In today’s news media are found the following statements:
“We do seem to have a revenue problem developing that could be quite material,” said Greg Albrecht, an economist with the Legislative Fiscal Office. “People just aren’t spending.” Times Picayune, December 18, 2009.
By percentage, Louisiana’s personal income fell [...]
Thanks to the initiative of Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles, the state’s Streamlining Commission has produced its first real savings to the taxpayers of Louisiana.
Geymann resigned from the commission as of December 10. Â He has been joined by Rep. Jim Morris, R-Oil City, who has [...]
Our state’s “Roads Scholar” has proposed one major, substantive, initiative since he took office in January, 2008. It was changes to our “Heh, Heh, Heh, Ethics Code. It was supposed to open the door for economic development in our state.
Now, almost two years later we see [...]
In Sunday’s Baton Rouge newspaper, Michelle Millhollon does a good job of analyzing the recommendations of The Roads Scholar’s streamlining commission. ( See story here.)
Michelle points out the difference between budget cuts and rhetoric.
Rhetoric is not going to get the job done. That said, whatever [...]
As The Rhodes Scholar-in-chief (a.k.a. The Roads Scholar) travels the country, he brags about the jobs he has “created.” Other than government jobs, The Scholar has not “created” a single job.
Saving jobs
The Scholar also brags about the jobs he has “saved.” How does one calculate the [...]
Recently, in comments about the state’s Heh, Heh, Heh, Ethics Board, Rep. Rick Gallot, D-Ruston, said the following about its staff:
[T]he staff [of the ethics board] must act more independently of the [ethics] board, and be willing to question board decisions.
“The staff I believe is totally [...]
Here’s what The Rhodes Scholar said:
–“Government spending is not just about writing checks to anyone and everyone. It is about being a responsible steward of the public’s money. It is about holding public officials and recipients accountable for the financial decisions they make on our behalf. [...]
The Heh, Heh, Heh, Ethics Board has asked the court to review a decision by the Heh, Heh, Heh, ethics adjudicators’ decision to dismiss certain charges filed by the board. ( See story here.)
The LA House and Senate have, separately, filed Amicus Curie (”friends of [...]
Once again, we learn that the STATE is facing another mid-year revenue shortfall. ( See story here.)
Excuses vs. answers
There are ample scapegoats and excuses for the problems: The Feds aren’t giving us enough money, the Feds are cutting back, we underestimated the amount needed, we [...]
The two politicians (along with the support of The Rhodes Scholar-in-chief) who helped lead the effort to gut the enforcement of the state’s ethics laws are now complaining about the lack of enforcement of the law. ( See story here.)
When ethics enforcement was being gutted [...]
Bobby puts on his traveling shoes
–Under the administration of The Rhodes Scholar the average number of families on food stamps INCREASED by 48,000 in a five month period. See story here.
–Louisiana’s unemployment rate INCREASED from 3.8% under former Governor Kathleen Blanco to 7.4% during [...]
Spinmeister n. Slang A spin doctor. A public relations person who tries to forestall negative publicity by publicizing a favorable interpretation of the words or actions of a company or political party or famous person. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition [...]
Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court “Kitty” Kimball attempts to defend the integrity of judges in the New Orleans area against comments made by some U.S. Congressmen. ( Story here.) These “outsiders” seem to think that there is corruption in the New Orleans area. [...]
We keep hearing that state government in Louisiana is on the brink of going off of a financial “cliff.” Yet, The Rhodes Scholar-in-chief remains disengaged from the efforts to address what we are being told is looming budgetary revenue shortfall of $1 Billion for the fiscal [...]
Our state’s Rhodes Scholar-in-chief (a.k.a. “Roads Scholar”) has been spending a lot time out of the state raising campaign money for his reelection as governor.  Despite The Scholar’s rhetoric about “transparency” when asked for details of the fundraisers, the media has been met with non-transparent “stone-walling.”   [...]
I've recently been critical of the secrecy surrounding Gov. Jindal's fundraisers and fundraising hosts, asking in my last post, "why the secrecy, Gov?" Now we know:
Scott Rothstein, who is accused of running a Ponzi scheme and was recently disbarred by the Florida Bar, contributed $10,000 to Jindal's 2011 re-election campaign' [...]
Gov. Haley Barbour
Here’s some startling news.  A governor is actually doing his job.
Gov. Haley Barbour, R-Mississippi, is proposing solutions to Mississippi’s revenue shortfalls without a streamlining commission.  He is also suggesting that colleges be merged without a “Tucker Commission.” See story here.
Perhaps The Rhodes Scholar [...]
[Guest post contributed by JMC]
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Note: Numbers represent percent that voted "yes."
A final note on tax issues in East Baton Rouge Parish -- by looking at a sample of parishwide tax votes since 2002, some patterns clearly emerge that any politician would be wise to note:
Central is anti-tax. Period. [...]Gov. Jindal is off to Texas and Michigan to beg for money. Once for himself, and twice for the Michigan GOP. The "Where's Bobby?" map has been updated.
Once again, Jindal mouthpiece Kyle Plotkin refused to answer any questions about the events' sponsors, saying that information would be available [...]
From The Advocate yesterday:
[Kip Holden] did not respond to the Advocate’s requests for an interview Saturday night, made through his aides.
And from today:
Holden’s spokesman, Scott Dyer, and his chief administrative officer, Mike Futrell, did not respond to telephone calls and e-mails Sunday seeking an interview with the mayor and the [...]
I'd like to take a minute to give a special thanks to JMC Enterprises, the local consulting firm that has generously provided me with all of the hard numbers I've been able to share on The Old River Road re: the bond results, particularly the color-coded precinct map and [...]
The Advocate made a halfhearted attempt at analyzing the bond results in this morning's paper. However, they made a number of lazy assumptions and relied heavily on flawed logic.
According to their analysis, the reason why the bond failed was because white suburbanites turned out in greater numbers than those' [...]
1. Progress Is... organizer Todd Teepell at a press conference last month:
"We wanted to make sure people knew the voices against the bond or to delay the bond are not the community sentiment. That's a minority that happens to be very loud."
   That "minority" wasn't just loud, Todd -- it was deafening.
2. [...]
I'm putting together my final thoughts on yesterday's vote. In the meantime, a good friend who is a numbers genius sends along a graphical representation of the vote broken down by precinct.
Today's vote won't even be close. I'm thinking the no vote is going to be around 60 percent. So be prepared for the backlash.
They're going to tell us we're anti-progress and small-minded. They'll say we're stuck in the past and tied to a small-town mindset. And they'll bemoan the fact [...]
Yesterday, at a hearing by a sub-committee of the State Streamlining Commission, State Treasurer John Kennedy exposed another huge source of state earmarks/patronage that dwarfs the money spent by individual leges’ on their pet NGOs.
In the State Department of Education’s budget for FY 2008-09, alone, over [...]
On Tuesday ( Story here.), the State Streamlining Commission approved a recommendation to the governor and leges that they reduce expenditure in next fiscal year’s budget by 2% or $124 Million.
On Monday, Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis said that the state would have a revenue [...]
Kip Holden's Bond PAC has raised over half a million dollars so far, and it has come from primarily two types of individuals: 1) those who stand to benefit financially from the bond's passage (i.e. architects, engineers, contractors, etc.) and 2) those on the cocktail circuit (i.e. the downtown crowd).
Some [...]
From The Times-Pic:
While the New Orleans Saints storybook season has made them the hottest ticket in town, it also has driven up demand for the governor's private suite in the Superdome....
And while the tickets to the governor's box are free -- as opposed to the scalped variety that are going for as [...]
Justifying their help in rushing through Barack Obama's pork-filled $789 billion stimulus, Charlie Melancon told us:
With our economy in freefall and millions of Americans losing their jobs, doing nothing is not an option. We must act now to turn our economy around, or we will slip even deeper into recession.
Mary Landrieu promised:
The bill' [...]
Under the guidance of The Rhodes Scholar and his ethically-challenged head of economic development, Stephen Moret, our state’s business climate is going in the wrong direction. It has dropped 3 notches. In 2008, Louisiana ranked 22nd and this year it ranks 25th.  (See report here.)
Louisiana [...]
From The Advocate:
Mayor-President Kip Holden picked up support Tuesday for his proposed $901 million capital improvements bond package from U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, two state representatives and several Baker officials....
Two Democratic legislators in Baton Rouge, state Rep. Avon Honey and state Sen. Sharon Weston Broome, announced support for the package.
As I mentioned [...]
When Bobby Jindal addressed the inaugural meeting of the Streamlining Commission he told them, "everything is on the table." He continued, "...it would be irresponsible as state leaders to simply continue spending like business-as-usual in Baton Rouge and pass the bill on to our people. We must root out every opportunity" [...]
The State Streamlining Commission is looking for ways to trim state spending.
State Treasurer John Kennedy suggested eliminating funding “earmarks” for NGOs (private, non-governmental entities) as a way to help plug the state’s projected $1 Billion budget shortfall.   The largest portion of the shortfall is for healthcare [...]
Kip Holden says we need ALIVE to keep the Baton Rouge economy strong. But funding ALIVE entirely with tax dollars necessitates a 9.9-mill property tax that will burden local businesses with millions of dollars in new, yearly taxes.
As reported in the Sunday Advocate, the 9.9-mill property tax accounts for 38 [...]
This is a true “man-bites-dog story.”
An existing Louisiana business actually got some help from the state to expand its operations.
After many broken promises by the Rhodes Scholar-in-chief and his ethically-challenged head of economic development Stephen Moret, it finally happened.
Si Brown, CEO of Bruce Foods, an 80 [...]
In selling his $2.175 billion tax, Kip Holden has pointed to the Tennessee Aquarium as proof that ALIVE will work. Many believe Chattanooga's investment in the aquarium to be the catalyst that sparked the redevelopment of their entire riverfront.
But Kip has conveniently left out a crucial detail (he sure' [...]
Two months ago, Si Brown, CEO of Bruce Foods, an 80 year old Louisiana business, appeared on the Moon Griffon statewide radio talk show. (See report here.) Brown explained that the state’s ethically-challenged head of economic development, Stephen Moret was underwriting an out of state [...]
If this wasn't so sad and pathetic it would be funny. There's no question that East Baton Rouge Parish schools rank among the state's worst. Unfortunately, our School Board decided it would be easier to change the public's perception of our schools rather than the schools themselves.
And they're spending' [...]
Gov. Bobby Jindal spent last night in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida raising money for his re-election campaign. In response to questions about the organization sponsoring the event, Jindal spokesman Kyle Plotkin said:
"That info will be available on the campaign finance reports" when they are filed next year.
Last night Bobby Jindal [...]
Obviously, Louisiana’s Rhodes Scholar-in-chief doesn’t believe in leading by example.
When he was campaigning for governor in 2007, The Rhodes Scholar wrote:
We must demand an honest government that puts the residents of our state first and the special interests last. It is time we break free from [...]
Nose guard John Kennedy: “Not in our house!”
Thanks to the efforts of State Treasurer John Kennedy, the Louisiana Taxpayers’ team has a small victory.
A few weeks back, Kennedy suggested that a $100 Million state computer upgrade (with no known return on investment) was of less importance [...]
In selling ALIVE and its ability to generate revenue, Mike Futrell said, "Alive will use the same model that Audubon uses in New Orleans at the zoo and the aquarium." Here's an interesting tidbit about that model buried in today's Advocate article about Audubon's deficit:
[Audubon spokeswoman Sarah] Burnette' [...]
Earlier this month members of the House and Senate Governmental Affairs Committees -- those tasked with redistricting -- met in Alexandria to learn from state and national experts about the procedures, court cases and laws related to reapportionment. Seven of them forgot to take notes:
Some Louisiana lawmakers have [...]
