems to have a javascript problem because all you see is a the html code for the website. But Woody is quoted as saying that he set up the non-profit to:
"to aid the victims of communist aggression"and FOA's relief efforts in Central America are "a strategic lever to help the forces of democracy in the region."
But that's not the point of this post. The point of this post is that Louis "Woody" Jenkins seemed to think that he was above the law back in the day, as at least 42 states have laws stating that charities raising money in their states must register with them. And as Mr. Jenkins acknowledged to the Times Picayune back in 1996:
He said that the group hasn't registered with state charity bureaus, as more than 40 states require, because he believes state charity laws have no jurisdiction over out-of-state groups, an argument charity experts and state officials reject.
The laws are designed to protect residents from fraudulent and misleading appeals. The State of Louisiana does not have such a requirement unless the group uses a professional fund-raiser.
And yet, Woody states that:
"It's the states, not [my] organization, that is wrong."
But in another piece of investigative journalism you rarely see from the BSM anymore, Mr. McQuaid found another charity that was roughly the same size of Jenkins' FOA, the Cancer Research Foundation of America, and a Susie Wellman, then the Director of Programs for the Cancer Research Foundation of America states:
"We make absolutely certain we are registered in every state where we send direct mail."
Woody then tried to justify the lack of registration with the state where FOA send direct mail solicitations by saying:
"The basic issue for Friends is, just because it has 10 people in the state who support it, it would be burdensome to put it through that process."
Back to Ms. Wellman:
Wellman said that one of [her] group's 10 staff members is in charge of registering each year. "I am familiar with how time consuming it can be to fill out those forms. For a small organization, we do what we have to and we certainly want to obey the laws in these states."
(GOTV is what is going to win this ballgame, people. I've learned that one the hard way on some campaigns ... Daschle in '04, the overnight poll the night before had us up 2%, and we lost by 2% for a swing of 4%. Anything can happen. We must not let up ... we must call, knock, and drive everyone we know that will vote for Don to the polls on Saturday. In the words of a GOTV mentor, GO! FIGHT! WIN! - promoted by ryan)
Edited for clarity ... ryan
Well, from Survey USA comes a poll showing that Don Cazayoux, with 3 days until the voting begins is poised to win this district.
The poll shows the following spread (with Anzalone Liszt's 4/15 results):
Candidate
Poll %
Don Cazayoux
50% (49%)
Woody Jenkins
41% (42%)
Other/Undecided
8% (?)
The cross-tabs are VERY interesting:
Among white voters, the Republican has a 5-point advantage. Among black voters, the Democrat leads 5:1.
Among voters age 50+, the Republican has a 5-point advantage. Among voters younger than 50, the Democrat leads by 20.
Among men, the contest is effectively tied. Among women, the Democrat leads by 19.
19% of Republicans cross-over and vote Democrat. 18% of Democrats cross-over and vote Republican. Independents break 2:1 for the Democrat.
Among voters who say that illegal immigrants should be forced to leave the country, the Republican leads by 14. Among voters who say that illegals should be penalized but allowed to stay in the country, the Democrat leads by 34.
Among voters who say Congress should continue to fund the war in Iraq, the Republican leads by 51. Among voters who say Congress should reduce funding for the war, the Democrat leads by 41. And among voters who say Congress should stop funding the war altogether, the Democrat leads by 80.
Hell, even the favorability numbers are impressive ... Cazayoux has favorable/unfavorable of 43/28, while Jenkins has favorable/unfavorable numbers of 36/49.
While all this certainly boosts my spirits, I must throw some cold water on y'all, and it has to do with the weighting that Survey USA did:
Of the likely and actual voters in this poll, 42% identified themselves as Democrats, 42% identified themselves as Republican. 15% identified themselves as Independents. Turnout in a special election is difficult to forecast. The outcome of this special election, in particular, is turnout dependent. If voters are older and/or whiter than SurveyUSA here foresees, the Republican will outperform these numbers.
Wow. Baton Rouge's CBS affiliate, WAFB-TV has pulled one of Freedom Watch's ads off the air due to the outright lies they packed into the ad, which ironically, was called "In God We Trust."
The ad alleged that Don Cazayoux wanted to make it easier to allow illegal aliens to get public health care benefits, when the truth is that Cazayoux is against amnesty for illegal immigrants and believes in cracking down on illegal immigrants and the employers that hire them. Freedoms Watch didn't even attempt to back up the claim with text to some statement, news article, or vote, mainly because they knew they were lying and figured they could get away with it.
Doesn't that sound like someone else we know? Perhaps a Republican candidate running for Congress? Named Woody Jenkins?
Send a strong message to these fools on Saturday and elect Don Cazayoux. He's the only candidate in the race with the decency to tell you the truth.
I wasn't going to drop these Blast from the Past articles that I found on Woody from his 1996 Senate race. Then I saw the absolutely despicable ads that are being put out there by Freedoms Watch falsely stating that Don is in favor of illegal aliens having an easier time getting health care; and the NRCC using Barack Obama in an ad designed to ramp up people's fears about a black man being President and Nancy Pelosi being described as a San Francisco Democrat, which is a code word for believing in gay rights. I am sick and tired of being divided by assholes like Freedoms Watch and the NRCC for political gain.
So, for the next few days, in the run-up to the election, we're going to take a look at who they want to elect - Louis "Woody" Jenkins. The articles are no longer online, but are from The Times-Picayune's coverage of the 1996 Senate race. I have saved the articles in .pdf format, and will include a link to them in each post.
Back in 1996, Woody made abolishing the IRS a centerpiece of his Senate campaign. Well, we all know by now that Woody did that because he has been late paying taxes for Great Oaks Broadcasting, the TV company that he owns, 9 times. Not once. NINE. Let that percolate around your head for a minute. 9 times being late. NINE.
And it's not chump change ... the liens placed on Jenkins' company totaled $219,964. That's enough to buy a college education at an Ivy League school these days. Hell, you can pay the tuition for about 8 students at LSU on that. And that's for all four years.
Jenkins tried to explain it all away:
Jenkins said the delays are not unusual for a small business.
"This is a transaction-oriented business," Jenkins said. "Sometimes it's a feast-or-famine type of situation."
But the writer, in a piece of investigative journalism you rarely see from the BSM these days, wrote:
But figures indicate that liens filed by the IRS are relatively rare. Of the more than 1.8 million businesses and individuals who filed tax returns in Louisiana last year, liens were placed in slightly more than half of 1 percent of the cases>
Hmmm ... feast or famine type situations? Woody filed a joint return showing income of $723,549 in 1995. That's truly in the top 1% of wage earners, especially back in 1995. By the way, that $723, 549? That includes $172,200 in rent paid to Jenkins by broadcasting operations headquartered on the grounds of his home.
Perhaps he could have forsaken the rents, and just used that money to pay his taxes. That's what responsible people would do.
Well ... it's Wednesday. That means there are 70 Thursday night ... less than 32 hours until voting starts on Saturday morning at 6 AM across LA-01 and LA-06.
So, if you want to help out Gilda Reed in LA-01, call (504) 287.4328 to ask how you can help. Or just show up at their campaign office in Metairie between 9 AM and 9 PM in the next 4 days. The address is 1108 N. Starrett Rd. in Metairie, LA. Also, if you know have family or friends in that district, click here to let them about Gilda, who's facing a real conservative wing-nutter in Steve Scalise. Tell them that the citizens of LA-01 deserve to have a Congresswoman who stand up and fight for them in the halls of Congress on the things that really matter - health care, jobs, money to rebuild their lives after Katrina, and that person is Gilda.
If you want to help out Don Cazayoux in LA-06, which encompasses the Capital Region of Louisiana, you can call (225) 336.3338 to ask how you can help. Or you can email them at info@doncazayoux.org. You can even stop in at their campaign HQ in Baton Rouge at 816 Main Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70802. And also, tell your friends in the Baton Rouge to get out and vote for Don if they want a Congressman that will stand up for the working families of the Baton Rouge area. Lord knows that his Republican opponent, Woody Jenkins is not going to come anywhere near helping out the working families of this district in a Democratic House when he keeps trashing the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
Not even 2 hours ago, I attended a press conference over at LSU's Lod Cook Conference Center where former Senator John Breaux endorsed Don Cazayoux for Congress! This was, I think, a great moment for Don, as he has stressed throughout the campaign that he wants to be the kind of legislator that Breaux was back during his days as a Representative and Senator from Louisiana - one that would work across party lines to get things done for the people of Louisiana. One of the media groups there was LSU's Daily Reveille, from whom I got the picture to the right.
Here's what Senator Breaux had to say:
"Louisiana, especially the 6th district, needs Don in Washington. I know that Don will reach across party lines and work with both sides of the aisle in Congress to best serve the people of Louisiana. We need more moderate members in Congress like Cazayoux - we can make Congress less partisan if we simply send people there who are moderate and willing to work with both sides to get things done. I know Don Cazayoux will be that kind of Congressman."
Over the last two months, there have have been 3 special elections in which Democrats have been fighting to take back seats from the Republican Party - IL-14, where Democrat Bill Foster was elected to Congress in what used to be Republican Speaker of the House Denny Hastert's seat; MS-01, where Democrat Travis Childers is seeking to take over Republican Roger Wicker's seat in a special election run-off to be held May 13th; and here in LA-06, we have Don Cazayoux, who is seeking to do what no Democrat has done here in 33 years ... represent the Capital area of Louisiana in Congress.
When I sat down to read what was being said in the world today, I came across Barack Obama's speech in Indiana the night of the Pennsylvania primary. It was the speech we haven't heard from Barack during this 14 month campaign ... as it was a call to action for Democrats.
The money quote, to me, in a speech full of them, was this:
We can seek to regain not just an office, but the trust of the American people, that their leaders in Washington will tell them the truth. That's the choice in this election.
That's what this election right here in Baton Rouge is about. Do we want to listen to the lies of man who knowingly did business with David Duke back in 1996? Or do we want our politicians to tell us the truth about our country, and the choices we will have to make over the next few years?
I'm voting to be told the truth, which is why I am voting for Don Cazayoux. Yeah, that's an endorsement, as Don will level with you on the issues. He'll tell you where he stands, and if he needs more time to look at the issue, he'll tell you that too. Isn't that we should expect from our leaders?
[UPDATE]: Edited to indicate which groups are Republican Party operatives. Also added Cazayoux press release.
Well, we've seen some race-baiting and outright lies by Republican Party operatives - NRCC and Freedoms Watch - over the last two days. I guess they thought that since Don is a Democrat, he would shrivel up into the fetal position, and whine. Think again. It's not 2004 any more ... it's 2008. Democrats today stand up and fight what we all know is right:
Help keep this ad on the air right up until Election Day (May 3rd) by donating here.
The Cazayoux campaign just put out a press release highlighting the ethical lapses of two more folks that are airing negative attack ads against Don (emphasis mine):
Wealthy construction company owner Lane Grigsby also released an ad this week, attacking Cazayoux. Like Republican Woody Jenkins, Grigsby has a background of ethical compliants, including allegedly colluding with a candidate to make an attack ad that "viciously and personally attacked" the candidate's opponent and hiding his company's interest in state contracts to build hurricane shelters.
One more outside interest group, the Club for Growth, began airing ads today lying about Cazayoux's record of middle class tax relief. The Club for Growth is one of the largest and most well known groups advocating extreme and radical tax policies; in 2006, spent $7.4 million to defeat candidates that stand up for middle class tax relief. In October 2007, the Ohio Ethics Commission rebuked the Club for making false statements about one of their targets and in January of 2008 the Club was hit with an FEC complaint for illegally coordinating with a campaign.
"Health care costs continue to skyrocket, forcing middle class families to cut corners to pay for their families' basic health care, put off visits to the doctor, or go without any insurance," Cazayoux said. "Far too many Louisiana families struggle with the out of control costs, and 20 percent go without any health care at all. I will work in Washington towards solutions to help the families of Louisiana get a quality, affordable health care plan."
Cazayoux's positions on health care include:
Ensuring that all Louisiana's children have health insurance, a necessity for hard working families. Cazayoux will support expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and work to find other ways to make sure no child in our state or country goes without health care. In the legislature, Cazayoux voted to expand the Louisiana Children's Health Insurance Program (LaCHIP) [HB 542, 2007].
Giving every small business or individual the ability to buy into the same health care plan available to members of Congress. Cazayoux does not believe a big government program is the solution; he supports a market-based solution that will increase access to quality, affordable healthcare. Cazayoux believes that increasing access to health care for everyone will drive down the cost of premiums for those who currently have insurance. This is because many Americans without health insurance use the most expensive form of health care - the emergency room - which we all end up paying for.
Passing a prescription drug plan for seniors that works and is not just a giveaway to the big drug companies.
Making sure that our veterans have the health care they deserve. Right now, one out of every eight veterans under 65 is uninsured.
It gets even better ... as the Cazayoux folks point out that (emphasis mine):
Jenkins voted against the 1999-2000 state budget, which provided $3.3 billion in funding for Medicaid and appropriated $9.5 million for LaCHIP to fund the program up to 150 percent of the poverty level. Jenkins was one of only two House members to vote against it [HB 1, Motion to Adopt, 6/21/99; 1999 Regular Session].
In addition, Jenkins skipped a vote when the state House of Representatives passed legislation [on a bill to require] to require that health insurance policies cover reconstructive breast surgery if they provide coverage for mastectomies. He voted against legislation to increase funding for rural hospitals and opposed legislation requiring that health insurance companies cover severe mental illnesses. [SB 699, Final Passage, 6/16/97, 1997 Regular Session; SB 500, Final Passage, 5/21/97, 1997 Regular Session; HB 1300, Concur in Senate Amendments, 6/16/99, 1999 Regular Session]
Yeah, Woody will work hard for us in Congress. If you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell ya.
Around 8 AM, when I ran some errands for my wife, I passed by the DCCC's office here in Baton Rouge, and saw that AWESOME sight of local folks waiting for their assignments, and getting ready to go remind their neighbors that it's Election Day. Which can only mean one thing ... time to go vote to send a Democrat to represent the 6th CD for the first time in 33 years ... and have the Capital Region represented by a Democrat for the first time since 1997!
For those of y'all worried about the turnout in the African-American neighborhoods ... I saw these signs all over the African American neighborhoods I drove through running those same errands this morning. Yes, they have the disclaimer of who it was paid for. That's what the little white box is all about on the lower left hand side. That sight warms me heart, as it means that former State Senator Cleo Fields has put his operation to work to get out the vote int the African American neighborhoods here in Baton Rouge. Ditto for Joe Delpit in North Baton Rouge. 
So, if you want to help out 
If you want to help out 
Not even 2 hours ago, I attended a press conference over at LSU's Lod Cook Conference Center where former Senator John Breaux endorsed Don Cazayoux for Congress! This was, I think, a great moment for Don, as he has stressed throughout the campaign that he wants to be the kind of legislator that Breaux was back during his days as a Representative and Senator from Louisiana - one that would work across party lines to get things done for the people of Louisiana. One of the media groups there was LSU's 
