Liberty and Justice for All!

Their endorsement is laughable.

He spent three terms in the Louisiana House of Representatives and was elected to the state Senate last fall.

Yeah, why did he run for that again? Oh yeah, that’s right. He wanted to follow in Jindal’s footsteps by running for a job he had no intention of keeping, but being able to collect a paycheck from out tax dollars to run for office. So much for fiscal conservatism.

His experience in Baton Rouge would allow him to make a swift transition in Congress, which is particularly important as this area continues to recover from disaster.

Um, is the T-P writing from some alternate universe where the Republicans control congress? See, in my world the Democrats control Congress and the chances of Scalise being successful in getting legislation passed is slim to none. His “transition” will be slow and ineffective. Gilda Reed, on the other hand, would be able to work with members of her own party to get legislation passed for Southeast Louisiana. But I guess  I shouldn’t be surprised that the T-P endorsement panel, who have been fooled by previous candidates seeking their endorsement, have been fooled again.

He promises to fight for federal funding of so-called Category 5 hurricane protection and a fair share of offshore oil revenues for Louisiana, both of which are vital to the state.

Gilda Reed promises to do this, and would be MUCH more effective in doing so. If Category 5 hurricane protection and getting more of a fair share of our offshore oil revenues are both “vital”, then it makes more sense to elect the person who is more likely to get that legislation passed. That person is NOT Steve Scalise. That person is Gilda Reed. Period.

I also notice that T-P did not mention anything about Scalise and his anti-homosexual legislation. I wonder how likely Washington Democrats will be willing to work with the Gay Hating Embryo Lover Scalise. Actually, no I don’t wonder at all.

The T-P endorsement process is a pathetic joke and they seem to care more about not risking access to the people they think will win instead of actually supporting the right candidate who will do the better job.

Sound familiar? It should!

Update 1: And here is the fluff peice from the T-P. Oyster should love this quote from Jindal:

“We have literally passed the nation’s gold standard.”

Update 2: More media fluff. The New York Times, The Daily Advertiser, Sify, and again, the T-P are drinking the kool aid and praising Jindal for passing comprehensive ethics reform, something he did not do. Let’s look at T-P:

Gov. Bobby Jindal and the Legislature dealt the infamous Louisiana Way a substantial blow with the historic reforms coming out of the special session on ethics.

Really? So lets say a lobbyist wanted to spend $200 to wine and dine a legislator. This just means he has to go to 4 luches with him/her and not just 1. Is that a huge stride? I don’t think so. These are mostly “feel good” but “do nothing” laws that have no bite since we are not seeing how they will be enforced. And when your governor balks at increased transparency on his administration because he feels that investors should be able to meet with the governor in private (ahem.. back room deals… ahem), I fail to see how Louisiana is not operating under business as usual.

I don’t understand why so called “political experts” are shocked at the success that Barack Obama is having in southern states. He won South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. It also looks like he will also win Louisiana. In a T-P article (announcing that he will be at Tulane on Thursday) they state:

Obama has shown unexpected strength in the South.

Let’s look at the numbers, shall we?

According to CNN exit polls in Georgia, a majority of the Democratic voters yesterday were black (52%), and a super-majority of those black voters (87.4%) voted for Barack Obama. (Only 2% of the voters in the Republican primary were black)

Compare that to the 2004 Georgia exit polls in the general election where only 25% of the overall vote in Georgia was from black voters.

Barack Obama winning Georgia in the 2008 general election? That would absolutely be unexpected. The southern strategy of Nixon and Reagan is alive and well. They know that there are a lot of racists in the south who do not like that the Democratic Party is actually… *gasp*… willing to treat black people as equals (the horror!). They target the old school “southern democrats” who split from the Democratic party after the Democrats pushed for civil rights.

However, Barack Obama getting success among current southern Democrats is hardly shocking at all. A large percentage of those voters are black voters who are likely to identify with Obama and who are excited at the potential to get the first black president. To suggest that Barack Obama’s success among current southern Democrats is “unexpected” shows a complete ignorance of the political landscape of the south.

Well, today is the first day of a long four years. Bobby Jindal will be inaugurated in what will most likely be a celebration of pipe dreams and hopes based on false praise of Jindal’s past “successes”.

In yesterday’s T-P, they continued their inability to find facts when it comes to their beloved Bobby Jindal. They cannot seem to help themselves. The first sentence starts off the spin:

Bobby Jindal, the immigrants’ son whose exemplary public service made him the wunderkind of Louisiana politics

Exemplary? I was unaware that not doing your job and collecting a paycheck is exemplary. See Bobby Jindal has missed many votes in Congress, going over a month between votes at times. Yet, he collected a paycheck. I was also unaware that cutting healthcare to the needy is also “exemplary”. The reason Bobby Jindal is the wunderkind of Louisiana politics is because hack newspaper editors, instead of grasping their duty to inform, decide to sell the garbage that Jindal and his campaign has distributed to them. If the T-P had a nose, it would be brown.

He will be Louisiana’s first non-white chief executive since post-Civil War Reconstruction and the first Indian-American to govern a U.S. state. 

Again, more failures of fact checking. Kris Kolluri served as Governor for a very short time. Jindal is the first elected Governor.

A former head of the Department of Health and Hospitals, Gov.-elect Jindal also can appreciate the importance of rebuilding a medical school in New Orleans to anchor a biomedical research park.

Why should Jindal appreciate anything about healthcare? He did not appreciate the fact that by closing clinics and removing access to medical services to those who need them that the state’s health ranking would drop. But hey, I have long since given up on the T-P and their ability to give something called the truth.

The state’s future will be shortchanged, however, if we fail to reverse our corrupt reputation. Gov.-elect Jindal plans to deliver on a campaign promise by strengthening the state’s weak ethics laws during a special session expected next month.

Of course he hasn’t shared the legislation he will push. He also has never mentioned that he will bring campaign finance reform and eliminate corporate contributions. Without closing that loophole, you won’t have true ethics reform. Of course, considering Bobby Jindal benefits from the loophole, I will not hold my breath.

Im sure there will be many cheers by the die hard supporters as Bobby “the wunderkind” Jindal and his wife “Suburban Supermom” Supriya stand there smiling for the cameras. But for some reason I keep expecting to hear Dark Helmet  exclaiming “fooled you“.

Cross posted at jindalisbad.com

Update 1: The January 17th T-P continues the lies about Bobby Jindal. Either that or they are doing some really good drugs.

Then-Rep. Jindal was instrumental in securing a share of federal offshore oil and gas revenues.

Wrong. Bobby Jindal fought for his bill to pass until he won the 2006 election. In doing so he fought against the Domenici-Landrieu bill (the actual bill that got signed by the President). Mary Landrieu, not Bobby Jindal, was instrumental in securing a share of federal offshore oil and gas revenues. Bobby Jindal only changed his mind once his 2006 race was over and there could be no risk of an opponent using his flawed bill against him.

In a recent letter to the editor, David Goldberg expounds on how wonderful America is for looking beyond race and embracing change. He uses the election of Bobby Jindal and the win in Iowa by Barack Obama. This is just laughable. Does anybody actualy believe that the kind of people who voted for Barack Obama are the same kind of people who voted for Bobby Jindal?

Ignoring my conspiracy theory I put up on YRHT that conservative independent voters could have came to the Obama camp to try and get the Democrat who is less likely to win the election the votes… people who would support Obama have no issue voting for a black person. The same cannot be said about  some of the people who would vote for Bobby Jindal.

The most amazingly ignorant comment made in this letter was this:

The theme is clear — a new generation does not look at color, race or even political ideology.

This cannot be further from the truth. First of all, if Bobby Jindal wasn’t an extremist woman hating social conservative, he would not have been embraced by the Republican party as much as he was. And had Bobby Jindal not lied about being a “born again Christian”, perhaps people in the north would not have voted for the Catholic Jindal.

What really ruins the quote is this story that I constantly tell because I am just shocked it actually happened. When I was campaigning for David Gereighty in the 2006 Congressional election (you know, the election that Bobby Jindal campaign for Governor in), we spoke to people in St. Tammany parish. Those wonderfully open minded people who David Goldberg feels are “leading our nation and our state into a different, and I hope better, direction”, told us that they would never vote for a Democrat because Democrats are a bunch of “N***ER LOVERS”. So you will forgive me if I lack the optimism David Goldberg has about voting trends in Louisiana and in our country as a whole.

It seems like David also thinks that Bobby Jindal is a breth of fresh air. How dirty is the air he is breathing now?

Speaking from personal experience, I am not surprised at the media bias in Louisiana’s First Congressional District when it comes to reporting of Democratic candidates. I ran for the seat in 2004 and saw first hand how frustrating it can be when the media fails the public and does not embrace their duty to inform. The media coverage in the 2004 election was so completely irresponsible that I was twice listed as a Republican on the ballot in the T-P.

Gilda Reed, candidate in this special election, is facing the same frustrations I faced almost 4 years ago. Here is a message from her. I guarantee you that this woman has more integrity and is more likely to stand up for the people in LA01 than any other announced Republican in this race.

I have no horse in this race and I cannot vote in that election (because I have moved into LA02). However, she has sent out a press release and since the regular media wont cover her campaign I feel that others have a responsibility to pick up the slack.

First a Times-Picayune article on December 23rd and then a WDSU News interview on the same night ignored the viable Democratic candidate in Louisiana’s 1st District race for the U.S. House. I am angry. The
Democratic candidate is me. WDSU News spent several minutes covering Republican candidates, including those who have not made a decision yet and even those who have opted against the run. An afterthought
was added at the end saying that there was one declared Democratic candidate. Indeed, they underestimate my threat.

I do not offer polished promises that I cannot keep. Anyone who claims to know all the answers is pompous and non-credible. But I do  claim to know most of the questions. I have campaigned hard for the
past year traveling through all 6 parishes contacting mayors, police chiefs and everyday citizens. I have the determination, resiliency and intellectual capacity to leave no stone unturned as I search
tirelessly for all possible solutions. Representatives are not supposed to accept NO for an answer. They are supposed to fight tooth and nail, beating on Capitol Hill doors, making a persistent clamor
until urgent constituent needs are met. For less urgent matters, a representative needs to be a skillful, unpretentious negotiator.

I am a fighter who is primed to expand my public service to include my whole district. On a smaller scale in a university classroom, I have learned the tremendous impact one person can have. After Katrina, I
informally counseled students and tried to comfort and assure them. One of these came up to me at a recent event and told me I literally saved her and that she will never ever forget me. Another student
because of me did not quit school and is now graduating with plans to attend graduate school in the Fall. I remember Jackie who at 57 and with ADHD was finally getting her dream diploma until her estranged
husband murdered her 3 days before she was to walk across the stage. Jackie drew strength from me but would not take my advice to cut her 21-hour semester in the face of the harassment she was enduring. And
I received strength from her as I weathered the tragic loss of a second beautiful grandbaby at the same time.

In 1949, I caught polio in a major N.O. epidemic. My fever spiked at 107 and nurses said the Werner baby, me, would not make it through the night. Then doctors said I may never sit up or walk again. All were
wrong. Well-meaning neighbors told my parents that if Santa gave me a 2-wheel bike it would be a cruel tease. I was riding with daddy running alongside me in no time. I did not just learn to swim at Audubon Park, I dove again and again off of the high diver. There were murmurings that I may never have children. I gave birth to 5 and then adopted 2 more. I was labeled crazy for returning to college with 7 children in tow, but then I earned my Ph.D. and silenced the skeptics. My pediatricians tried to hide their misgivings when I
adopted a baby who had the worst brain hemorrhage possible and yet live. He was born in February and not due until June almost 26 years ago. This baby, who was not supposed to have any intellectual
development, is now a college graduate. So I am used to hearing “it can’t be done”. This familiar sound fell
on deaf ears once more a year ago when I announced my candidacy for the U.S. Congress in Louisiana’s 1st District. Now with every day that passes, I inch closer to victory. I have broad bi-partisan appeal with members of both parties supporting me emotionally, asking for signs, and promising me their votes. 2 of my hardest workers are Republicans. 2 of my 7 children are Republicans. (We must have dropped them on their heads when they were little!) So I love Republicans, too, and can represent well all Americans. I am the
people’s candidate all ready to use my well-practiced skills to fight for the working woman, the working man, the small business owner, our veterans, our senior citizens, our children, dairy farmers, cattle ranchers, tree farmers, shrimpers, fishermen. People are disgruntled with the aftermath of Katrina, the Iraq War, and the hypocrisy of some politicians claiming to be all about “values”.

The thing I like least about running for political office is not the pace or the frenzy or the invasion of privacy. It is phoning to hawk for dollars. I am a Southern-bred lady with manners and this is just downright rude.  Besides, I resent spending precious time this way when my time and talent could be better spent researching the issues, discovering solutions, and meeting people to hear their suggestions. I did not write the rules and until campaign finance reform is a reality, I must abide by them or suffer defeat. The majority of those
responsible for legislating a change are multi-millionaires who are satisfied with the status quo. They do not want populist candidates murking the waters of their domain.

My most memorable donations, from those not related to me, did not require me asking. They came from people who gave of their substance on their own. A busboy at a sandwich shop pulled a wrinkled $5 bill
out of his pocket and gave it to me saying, “Ma’am, fight for me.” (When I get discouraged over raising funds, I just resurrect this poignant image.) The second memorable donation came from a retired priest on a limited income who trusts me implicitly to do what is right. A donor who does not live in my district and has never met me, is giving a fundraiser dinner in her home. This is how determined she is that a fellow Democrat wins this seat. I will make these folks proud and not let any of them down.

I am in this race for all the right reasons-to make a positive difference in the lives of mainstream people in District 1. Having lived in this district my entire life, I have a vested interest in what happens to us. I am not a political opportunist who plans to abandon this job for a more politically savvy one in the future like most of my Republican opponents. They were recently elected to other offices, and before even being sworn in, they are grappling for the next rung on the political ladder.

So much work to be done! Hwy 25 needs to be widened into 4 lanes from Covington to the state line. This is a major evacuation route and is sadly only 2 lanes wide. Franklinton and Bogalusa desperately need to
have long overdue FEMA commitments paid to waiting contractors. Our dairy farmers and cattle ranchers are in trouble. We need forest restoration and nutria laws renewed. Our levees need to be re-engineered and our wetlands and coasts restored. We need to lessen our dependence on foreign oil and encourage business. Louisiana is sitting on a wealth of sugar cane which can be converted into ethanol cheaper and with more return and less waste than corn. (This is not an experimental process but tried and true, as Brazil has been
converting sugar cane to fuel for 30 years successfully.) Our public education system leaves a lot to be desired. Our senior citizens are forced to decide between taking their medicine and eating because they
cannot afford both. Too many of all ages have little or no access to affordable health care. Property insurance rates and rents have skyrocketed. Criminy-in some places, it is as if Katrina happened yesterday. Indeed, so much work needs to be done and much of it at the state level.

I envision smart government not big government. Smart government manages funds more equitably. It enables its people to provide for themselves without unneeded giveaways. It is efficient government
that is run responsibly. Smart government reverses the class warfare policies in Washington that give tax breaks to the upper 1% and give a raw deal to the remaining 99% of us. Smart government earns back
world respect via diplomacy. Smart government protects the rights of American workers and does not export jobs or import inferior products.

We need a smart government which stays out of our bedrooms, out of our emails, out of our telephone conversations, out of our bank accounts. We need to stop the stripping away of our Constitutional
rights before we become like the complacent frogs which boiled because they did not notice or object as the water temperature slowly increased. Government is supposed to be of, by and for the people, not of, by and
for a few large corporations and those who make over $200,000 a year.

I represent the pulse of mainstream people-not special interests. I am a determined, hard-working Louisianian who will fight vocally and legislatively for what we need. I have a strong voice and I am not
afraid to use it. Time is of essence. The primaries are on March 8th. Being ignored in the monopoly Times-Picayune and being ignored on a major television venue are big deals. So I am spontaneously venting to fellow Louisianians, regardless of party, for a sense of fairness and justice. This is not how democracy in action is supposed to work. Shamelessly, I am also asking for every possible donation.
www.WeNeedReed.com

These are my personal endorsements for the elections tomorrow. I do suggest that everybody research the candidates for themselves and make their own decisions. I hope my suggestions help.   

Elections I can vote in:

Attorney General: James D. “Buddy” Caldwell, Democrat, Ballot # 23

I voted for Caldwell in the primary and I will do so again in the runoff. Royal Alexander just does not impress me at all and if he was a quality candidate, one would think that the Republican Party would get behind him a little more than they are already doing.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff: Newell D. Normand, Republican, Ballot # 82

I know people on the JPSO and this is who they want as their boss. They feel that he will bring the crimefighting abilities of Harry Lee without the questionable decisions. Their opinion is good enough for me.

Kenner Propositions 1-3: Yes to all.

I sat on the charter committee and these are some of the items that are needed. The text of the changes can be found here. On the first amendment, unlike the T-P, we felt that eliminating the residency requirement for department heads would unbind the hands of the Mayor in choosing quality people to work for the city. The T-P reasoning is just plain silly.

The current residency requirement provides an added incentive for key managers in the administration to do their best work.

Say what? The incentive for key managers to do their best work is for them to keep their jobs! I think they pump something into the air system at the T-P offices. On the second amendment, the section is no longer needed so the amendment remvoes it. The third amendment clarifies a situation that could occur now that the council president can come from a district seat. A vote no on the third amendment would keep the charter vague.

Elections I cant vote for:

State Representative, 92nd Representative District: Michael McMyne, Republican, Ballot # 55

Michael McMyne made fighting corruption in Kenner City Hall a top priority during his tenure as interim District 2 Councilman. He acted under the idea that doing the right thing is not always the popular thing. He helped to expose the actions of the Capitano administration and was one of the reasons that Phil Capitano lost in 2006. Tom Wilmont flat out lied to me when he stated that he would be running as a Democrat. His last minute switch was typical of Louisiana politics. I also fear that he might be getting support from what I have called “Capitano Light”. If so, and if he willingly accepts this help, then I have to question the ethics he will bring to his seat.

State Representative, 94th Representative District: Deborah Langhoff, Democrat, Ballot # 54

Deborah is a community leader who brings a passion for doing what is right. The passion for doing what is right is something that is sorely needed in the legislature. She narrowly missed the runoff in the special election earlier this year because of other Democrats pulling votes away from her and because of smear tactics from the LCRM. In this election, the incumbent states that his being the only candidate in this election to support Blueprint Louisiana qualifies him to support Bobby Jindal and his claims to support ethics reform. While Langoff did not sign Blueprint Louisiana (because she felt the plan was missing some important issues) Bobby Jindal did not sign Blueprint Louisiana either. And with the conflicts of interest that have been raised  about her opponant with the insurance industry, I firmly believe that Deborah Langoff is the only candidate that can bring true ethics reform. Deborah has also stated that she will bring campaign finance reform to ethics reform, which is worth 14 plusses is my book.

David Vitter (or as Oyster calls him, Vitty-Cent) is in the news (well, if you can call T-P news) again for his hypocricy on “family values”. It just makes me ask again, WWVD (Who Would Vitter Do?).

Over on jindalisbad.com, I complained about the T-P and their lack of fact checking on Bobby Jindal. I think I know why they failed to check the facts on our Governor-elect.

Apparently, the T-P was so concerned with getting Al Copeland’s divorce records that they could not be bothered to do some investigative reporting on the claims made by the Bobby Jindal campaign for Governor of Louisiana. And who can really blame them? When I think of the important issues that face Louisiana, everyone must agree that none are more important than finding out exactly why Al Copeland got a divorce. Why worry about the problems of sediment when we can read about the problems of Copeland’s divorce settlement? Why worry about coastal instability when we can discuss spousal infidelity? Raising our levees? Forget that! We need to discuss how Al Copeland’s kids will be raised!

This just proves why I refer to our major newspaper as T-P.