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Dear Legislators:
“Jindal Vows to Bankrupt State to Preserve Conservative Credentials” (Comment on nola.com)
LEGISLATORS: What are YOU going to do about that?
The state of Louisiana is facing bankruptcy – this was utterly predictable and almost feels deliberate. Read The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Kline and you will shocked all right, to see that jindal has pulled off an economic coup that has made Louisiana no more than a Third World economy.
I am addressing this to legislators, because YOU are to blame for the coming collapse of state government. YOU, state representative or senator, put political party, out-of-state organizations and misguided individuals ahead of the people of Louisiana in violation of your oath of office.
You legislators are the only people in the state who have the power to fix the mess you have created. The foolishness we are seeing during this legislative session shows that many of you are still abdicating any semblance of responsibility for the common good for our citizens.
A majority of you have played along with Jindal’s disastrous fiscal policies for your own selfish reasons. Just a few of you have stood boldly and courageously in opposition from the beginning of this reign of (t)error. You have allowed an annual fiscal mess that has created a huge corporate welfare state and left us with crippling cuts to government agencies that serve our citizens. Every one of you should hang your head in shame for what you have done to the people of the state you were elected to represent.
You chose to allow us to truly suffer the consequences of Jindal’s sociopathic, narcissistic, self-serving ambition. He is finally about to be honest about running for president, and the ever-absent governor will be completely MIA in the state that is paying his salary. Just as he did when he took his salary as a congressman while running for governor. Forgot about that, didn’t you? Jindal is a serial thief via payroll fraud.
Here are things you can and should do to help make Louisiana a decent place to live, work and raise families:
One: Impeach Jindal. Pay attention to what the public thinks. People are ready for Jindal to go and they are not content to wait until January 2016. Everyone knows he’s stealing his salary and rent on the mansion. Do what the citizens want. Get rid of him now. Impeach him for cause. There is plenty of it. There is great public will for drastic action on YOUR part.
Get rid of the tyrant NOW. He does not need to finish the last few months of his term. Impeach him now and you will save yourself a lot of trouble at the end of the session, because if you are responsible enough to actually pass provisions to raise needed revenue, Jindal has clearly and unequivocably stated that he will veto them all because of his loyalty to Grover Norquist, not the people of Louisiana. He has stated that he will not let you raise revenue. “Revenue neutral” is complete bull. We need more revenue, not the same amount we have now; that IS the problem.
Criminal grounds? Start with blatant payroll fraud, malfeasance and dereliction of duty. Public payroll fraud is a felony in Louisiana. Jindal long ago stopped performing the duties that he was elected to do, but continues to draw his handsome salary and his family still lives in the taxpayer-owned governor’s mansion. He has completely shirked his responsibilities to the state, and his slavish loyalty to Grover Norquist and powerful business interests, and his total lack of care and compassion for Louisiana people have driven us to brink of bankruptcy. Then there’s the theft of state trust and reserve funds, and sale of properties belonging to We the People. The list goes on and on…
While you’re at it, get rid of Jindal’s hatchet people. There is probably some jail time in their futures for malfeasance in office, fraud and criminal actions having to do with ignoring state laws on contracts, procurement, employment, etc.
Two: Many of you signed Grover Norquist’s destructive and completely unrealistic no-taxes-ever pledge, and you must now pay the price for your misplaced loyalty. You might want to google Grover Norquist. Ultra-conservative Glenn Beck recently revealed that Norquist is widely thought to be a closet Muslim. Norquist’s former business partner is in federal prison for financing Al Queda terrorists. Norquist is married to a devout Muslim woman thought to have terrorist ties. Norquist’s real agenda appears to be destruction of our nation from within. You should take time to research him and decide if that is where your loyalties should lie. You sold us out to a Muslim economic hit man/terrorist.
Renounce your anti-tax pledge to Norquist publically – NOW.
Three: Accept the fact that government should not be the personal piggy bank for corporate interests. There should be no profit motive in provision of government services. Privatization requires profit, which is fine when businesses are truly private interests. Governments abdicate their responsibility to citizens when services are privatized.
If you think the private sector always provides better services than lesser-paid public employees, take a look at the recent revelation about the Blue Cross Blue Shield takeover of the Office of Group Benefits. BCBS has paid millions in fines for poor performance. You did not hear a lot of complaints when OGB staff operated the plan. Ask the patients at the state’s few remaining mental health hospitals if they are getting enough to eat from the private contractor that now feeds them, after replacing the low-paid state employees who worked in those hospitals. After public complaint after complaint, you have still allowed those patients to go hungry because the contractor does not prepare enough food. Shame on you. SHAME ON YOU.
Government services provide for quality of life and public safety. Today state services in every area are jeopardized, from police and fire safety, water safety, food inspection and public health to libraries, state parks, and highway safety. Medical services for the less fortunate and accessible higher education may be niceties of the past.
Please read Matthew 25:36-40 – that’s The BIBLE, y’all, the book that some of you wanted to make the Louisiana state book (which, apparently, many of you have not bothered to actually read).
Education is a key component that creates a prosperous middle class. Public education in Louisiana is in jeopardy, from pre-K, K-12, to higher education. I am disgusted with hearing about “government monopoly schools.” Public education was established by the earliest Americans to provide opportunity for all, not just the wealthy. Now there is talk of privatizing our universities along with the K-12 grab. Those institutions belong to us – We the People of Louisiana – the same as our state parks and historic sites, museums, libraries and other state properties. Are you actually going to allow the state of Louisiana to close universities, community and technical colleges, or price them out of reach of all but the wealthy? Do you really choose to let our state sink to the level of a Third World country? (I spend time in such a country every year, and believe me, Louisiana already looks much the same.)
While you have sort of passed some financial relief for higher education, some of us actually realize that it’s not over til the session is over, and some ploys like the SAVE tax credit insanity provides non-existent funding. Plus, everything is open to jindal’s veto.
Four: be courageous and get our fiscal house in order:
- Just do it. Roll back the corporate welfare that makes the business community that takes the profits and runs out of state a larger entitlement group than the poor. Jindal is now complaining about corporate welfare, which is laughable. He practically invented the idea.
- Immediately cancel ridiculously expensive contracts such as Magellan and the five Bayou Health contracts that steal money by providing little or no services, services that were previously provided by mid-pay range state employees who actually got the work done.
- Un-privatize the public hospitals, Office of Group Benefits operations, food service in the few remaining mental health hospitals, etc., so the money spent will actually pay for services to people, rather than profit for out-of-state companies. Don’t think you can’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again? Look carefully at the history of the Office of Group Benefits and you will see that it has been done before.
- Reinstate reasonable taxes on business and individuals, such as the Stelly tax. The People voted it in, and y’all eliminated Stelly without asking The People if they agreed. We didn’t. Consider that an additional, temporary one-percent income tax on the top one or two percent earners, until our budget house is back in order, may be necessary. (I’m probably in that number, so I have “skin in that game.”) We have to accept the fact that we must pay for the services we need and want. Take a look at the tax bases of the good quality-of–life states, like Minnesota. They levied a small, temporary income tax hike – result: the state is rolling in revenue and business is booming.
Five: re-gain the trust of our citizens by re-defining YOUR loyalties. Is your loyalty to a delusional sociopath named jindal, to selfish, to self-serving out-of state entities such as ALEC, the greedy Koch Brothers machine and Grover Norquist, or to the people of Louisiana who elected you and whom you are supposed to serve?
A lot hangs in the balance for you personally and for the rest of us. For you, there is your continued ability to be elected to public office and to maintain the respect of people around you, not to mention the state of your own immortal soul (read The Bible some more and see what the Lord has to say about people to whom much is given, etc.). You are playing with fire….eternal fire… and I think it is very appropriate to point that out, since so many of you claim to be devout Christians. Christians who want to legislate your personal religious beliefs into laws affecting everyone of all faiths and no faith, effectively turning our state and nation into a theocracy, in violation of the U.S. Constitution (which you claim to revere).
And now we find that many of you voted in favor of House Concurrent Resolution 2 that would endorse a “Convention of States” seeking to eliminate the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which establishes that the United States Constitution, federal statutes and treaties are “the supreme law of the land.” The Supremacy Clause is the bedrock that binds the states together a one nation. This proposed convention of the states is a far-reaching plan to make radical changes in the federal government that will not benefit ordinary citizens. If that resolution was sold to you as a way to undermine a Supreme Court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage, think again. Pay attention for once, since you have admitted to voting for bills and resolutions because someone told you to, when you have not even read them. Wake up to what you are doing. The “convention of states” would begin the descent into anarchy as each state makes its own rules. No more United States of America. Welcome to 50 Shades of Pray.
Do the right thing. Step up to your responsibilities as elected representatives of the people. Make the right decisions for Louisiana, not a political party, an individual or organization. Get our house in order.
Believe me, we are all watching.
Sincerely,
Earthmother
As Always, exceptional journalism. Jindal and the Jindalite Group worship money.They communicate and extort using the basis of all communication, fear, ignorance and prejudice. Thanks for the message, but I doubt that it will sink in to our fearful, ignorant, and prejudiced Jindalites. Wonder where Eric Prince and his XE (formerly Blackwater) mercenaries are located? The ISIS communication and business plan does track a lot of Jindalite buzz words ron thompson
Emotionally, comprehensively, and eloquently stated, Earthmother!!!
I hope every legislator reads your column and takes to heart the fact many of their constituents agree with you and are sick of their quiescence and abject cowardice. You place the responsibility squarely where it belongs. Let’s hope we can get enough new elected officials who actually care more about these things than their own self-promotion. Bravo.
Excellent letter. Spineless legislators take note as your day is coming soon. We are tired of self-serving politicians. For those of you with a spine, applause! I have put this up on my Facebook wall so that friends in other states can be forewarned that under no circumstance do they need jindal (small letter was put there on purpose) anywhere near the White House.
I wish the Washington Post and the New York Times would pick up this letter so the nation at large will learn about our governor and legislators. This piece deserves national attention because it speaks the truth in very powerful language. I am not worried about Jindal getting elected. He, like his peers, are hoping to get in a GOP cabinet and prepare for the next election in 2020. Best to separate the wheat from the chaff early on. With undying gratitude to the author of this, anncoco
Drop. The. Mic! Awesome letter.
Good letter, and sadly true. I am also of the opinion that the AG should bring charges against Jindal for malfeasance and payroll fraud. If this was a run of the mill state employee, they would be hanging off of a pine tree limb somewhere for the same thing. USA today and the major news networks should get a copy of this. The solutions proposed, while formidable, are certainly not impossible. I do know Group Benefits have turned into a joke. I have been fighting with them for close to three weeks over their refusal to pay for my insulin. Fortunately, I still have another week’s stash in the fridge, but after that they will either pay or I will slowly die. Kristy Nichols and similar ilk should also be investigated by the AG for criminal activity, convicted, and sent to jail.
You will never see this attorney general pursue corruption charges against any state official. He only goes after petty crimes those who cannot afford to defend themselves. Of course he also hauls in child porn cases (as he should), but for the wrong reasons: publicity in an election year.
Hooah!
Earthmother…..You know how to pose your arguments in a very authoritative and tough-to-refute manner!!
While I concur with a significant portion of your arguments, I do believe that, as John Kennedy expresses, “We don’t have a revenue problem in Louisiana. We have a spending problem.” Hence, I’m not in favor of increased revenue as the first means of solving our fiscal problems. What I am in favor of is Kennedy’s efforts to get to the bottom of: 1) the magnitude of these consulting contracts, 2) their nature and purpose, and 3) whether they can be justified and why they may have been initiated in the first place.
Thanks for helping to keep a vacuum from forming while we anxiously await the release of Tom’s book!!
Question to you: yes, reform of these contracts is indeed quite worthwhile, however, if somehow we were to erase all of them how much in would that free up and would that be enough to take care of our needs in terms of undoing all of the damage that’s been done to higher education and health care? Plus, while some may insist that the problem is one to do with spending and not to do with revenue it IS a fact that the state budget is around $7-$8 billion less than it was when Piyush Jindal first took over. That’s hardly small potatoes. When do we reach the point of conceding that “okay, we’ve cut the fat and reached where here are important services that we need for the state to provide and not just that but provide in high quality fashion and need to see to it that are well funded as opposed to cut back?” What should the state budget be? $15 billion? $20 billion? $25 billion? How about determining that figure first before making a broad pronouncement that we definitely do already have enough revenue to suit our needs? I will admit this about where I myself stand: I believe that as things are we definitely are essentially starving higher education and infrastructure and that because we do so we essentially condemn ourselves to having a slow economy and slow to zero growth of tax receipts. I firmly believe that you do have to invest in services and infrastructure that are important to have and you need to have if you want to see the economy moving at all. I would go so far as to contend that right now we have a near-nationwide cultural ethos of a disdain toward almost all of what government does and should do in a civilized society, except for military and defense and that such an ethos is akin to a cancer on our society with regard to American competitiveness in education, research, infrastructure, industry, quality of life and so on. We have a powerful military but in other respects we are slowly slipping back and becoming in many respects not unlike what the old Soviet Union was. Quite honestly what we need in this state is NOT more cut backs and more belt-tightening and more squeezing of blood from turnips — which no doubt we’ll see from another staunchly conservative gubernatorial regime. We have had plenty of that already for most the past 20 years — and the results are there for all to see, as in a continual slow economy and poor quality of life in the state for the majority. It’s time for a complete turn-around of mentality and have a plan for a state that embraces the 21st century and moving forward and having a quality infrastructure, quality services and a high quality for life for all of its citizens.
.
You make a lot of good points and I agree the problem cannot be solved by cuts alone – the math simply doesn’t work. Yes, eliminating all contracts would solve the problem, mathematically, but not all contracts are bad and/or unnecessary. The problem is NOBODY seems to want to look at them closely and make a REAL effort to get rid of ALL the bad ones. And, you know what, that is also the problem with much of the rest of the budget.
Robert,
I have appreciated your posts and most of your comments but your a dead wrong about the state not having a revenue problem.
On the inside of state government we have seen the cuts in services like long lines at OMV offices, the inability to get Unemployment Insurance, closed programs for the developmentally disabled, the cuts earthmother noted above and many, many, many others. We have also seen corporate taxation decrease more than 70% and cuts in taxes on the wealthy. We have seen subsidies for private K-12 schools and attacks on public education for the rest of us. We have seen welfare programs for entertainment production and many other huge companies while higher education and all these other programs are cut. The average state worker is already “taxed” about $7000 PER YEAR in withheld performance increases.
Every enterprise always has some inefficiencies, particularly in the privatization contracts, even after severe budget cuts. But the services to, and safety of, the citizens of Louisiana have already been significantly impaired.
WE NEED MORE REVENUE TO ACTUALLY BALANCE THE BUDGET FOR A CHANGE AND TO RESTORE SOME OF THE DAMAGE DONE TO LOUISIANA BY JINDAL AND HIS LEGISLATIVE ACCOMPLICES.
Amen!! Whenever there are any of these cutbacks of services or of programs in higher education it’s invariably not the high level administrators making the nice salaries who get to feel the impact but rather it’s the rank-and-file worker and instructor (who probably is not exactly getting to live high off the hog to begin with) who gets to feel the impact. It’s as if to be taking dollars out of the pockets of the rank-and-file worker and placing them in the pockets of the well-to-do while also leaving everyone with diminished services making for a lowered quality of life for most people and probably also somewhat impeding economic growth. Conservatives are ever so fond of saying things like “we don’t have a revenue problem; we have a spending problem” or “you can’t tax and spend your way to prosperity” but the conservative approach of tax cuts for the well-to-do and for corporations, well, what exactly is the record there of going with that sort of approach? That’s what we’ve been having on the state level for the large majority of the past 20 years, and, well, look where we are, where we still are.
Correction: the conservative approach of tax cuts for the well-to-do and corporations ACCOMPANIED BY cutbacks of government services and higher education…
Hold on now. Like so many others, I’ve blamed Jindal and his ego for our state’s current woes, understanding (and waiting for) the blame to properly grow to include the legislature. Can there be a “Jindal Bonaparte” without the legislature’s compliance? Like the author makes so clear, no. However, as James Gill pointed out in his Ed-Op in this morning’s Advocate, legislatures pander to their constituents (re: retro-active vote changing). “Voting for common sense and decency always requires a certain amount of courage, because that is NOT the way to keep constituents happy.” I contend he is correct. Therefore, to quote Pogo, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” At the end of the day, this is a red state. If the polls are correct, Vitter will cross home plate without breaking a homerun trot. Why? Because my father-in-law, your neighbor, the co-worker sitting next to you, either doesn’t give a rat’s ass, or they are so drunk on Red cool-aid, that they will continue to vote against their own self interest. Jindal won re-election with 67% of a 26% turnout. (I hope those numbers are correct.) That calculates to just under 18%. Is Jindal a delusional, self-serving jerk? Certainly. Are most members of the legislature brainless zombies? Seem to be. But does the solution to this whole mess rest on the shoulders of the voter? Come on now, we all know, it does. We either change it from the very bottom, or shop for the local U-Haul with the cheapest drop off fee.
Isn’t that the most amazing part?
You are dead on. It really falls on the voters or the lack there of.
All very true. Very many people seem to want to believe heart and soul in the line of “low taxes and scaled back government=utopia.” But if you believe in that, though, what conditions would be optimal? No government at all, i.e. complete anarchy?
The sly red foxes are heavily guarding the door to the three Louisiana hen Houses and choosing who gets to guard the doors. We the people are the chickens outside the hen houses and far outnumber the foxes. It is time to become roosters and learn how to recognize and vote for the more common and crafty gray foxes in the state. Either way, we still have foxes guarding the doors.
Excellent letter. It puts the responsibility squarely on the majority of our elected legislators who kowtowed to Jindal. I suggest everyone who reads this send a link to it to your state representative and senator to let them know you agree with it. Unfortunately we have U.S. Senators and Congressmen who have and are doing the same thing at the national level. The grassroots of the situation falls on the culpability and gullibility of those who elected all of them. Without a significant change in the attitude of the majority of the voters, Louisiana is pretty much a lost cause.
Brava earthmother. From your fingers and keyboard to God’s ear!
Great letter Earthmother!
Oui to all of this. Jindal had destroyed this state in so many ways, and this article shows about 10% of it. Put the Stelly Plan back into effect, audit the LDR, go after Jindal for using state money to campaign for presidency. This man has to go before January as a warning to the nation that he is a terrible executive and a sell out to big money interests.
How can we get this published in every newspaper in Louisiana. Maybe print it and distribute if out of fly over airplanes. This is the best, most concise and challenging letter! It not only challenges the senators and representatives and puts the blame on them, it also challenges us to speak out with the facts and confront those that continue to support this mess.
Thank you Earthmother, whoever you are!
Problem with getting it published in most newspapers is the true identity of the author has to be submitted to the editors.
I love it! I hope this gets disseminated as widely as possible.
Great writing, you have done your homework Earthmover. I have emailed a copy to my Representive, for whatever good it will do. Thank you for saying what so many of us want to but are not talented enough to lay it out in such a professional letter.
People have become so discouraged that only 26% of them went to the polls in the election that put Jindal in office for the second time? Sad. The disenchantment strategy is working quite well. As stated in this letter, most people did not want this agenda and didn’t vote for it. But they don’t “vote against their own interests” they don’t vote at all. What is really needed is some candidates for office that inspire the public at large. Government is not bad, it is the solution but corrupt government has distorted this reality and too many have just opted out of voting. The problems are obvious and the solutions are just common sense but who is going to implement them? It seems only people intent on enriching themselves are interested in running for public office and those who will gain by their being in office actually go vote for them. How do we change this situation?
I realize that I am late to the party on this particular installment of how terrible the guy that is supposed to be our governor is as well as how self serving our state representatives are. They are spineless deuche bags and Grover Norquist who I’m pretty sure is not on the state payroll is the worst of the them.
Something has bothered me a bit since I read this originally and I finally just decided to write.
I was raised in a pretty conservatively Jewish household. My parents kept kosher (mostly), and went to synagogue regularly. I had my BarMitzvah, belonged to jewish youth groups and a mostly jewish fraternity at LSU.
I have since given up on organized religion. It all started when I realized that the Jews hate people as much as they are hated. That came as a real surprise to me.
On numerous occasions in response to Mr. Aswell’s writing I have mentioned that I hate hypocrites. Having been hated or tormented as a child for being Jewish I’ve always felt that it would be hypocritical of me to hate others simply for being some other religion. It would be really easy for me to hate Muslims because of Israel and the 9/11 tragedy, but I’m not going to hate all billion of them just because they are that religion.
Anyway, the bit about hating Norquist just because he may be a Muslim…well, that could have been left out. There is plenty else to hate him about.
Hello, Ken, earthmother here.
I’d like to respond to your comment about my promoting “hatred” of Grover Norquist. I’ve read and re-read my letter, and nowhere is the word “hate” or the idea of hating anyone in my words, so I must respectfully disagree with your characterization of that paragraph in my letter. By my name you should know that I embrace all peoples of the world, all races, persuasions and religious faiths and those of no faith, regardless of nation of origin or gender identity. I am not a bigot and do not discriminate against anyone or any ideology. I once hosted a landmark event in an establishment owned by Palestinian-American Muslims who are longtime American citizens. I value people as individuals, not as members of a group. But I am an experienced observer, a good researcher, and I’m not stupid.
For someone who is not an elected official, Grover Norquist has a huge presence on the internet, so the amount of information about him that is easily accessible is vast. Norquist claims to be a member of a mainstream Protestant denomination. His wife is a devout Muslin and they have adopted two children, including a Muslim child from Palestine. He also is the founder of the Islamic Free Market Institute as well as the Americans for Tax Reform group. His associates in the Islamic world include members of the Muslim Brotherhood and many known terrorist financiers and sympathizers, including his former partner in establishing the Islamic Institute, now in federal prison for financially supporting Al Queda, who has stated support for the goal of extending the Islamic caliphate to the United States.
I have never heard of extremist members of a mainstream Protestant denomination flying airplanes into buildings and killing thousands; kidnapping children from their schools; raping young girls in order to create a new population as they fight to overthrow legitimate governments and establish theocratic rule; state a goal to establish world domination of their extremist “faith,” and on and on. Al Queda, ISIS, Boko Haram and the Muslim Brotherhood are not members of a Protestant denomination.
If I were an influential American conservative, I would distance myself from such groups. But Norquist has helped them to become active in GOP circles and political life. And he will not answer whether or not he has embraced his wife’s faith. He says that is personal. What’s wrong with “she’s Muslim and I’m Christian and we are a loving, committed couple.” Having grown up in a mixed religion family, I know how to answer that question.
I am not the first or only person to call Norquist an economic terrorist or anarchist due to his ATR ideology. I am not the first or only person to assume he is secretly Muslim. What I am saying, and many others whose research far transcends mine, is to connect the very obvious dots, and beware. Be aware of hidden agendas and clever ways to change a society from within. I never said I hate Norquist or that other people should hate him. I asked our leges to see if they agree with the agenda and ideology of the total person, not just the conservative front that is ATR.
Kindly do a little research on your own and let us know what you think.
Please forgive the lengthy, off-topic post. Several individuals asked me to clarify after your comment.
Well-stated earthmother. I totally agree with you.
Mom, I’ll admit to “hatred” being a bit harsh. How about I use “dislike or strongly dislike”?
I apoogize if you feel that I made some judgement of you. I did not. I have five bee hives and am growing my own arboretum, so I’m certain that we would see eye to eye on most issues.
Maybe three years ago one of my Dad’s first cousins passed away. My grandmother had a number of siblings, so there were quite a number of his other first cousins (all Jews) at the funeral. These were all cousins that Dad grew up with, spent summers with when he was young, and went fishing with until he was unable to go out on a boat any more. Unfortunately, policics came up at some point and everyone found out that my parents voted for Obama. Holy crap, what an uproar…”he’s a muslim, you know” was the refrain.
When Pop passed away, two years ago today, two of these families never bothered to call Mom with condolences. (No wonder I distanced myself from religion)
There are still people that you can get a rise out of if you replaced Muslim with Jew, or Catholic.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I feel like you inadvertantly slipped in some of the Muslim bit to fuel the fire.
If it turns out that he is muslim radical using his tax reform bit as a front to bring the country down (which would be so unbelievably diabolical) I will come personally apologize to you.
Oh, holy crap…I just realized that Norquist is a Muslim radical trying to bring the country down using a tax reform organization. And all of the Republicans are falling for it. How ironic and diabolical.
Condolences on the anniversary of your father’s passing. No “religion” is immune from members who lack compassion and display ignorance and ugly behavior.
My enigmatic smile to your snark.. In case you hadn’t noticed, the Third World style economies of Louisiana, Kansas, Wisconsin, Indiana…are the states where Norquist tax policies have been implemented.
I never like things to end on a sour note and find that levity is always in order. I was trying to be funny.You are absolutely correct about the devastation his policies are wreaking on those states. I have certainly been paying attention to that. I’d like to think that people will wake up to it, but probably not.
On this site we are family. Like families, we commenters may pick at each other a bit, but we are united in spirit. It’s our responsibility to work together to help people realize what it takes to turn things around and heal our state.
Why is David Vitter the favorite to win the election for governor? Would it have anything to do with all of the big financial donors pouring money into his campaign? I don’t believe that he is the best qualified, just the one with the most money. Somehow we need to educate voters to pay attention to the important issues in the election, not merely the best political campaign. Billionaires should not be in a position to choose the next governor of Louisiana.
For the same reason Jindal was the favorite to win re-election in 2011—the reason you stated: money. Qualifications have precious little to do with getting elected anymore. It’s who can promise the most to the special interests who underwrite the campaign.