Since I didn't blog last week ... I wanted to give y'all a round-up of what happened that I found noteworthy in little blurbs:
The Sinning Senator once again has trouble telling the truth to the people of Louisiana, this time with respect to the safety standards on children's toys.
Senator Mary Landrieu appeared on MSNBC with Howard Dean, and morphed into a defender of the Senate's Health Care Bill:
Governor PBJ has been busy inviting supporters to join him for a duck hunt out in Cameron Parish during the first weekend of 2010. No news on whether former Vice President Dick "Buckshot" Cheney is scheduled to attend.
Ahhhh, dem Saints. To be honest, I'm fine with dem losing a game ... because a perfect season would lagniappe to what I really want to see - da Saints in Super Bowl XLIV!
Well, well, well ... it was only a matter of time before Governor PBJ came into contact with some shady characters on the fundraising trail, since he spends oh, so much time traveling outta the Gret Stet, as you can see to the right.
If y'all click on the picture (or here), you'll see the yeoman's work that conservative blogger CB at The Old River Road has been doing with respect to tracking Governor PBJ's multiple out of state jaunts to keep his national profile up for a '12 or '16 bid for the White House, while ostensibly raising campaign cash for his re-election campaign in '11.
Some background from that TPM Muckraker report linked to above:
One of the co-chairs of the October 2008 reception was none other than Scott Rothstein, then a prominent Fort Lauderdale attorney, now accused of a fraud worth $1 billion.
He contributed the maximum $5,000 to Jindal, and his firm, Rothstein, Rosenfeldt, and Adler ponied up another $5,000, according to Louisiana campaign finance records. Jindal, a potential GOP presidential hopeful, is the latest addition to a lengthy list of pols who hit up Rothstein for money.
Doesn't sound like much, does it? Of course, Governor PBJ never had his picture taken with the man, let alone meet him ... right? Wrong:
GOP operative Roger Stone, a former business associate of Rothstein's, tells TPMmuckraker he remembers Rothstein huddling with Jindal at the Republican Governors Association conference in Miami, held the month after the football game.
In the past few days alone, Rothstein had a nice chat with his friend John McCain ("He asked how all our local races went; that's the kind of guy he is"); did some business in New York; held a fundraiser in Miami for rising Republican star Bobby Jindal (the Louisiana governor who might run for president in 2012); spent a day screening judicial applicants for Florida's 4th District Court of Appeal; eulogized one of his best friends, who was killed in a motorcycle wreck; and searched for a liver for a friend who needs a transplant.
So, how 'bout it, Governor PBJ? You gonna return the money donated by Mr. Rothstein and his firm, as quite a few Florida politicians are doing?
UPDATE: The Governor's press flack, Kyle Plotkin, formerly of The Wanna Be's Senate campaign, and also the "liberal" former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, told TPM that the Governor will be giving the $10,000 he received from Mr. Rothstein and his company to the victim's compensation fund once one is created.
(Pretty good analysis of the opt-out version of the Public Option. Whether the progressives in the House allow the opt-out to pass is an open question. - promoted by ryan)
It's not often that Harry Reid and Alan Levine team up on anything, but they did today in laying out the path to Democratic success in Louisiana in the 2011 statewide elections.
That path will be healthcare. Specifically, it will be Governor Bobby Jindal's ideological rigidity on taxes in the face of what will be draconian (criminal?) cuts in healthcare in the state budget over the next two years. With healthcare and higher education still the only funding streams not constitutionally protected and the state facing a billion dollar revenue shortfall, Jindal will force the Legislature to make heavy cuts in both programs.
Last week, the Baton Rouge Advocate carried a story saying the higher education cuts will amount to 60 percent over the next two years. No mention of healthcare, but that's where the bulk of the cuts will be and for two reasons. First, that's where the money is (Medicaid is a $6 billion program). Secondly, no one in the Legislature is lobbying to protect the interests of the poor, the handicapped and those with special needs — the victims of these coming cuts. Oh, the hospitals, nursing homes and doctors will object, but you won't see anything resembling the "Intervention at the Mansion" earlier this year where all of the non-imprisoned former governors got together to tell the Boy Governor that he just could not cut $200 million-plus from higher education.
No notables stood up for Medicaid clients then. And none will do it in the coming session.
They are, in the current world of Louisiana politics, "expendable."
By now, y'all have heard about the Tangipahoa Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell's refusal to marry an interracial couple. Here's what Governor Jindal had to say:
"This is a clear violation of constitutional rights and federal and state law. ... Disciplinary action should be taken immediately -- including the revoking of his license."
So Gov. PBJ wants him gone. Here's what Senator Mary Landrieu had to say, via a press release from her office:
"I am deeply disturbed by Justice Bardwell's practices and comments concerning interracial marriages. Not only does his decision directly contradict Supreme Court rulings, it is an example of the ugly bigotry that divided our country for too long. I call upon the Louisiana Judiciary Committee to use its authority to have Justice Bardwell dismissed from his position. He clearly has no intention of administering the law or upholding justice for interracial couples."
And, here, ladies and gentlemen of Louisiana, is what your Sinning Senator, the one up for re-election next fall had to say when questioned by Mike Stark, the blogger behind The Crooked Dope:
You don't think that's the case, Sinning Senator? What, that you're the senior most official from the State of Louisiana NOT TO COMMENT on this? If so, please see the quotes from Governor Jindal and Senator Landrieu above. Or perhaps you're not aware that Mr. Bardwell refused to marry an interracial couple? If so, please click here!
Then again, your silence ain't all that surprising to those who know you best ...
Politico has this tidbit about Governor PBJ's public distancing from the Sinning Senator:
And in a sign that he is keeping a close eye on his own political standing, both in Baton Rouge and beyond, the governor pointedly declined to offer his endorsement of Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), who could face a serious reelection battle next year in the wake of his appearance on a Washington madam's client list and his subsequent admission of an undefined "very serious sin."
"We'll make a decision whether we'll get involved in that race once we get closer. We haven't made that decision yet," said Jindal, who has been cautious in the past about his endorsements. While allowing that Vitter was doing well in polls and fundraising, Jindal noted it's still "very early in that election cycle" and that many average voters aren't yet paying attention.
Cautious in his endorsements? Are ya kidding? Let's take a look at PBJ's greatest endorsement hits over the last year:
Geez ... it's becoming quite apparent that Governor PBJ is increasingly desperate not to give President Obama ANYTHING to crow about when he campaigns for re-election in 2012 ... at least with respect to Louisiana.
Then we learned that the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development would not be putting up the ubiquitous yellow signs along highway construction informing us of the funding source, supposedly to save money. But as Walter Pierce of The Ind informs us:
When asked why DOTD used similar signage for highway projects funded through state surplus money, the spokesman replied, "But we put up really cheap signs."
Uhhhhh-huh. Or perhaps the Jindal Administration is making sure that the federal gummint, and by extension, President Obama, gets no credit for anything positive in the Gret Stet.
Further evidence of this goal of the PBJ Administration is the fact that the Governor just went on a barn-stormin', 64 parish tour of the Gret Stet, handing out gigundous checks signed by him for stimulating programs, funded, in part by the "nearly trillion dollar stimulus that has not stimulated."
Governor PBJ is at it again ... saying one thing, but doing another. Back in February, in the Republican response to the President's national address, he denounced President Obama's Stimulus bill as "wasteful spending." But more to the point is what he denounced as "wasteful spending":
While some of the projects in the bill make sense, their legislation is larded with wasteful spending. It includes $300 million to buy new cars for the government, $8 billion for high-speed rail projects, such as a "magnetic levitation" line from Las Vegas to Disneyland, and $140 million for something called "volcano monitoring."
"Long term we see it as a very valuable economic incubator for the entire corridor."
But wait ... hasn't Governor PBJ declared that the Recovery Act (aka the stimulus) has not stimulated?
No wonder, then, that KO declared Governor PBJ the worst person in the world last night, as it is apparent that Governor PBJ is trying to have it both ways:
After nearly months of hearing the rumor from folks throughout Louisiana that Governor PBJ might leave the Governor's mansion to run against the Sinning Senator David Vitter, Governor PBJ finally deigned it time to address the issue head-on: (emphasis mine)
"Well a couple of things, first, Vitter's going to have to make his case with the voters, just like every candidate does. There's been a lot of speculation. Let me answer your question very directly, I'm not running for the senate, I'm running for re-election as governor in 2011, but David's going have to make his case with the voters directly just like any other candidate's going to have to do that."
Wow. Not only is Governor PBJ distancing himself from running against the Sinning Senator, but he literally does not want the taint of the Sinning Senator's peccadilloes to even touch him in public.
The following letter, signed/approved by 24 Louisiana supporters of Senator Mary Landrieu, was hand delivered to her office in Lake Charles today. The letter calls on the senator to support healthcare reform legislation that includes the public option.
• • •
Dear Senator Landrieu:
We write you today as friends, long-time supporters, and concerned Louisiana citizens regarding an issue of great national significance that is critical to the future well being of our state.
In a few days you will be asked to decide whether healthcare coverage will be extended to millions of Americans who do not now enjoy those benefits. As your votes in support of SCHIP and your efforts to support community healthcare demonstrate, you know that people who do not to have access to adequate health care are destined to die younger, suffer many more illnesses and to watch helplessly as their love ones are denied the care that could save their lives or relieve their discomfort. The high cost of health insurance is the main barrier preventing working families and small business owners from gaining access to that care.
Small businesses and large corporations alike are abandoning employer-based health care because of cost. In Louisiana, where the percentage of employers offering healthcare benefits has historically been low, the problem is even worse. Even where coverage is offered, workers frequently cannot afford the premiums to cover their families. The situation will only be made worse by recent cuts in services voted by the Louisiana Legislature.
In spite of the dishonest campaigns being waged to prevent comprehensive national health care from becoming a reality, the overwhelming majority of Americans support it. Surprisingly, over sixty percent of American physicians are also in support of these ends.
We realize the pressure being exerted on you to vote against this program.
The same stale arguments are being made today against the public option that have been made against every progressive endeavor for the last seventy-five years. Social Security was supposed to be the pinnacle of governmental intrusion into our lives. Where would we be today without Social Security? Medicare was another “Socialist” program that was supposed to destroy medical care in our nation. Where would our seniors be without Medicare? The same could be said for the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Acts. All of these programs were passed under Democratic presidents and all of them have changed our nation and our lives profoundly for the better.
The vast majority of your political base in Louisiana is composed of people who stand to benefit directly from enactment of a national coverage plan, specifically the public option.
We believe that the public option — where adults can buy into a Medicare-like program — is the best way to control costs by bringing competition to the health insurance system. In Louisiana, the two largest health insurance providers control 74 percent of the health insurance market. The market has failed us by pricing coverage beyond the reach of too many Louisiana citizens.
A national consensus has emerged that the current system must be changed and that only federal government has the scale and reach to change it. If these efforts are not successful, it may be many years before we have a president who is willing to take the challenge and pay the political price to achieve these admirable ends.
We do not consider this to be an issue of politics or party. This is an issue of the basic right of every American to be able to access quality healthcare without the risk of financial ruin. Access to healthcare should not be a privilege available only to those who can afford private health insurance.
As friends and long-time supporters we ask you to please not ignore the people who have repeatedly voted you into office. We have stood with you; now, we are asking you to stand with us in support of the public option.
Sincerely yours,
Mike Stagg, Lafayette Sally O. Donlon, Lafayette Dr. Mike Robichaux, Raceland Deborah Langhoff, New Orleans Stephen Handwerk, Lafayette Angelique LaCour, Covington Barbara St. Romain, MSW, LCSW, Lafayette John St. Julien, Lafayette Edna D. St. Julien, Lafayette Phillip Arleigh Lank, Lafayette Mark Lastrapes, New Orleans Michelle Vega, New Orleans Robert J. Guercio, Lafayette Anna K. Guercio, Lafayette Charles St. Romain, LCSW, Lafayette Rebecca Chaisson, Lake Charles Joanne Pettit, Mandeville Daryl Pettit, Mandeville Adrienne LaCour, Covington Karen E. Keller, MS, Lafayette State Representative Juan LaFonta, New Orleans Lauren Lastrapes, New Orleans Dr. Douglas de Mahy, Lafayette Marie de Mahy, Lafayette Andrea Loewy, Lafayette
The Fix, a Washington Post blog, ran a piece about Governor PBJ's stock rising in national political circles again because he has sold himself as a "health care policy expert."
The Governor is an expert in health care policy? Really? Perhaps someone should page Rep. Bill Cassidy, who's actually a doctor, and had some interesting things to say about Governor PBJ's handling of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals during the Foster Administration during the 2003 gubernatorial campaign: (emphasis added)
The Jindal Record is Poor One The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) - September 18, 2003
Working with uninsured patients, medical education and public health programs, I took interest in Gov. Mike Foster's advertisement printed in The Sunday Advocate on Sept. 7 in which he praises Bobby Jindal's record as secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals and in particular Jindal's accomplishment in cutting the DHH budget. For those whose concern about health care goes beyond cutting budgets, the Jindal record is poor.
When Jindal was appointed secretary of DHH, he published his list of goals. Among these were: "ensuring high quality health care services will be available for the indigent, disabled, working poor ..."; "focusing on primary and preventive care ..." and "developing Louisiana as a Southern regional center of excellence for medical education" (http://www.geocities.com/bcassi/JindalGoals.html). None of these goals was met.
As he cut Medicaid, reimbursement for health-care providers was cut below their cost of treating patients ("La. Medicaid cuts implemented," The Advocate, July 2, 1996). Paying physicians and hospitals below cost decreased the number of physicians who saw Medicaid patients and forced providers who did to shift the cost for caring for Medicaid patients to the privately insured ("Medicaid patients dwindling, Lower payments to doctors may be cause," The Advocate, March 27, 2000). Jim Brown, then commissioner of insurance, predicted that cost-shifting could raise private medical insurance premiums 20 percent ("Plan cuts state Medicaid," The Advocate, Feb. 19, 1997). In 2003, it was estimated that the actual figure was 17 percent. The effect of this has been to make health insurance so expensive that many employees dropped their insurance ("Rising insurance costs affect companies, employees," The Advocate, April 20, 2003). They are priced out of insurance as a result of Jindal's policies, whose goal was increasing access to health care.
Another goal was improving preventive care. Childhood immunization is a cornerstone of preventive care. In 1995 and 1996, Louisiana was ranked 10th in the United States in the percent of infants 19 to 35 months old who were completely immunized. In 1997, as Foster and Jindal assumed control, Louisiana fell to 21st, in 1998 to 30th and in 1999 to 38th (http://www.cdc.gov/nip/coverage/#NIS).
Indeed, after eight years of the Foster/ Jindal administration, Louisiana has now been ranked as the least-healthy state in the nation for three straight years, despite spending more per capita on health care than the national average. The problem, according to David Hood, the current secretary of DHH, is inadequate access to primary care and preventive services ("State spending ranks high but overall health ranks low," The Advocate, April 13, 2003). Yet improving these was the Foster/Jindal goal.
The last goal was "developing Louisiana as a Southern regional center of excellence for medical education." Jindal left the state before he could effect this, but the current Foster budget endangers medical education. ("Sharing the misery," Baton Rouge Business Report, September 2, 2003).
Bobby Jindal is unquestionably a nice man who is young, well-spoken, and intelligent. Yet he failed in his three goals as Secretary of DHH. Contrary to what Gov. Foster says, Jindal's record does not indicate that he is capable of the much harder job of Governor.
For the Governor to blast President Obama's legislative policies on health care when his record as the head of the Department of Health and Hospitals fits in really well with the Republican agenda on health insurance reform - help the health insurance industry reap record profits at the expense of the health of the American people - is the height of hypocrisy.
The debate on healthcare reform is intensifying in Washington and across the country. This is not a debate taking place in the abstract.
Louisiana stands to benefit greatly from reform — if the final package includes the so-called "Public Option." The public option is a proposal by President Obama to offer working-age Americans the opportunity to buy health insurance coverage similar to coverage currently available to those over 65 through Medicare.
Health insurance companies oppose this, saying that the government will ultimately drive them from the field; that they won't be able to compete. The public, according to polls, is not buying that argument. Various polls report public support for the public option to be running 70 percent and higher.
That probably has something to do with the experiences those with insurance have had with insurance companies over the years. The insurance companies have not endeared themselves to the American public through their arbitrary denials of coverage, refusal to pay claims, and general ripping off of consumers and businesses over the years.
Note: For the most part, Democrats, liberals, and left-leaners of all stripes have been sitting on the sidelines of the state senate race for district 16, vacated by Bill Cassidy so that Lane Grisgby, and Michael Jackson could give the GOP another pickup. But, anyways, the race, which features three Republicans still proves for interesting drama.
Act I - (circa 1999)
Rolfe McCollister is the publisher of the Baton Rouge Business Report. He's got a decent size circulation and his paper is experiencing steady growth. Due to the nature of the Business Report, McCollister has access to quite a bit of people with much more political and economic clout than himself. One such person is former Louisiana governor, Buddy Roemer, who approaches McCollister with the prospect of opening up a commercial bank - The Business Bank of Baton Rouge - with 290 other investors. McCollister would sit on the bank's board and steadily build contacts and influence throughout Greater Baton Rouge.
Act II - (circa 2000)
McCollister, trying to figure out his 'next gig', takes on the traditional role as the 'white collar South Baton Rougean' in Baton Rouge's mayoral race. As always, there is a three-way split in the race, between a white politico from Baker or Zachary (usually a mayor), an African-American politician from North Baton Rouge, and a white collar South Baton Rougean. As someone put it to me, crudely, it's a race between 'the redneck, the black guy, and the suit'. As always, the top two slots went to Bobby Simpson (the Baker mayor), and Kip Holden (the North Baton Rouge politico), and McCollister's 19.5% of the vote goes to Simpson.
Act III - (circa 2004)
The initial batch of investors (none of whom ponied up more than $250k), are rewarded handsomely for their $50-70 million initial investment when their bank is acquired by BancorpSouth for $11 billion. McCollister, realizing that A) he didn't have much of a direct career in politics and B) that he was now ten to twenty times richer (he goes from being upper-middle-class to being a multimillionaire in 5 years time), he decides to assume a 'kingmaker' role, and starts trying to forge a role as a powerbroker in Baton Rouge politics.
Act IV - (now)
McCollister, fresh off having his golden boy Jindal elected, is starting to feel as if he could be the Joseph Cannizaro of Baton Rouge, and starts backing other sorts of candidates, including a relative unknown named Winston 'Lee' Domingue.
So, why did McCollister grab ahold of Domingue? Coming soon...
Jindal described the premise of the question -- "Do you want the president to fail?" -- as the "latest gotcha game" being perpetrated by Democrats against Republicans.
"Make no mistake: Anything other than an immediate and compliant, 'Why no sir, I don't want the president to fail,' is treated as some sort of act of treason, civil disobedience or political obstructionism," Jindal said at a political fundraiser attended by 1,200 people. "This is political correctness run amok."
"My answer to the question is very simple: 'Do you want the president to fail?' It depends on what he is trying to do."
We're facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, two wars, a worrisome race for oil with China, and playing catch-up with respect to green technology, and our erstwhile Governor wants certain things that Obama is doing to fail?
Our Christian Governor PBJ has repeatedly stated that he will not accept $98.4 million in stimulus funding designed to help those who have lost a job in our state's oh-so-booming economy.
Well, Senator Landrieu's staff asked the Department of Labor to clarify the rules and regulations of accepting the money, and whether the state will have to repay any funds back to the federal government if they change state law to accept the funding, and then repeal the law enacted to enable the state to get the federal funding. Here's the Department of Labor's response. Here are the pertinent parts for y'all:
Section 2003 of the ARRA added a new subsection (f) to section 903 of the Social Security Act (SSA), which established UI Modernization Payments. Under Section 903(f)(4)(B)(i), SSA, the Department is to certify any state law provisions that meet the UI modernization requirements. Although this section requires the Department to disregard "any State law provisions which are not then currently in effect as permanent law or which are subject to discontinuation" when certifying state laws, it does not prohibit the state's legislature from repealing these provisions in the future.
As a result, if a state eventually decides to repeal or modify any of these provisions, it may do so, and it will not be required to return any incentive payments. However, in providing the incentive payments, Congress clearly intended to support states that had already adopted certain eligibility provisions and to expand eligibility to additional beneficiaries by encouraging other states to adopt these provisions. By specifying that the provisions must be in effect as permanent law, Congress also made clear its intention that the benefit expansions not be transitory. While states are free to change or repeal the provisions on which modernization payments were based subsequent to receipt of incentive payments, Congress and the Department rely on states' good faith in adopting the eligibility criteria.
I'm struck by a few things here ... As I understand it, currently, unemployment law disregards the last 3 months of employment for eligibility for unemployment insurance, a result of a bygone era where employment records were kept by hand. I believe most employers in Louisiana have modernized their payment systems, and have put everything on their computers, or their accountants' computers.
The second thing I'm struck by is the fact that the Deputy Assistant Secretary is quite cognizant of the power the executive branch has compared to the power of Congress. Would this even have been a consideration under the Bush Administration?
The last thing I'm struck by is the fact that while the law states that the states should make any changes to state law permanent, they are quite willing to overlook it to ensure that as many people get the help they need.
That, folks, is what good government is about. Making sure that as many people are helped. This is a SEA change from the Bush Administration ... especially when dealing with Louisiana, as we are all too well aware of.
When the national media spotlight last shone on our beloved Guv'nah Bobby Jindal, he was making some noise about how government could do no right and the private sector could do no wrong in response to President Obama's near-State of the Union Address.
Cynics among us noted that the Louisiana economy about which Jindal boasted was floating on a sea of federal disaster relief funds that had flooded our state as the waters of hurricanes Katrina and Rita ebbed. Jindal's speech proved once and for all that he is a card-carrying member of the immune to facts faction of the Republican Party.
But, fate being what it is, Jindal has recently had an opportunity to revisit the role of government in the marketplace right here in his own state and -- gasp! -- has come down firmly on the government intervention side of the argument.
Governor PBJ campaigned for Governor on the reforming Louisiana's image. One of the policy platforms he ran on was: (pdf alert)
Provide citizens on-line, easy-to-understand access to all sectors of state government
We should upgrade Louisiana's sunshine laws to improve access to public records and meetings by expanding Internet-based access to filings,
reports, and announcements in all departments.
Presumably, he meant to include the Governor's Office in "state government." Since the special session that he called last year to reform the ethics laws, and let the sunshine filter into the state government, he has touted the reforms he pushed through the Legislature.
However, he has restricted public access to documents, filings, and reports that his office deals with. And I don't just mean his office, but the entirety of the Executive Branch of the Louisiana government. Current law allows for Governor PBJ to shield documents under the custody of his press secretary, legislative director, director of boards and commissions, and other officials on his executive staff, as well as all records in the Homeland Security Office as well as the State Military Department.
Trying to get a Freedom of Information Act request out of the Governor's office is so difficult that the Citizen Access Project, a program undertaken by the Marion Brechner Institute for Open Government at the University of Florida, declared that Louisiana's open records laws, "particularly when applied to the Governor's office, [are] the darkest sunshine laws" in the nation.
This past Saturday, the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee held a meeting in Shreveport. One of the issues on the agenda was whether or not to open up the party primary to Independent and third party members. It was voted down by a vote of 114-5. They even made it one of the bylaws of the Louisiana Republican Party, making it even tougher to change it, as such a change would require a 2/3 vote to open the GOP primaries.
What does this mean? It means that the Louisiana GOP just made it much, much tougher for a challenger to defeat David Vitter in a GOP primary, especially since John Cooksey, and Tony Perkins have decided NOT to challenge the mercurial SINator.
The only potential challenger left standing amongst GOP elected officials is Secretary of State Jay Dardenne. While he has pointedly kept his name circulating in GOP circles by not issuing a Shermanesque statement closing the door on a potential challenge, I cannot see him challenging the SINator, as I believe he wants to keep his powder dry until 2015, when Governor PBJ will be term-limited, providing, of course, that he wins re-election.
All of this leaves Stormy Daniels as the only candidate still seriously considering a challenge to the SINator.
The debate on healthcare reform is intensifying in Washington and across the country. This is not a debate taking place in the abstract.
