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Archive for June, 2015

Educator says we don’t have too many colleges, universities; claims calls to reduce number are born of malice and deceit

Posted in Education, Finances, Governor's Office, Higher Education, Legislature, Legislators, Politicians on June 11, 2015| 13 Comments »

        Because we are working frantically to meet the deadline for publication of our book about Bobby Jindal, we have scaled back on the frequency of posts for LouisianaVoice. Instead, we are relying heavily on several guest columnists. The following post was written by Michael Kurt Corbello, Ph.D.

         He is an associate professor of political science at Southeastern Louisiana University where he has taught since 1987. From 1991 to 2011, he was the founding director of the Southeastern Poll. He teaches courses in American politics, research methods and statistics, polling and public opinion, Louisiana politics, the Louisiana Legislature in Session, political parties, environmental policy, American foreign policy and European politics. Since 2004, he has run a three-week summer study abroad program for SLU in Salzburg, Austria.

         He has volunteered the following column from his own political blog, Dr. Kurt Corbello on Politics:

 

By Dr. Michael Kurt Corbello (special to LouisianaVoice)

In the current battle in the Louisiana legislature over how to fully fund public higher education while not raising the ire of the Jindal/Norquist anti-tax axis, it is heartening to witness comments by leaders in the business community drawing a direct connection between business opportunity and broad, affordable access to higher education. Still, politicians and ideologues in Louisiana often show an openness to diminishing, if not destroying, the great strides made in Louisiana to increase access to higher education. Frequently, this tendency to limit access is born out of well-intentioned ignorance, as in October 2009, when Louisiana House Speaker Jim Tucker called for a study to explore closing some of the public college “facilities on every corner” of the state.

At other times, calls to reduce the number of public secondary education institutions are clearly born out of malice and deceit. Recently, a rabidly ideological blogger rallied the bandwagon to eliminate a few colleges and universities in Louisiana, arguing that our “14” public four-year institutions are too many to serve a population of 4.6 million. According to the blogger, Louisiana should take a lesson from the “12” public colleges and universities serving the “four times” more populous state of Florida. The implication is that public post-secondary institutions in Louisiana do not carry a heavy enough burden in serving the state’s population to justify having “so many” institutions.

Of course, we’ve heard these arguments before, repeated enough that they are widely accepted as true. Yet, it does not take a tremendous effort to discover that the basic assumptions behind the “downsizing argument” in Louisiana are false! Perhaps it is a bit petty to suggest that higher education policy “thinkers” get their facts straight (Louisiana has 17 public four-year colleges and universities, while Florida has 39), but while we’re at it lets look at the “counterintuitive” side of the debate: that Louisiana’s public system of higher education isn’t just grossly underfunded to the point of bankruptcy, it is overburdened, should be expanded and should be returned to a level of affordability for the average family in this state!

As a point of public disclosure, the reader should know that I am a Louisiana-born, raised, and public-educated political science professor with a nearly thirty-year career at one of the state’s four-year universities. This is to say that I have a bias, but it is one based upon experience and data, not upon ideological deceit, intellectual sloppiness, and a lack of transparency! First, I alter some basic assumptions about the structure of higher education in Louisiana.

My view is that post-secondary education should be thought of as a system with many interdependent parts, public and private, large and small, four-year and two-year, general and specialized, each serving different needs and communities in order to serve the state as a whole. Further, I argue that a good and basic way to measure the burden on the system within each state is to divide the state population by the state’s total number of post-secondary institutions. I used Census data and information available from the U. S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics to compare the population burden upon the higher education systems for each of the fifty states, plus Washington, D.C.  Data on State Populations and Institutions of Higher Education as of 2010 to 2015

Nationwide there are 718 public four-year colleges and universities (avg. 14), 1705 private four-year institutions (avg. 33), 1173 public community colleges (avg. 23), and 284 private community colleges (avg. 6), for a total of 3814 post-secondary institutions (avg. 75). Yet, not all states are the same! Louisiana has 17 public 4-year colleges and universities (rank=11th), 12 private four-year institutions (rank=34th), 16 public community colleges (rank=27th), and 6 private community colleges (rank=12th), for a total of 51 post-secondary institutions (rank=28th). Since critics like (and misstate) the comparison, Florida has 39 public four-year colleges and universities (rank=4th), 79 private four-year institutions (rank=6th), 63 public community colleges (rank=3rd), and 12 private community colleges (rank=8th), for a total of 193 post-secondary institutions (rank=4th).

Combining all public and private four-year colleges and universities yields a different set of results. The national average is 48 institutions per state (New York, 215; California, 200; Pennsylvania, 155; Florida, 118; Texas, 109; Ohio, 108; Massachusetts, 98; Illinois, 97; Michigan, 83). Louisiana (29) and most of the remaining states of the South have a range six to 66 public and private four-year colleges and universities per state.

But the picture of higher education in the United States, Louisiana, and the South would not be complete without considering the impact of the 1,457 public and private community colleges across the country. Nationwide, the average number of these institutions per state nationwide is 39. California has 133, Texas 83, New York 79, Florida 75, Ohio 69, North Carolina 67, and Pennsylvania 63. In the South, there are 540 public and private community colleges, with an average of 32 per state. While Louisiana ranks a low 11th with 22, the range is from a low of 2 in D.C. to a high of 83 in Texas.

In all, there are 3,814 public and private post-secondary institutions across the United States, and each of them plays a critical role in educating a valuable constituency; you, me, our children, and those yet to breathe the air of curiosity and creativity. The question is, does Louisiana have a glut of higher education institutions? The best available data clearly shows that Louisiana doesn’t have enough post-secondary institutions, particularly community colleges that can provide access for people in more remote areas, as well as to individuals not ready for urban four-year institutions! Here is why!

Nationwide, Louisiana ranks 25th in population size and 26th in the percentage of urban population. These are factors that help to define economic activity in a state, the training required of its workforce, and the distribution of educational facilities. In addition, Louisiana is 28th in the total number of post-secondary institutions. Yet, Louisiana ranks 12th (91,170) in population per post-secondary institution. Again, I see this as a measure of the burden on the state’s higher education system.

Comparing Louisiana among the 17 states of the South is even more telling. Louisiana ranks 10th in population size (4,649,676), 8th in the percentage of urban population, 12th in the total number of colleges (51), but 6th in population per institution (91,170) per state. Only Texas (140,401), Maryland (117,184), Florida (103,074), Georgia (99,974), and Virginia (99,122) impose somewhat heavier burdens on their higher education systems than does Louisiana. But each of these states has made a commitment to higher learning that continually fails to gain traction in the morass of Louisiana politics. Nationally, 77% of states are less burdensome to their higher education systems than is Louisiana. In the South, Louisiana’s higher education system is more heavily burdened than systems in 65% of all other states.

Talk of closing public colleges and universities in Louisiana raises the question of access. Critics argue that public institutions “crowd out” potential private ones that would fill any vacuum created in their absence. Yet, public post-secondary institutions exist precisely because private institutions are unaffordable and inaccessible. The argument in favor of creating a vacuum in public higher education is a fraudulent one.

The average college student at a public institution in Louisiana is struggling to fulfill dreams. Tuition and books are increasing in costs, and so are debts for attending college. Most students have little money, even though they often work one, two or three jobs. Many have families. Most are able to go to college because they can drive to one within 30 miles of their families, children, and jobs. Closing public colleges and universities negatively alters the logistics and deprives them, and us, of the promise of a better life!

There is no genius in taking an ax to a budget. There is no brilliance in talking fast and saying nothing. There is no fiscal responsibility in refusing to pay the state’s bills in a way that is prudent. Previous state leaders grappled with Hurricane Katrina and left a $1 billion surplus that the current crop depleted in the blink of an eye. Tax cuts did not generate magic, as they never do. More pockets of “surplus” money had to be found and depleted. The once dependable “Charity Hospital” system is gone, sold off to the highest bidders, its replacement over budget, in legal limbo, and leaving thousands without care.

Post Katrina, bright, young, and talented college faculty came to Louisiana, especially to the University of New Orleans, wide-eyed and full of energy to build a life and a career in an exotic new frontier. Then we began hearing the smart-ass mantra, “Do more with less!” In response, these new creative souls did more with more by leaving the state, in the case of UNO, destroying its brand and making its future more troubled than Katrina ever did.

It is mind-boggling that anyone can think that it is good for business when we refuse to pay our bills and rip the heart right out of our future! We need responsible budgeting and more tax revenue! That is how government pays its bills. It is also how we take care of the multitude of things that, large, medium, or small, add up to a quality of life to be envied!

In the end, the now recurring crisis of higher education in Louisiana is a manufactured crisis. It is a crisis, the prevailing solutions to which run counter to “common” sense. After the players change, it will take us at least a generation and many hundreds of millions of dollars to reverse the damage done by this generation of “leaders.” The alternative is a state cannibalizing itself into unspeakable backwardness.

Without courage and resistance in the State Legislature, the current crop of leaders will continue to destroy what others in Louisiana took generations to build. Thankfully for us and for them, it is wanton destruction that they will never be around to “fix.” Where higher education is concerned, closing public institutions, or privatizing them, alters the mission and leaves people without access!

 

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Remember the ‘700 Club’? Guest columnist has unique but plausible theory about Bobby Jindal and a ‘700,000 Club’

Posted in Campaign Contributions, Elections, Governor's Office, Guest Columnist, Politicians on June 10, 2015| 20 Comments »

By Stephen Winham (Special to LouisianaVoice)

On Monday (June 8, 2015) Salon published an excellent piece by Lamar White about Bobby Jindal and his political machine.  Here is a link to that article:

http://www.salon.com/2015/06/08/capture_the_duggar_base_bobby_jindals_desperate_home_school_hail_mary_is_2016s_strangest_strategy/

Months ago, I joked that Bobby Jindal was not running for President, but rather for Pat Robertson’s job as host of The 700 Club.  Lamar’s piece has made me believe the concept underlying my joke may, in reality, be at the core of Bobby Jindal’s ostensible campaign for President.

The 700 Club takes its name from a Pat Robertson telethon in 1963 to energize and support a fledgling religious broadcasting station via pledges of $10 per month by 700 people. From this humble beginning, an empire emerged.

Though started by Robertson, the first permanent host of The 700 Club was Jim Bakker who, along with his wife Tammy Faye, later created the hugely (albeit temporarily) successful PTL Club. I became fascinated with Jim and Tammy Bakker in the early 1980s. It was absolutely amazing to me that they could rake in enough money through their television “ministry” to support lives of open excess and build the 3rd largest theme park in the United States, Heritage USA. Not only were they able to achieve personal wealth, they put many old line preachers, gospel singers and others to work.

Ultimately, Bakker was the victim of his own greed and corruption, as were his followers.  He did a stint in federal prison on fraud and conspiracy convictions. This followed the exposure of his affair with (or rape of) a church secretary, Jessica Hahn, who later appeared nude in Playboy. But, I digress.

Bakker is out of prison now and he and his new wife host a millennial/survivalist themed televangelism program broadcast on a couple of Christian television networks. They now live on a 600 acre property near Branson and are apparently doing pretty well despite the rumor Bakker still owes millions to the IRS.

A former Baptist minister, Pat Robertson is now more a politician and conservative commentator than televangelist. He clearly makes a good living from The 700 Club and other enterprises by appealing to a loyal group of supporters. He has founded several large organizations, including the Christian Broadcasting Network, the ABC Family Channel and Regents University. He makes money. His employees make money. His viewers get reinforcement for their beliefs.  Though his politics are extreme, he is apparently not engaging in illegal activities like his former protégé’ Bakker. He fought hard for the Republican Presidential nomination in 1988, no doubt broadening his base of support in the process.

Whether he has tanked or not, Bobby Jindal and his handlers have made a lot of money from his supposed Presidential aspirations. He has become phenomenally well-known and is developing a base of devout supporters around the country. Could it be that he and his inner circle are achieving their real goals even as we speak? Governor Jindal has proven, via stunt after stunt, that gaining as much attention as possible is at the forefront of his interests. Timmy Teepell and others have made good money engendering that attention and acting as Jindal’s sycophants.

The type of things we may consider stunts made Jim Bakker a multi-millionaire. He blew it, but, incredibly may be on his way back. Robertson endures and makes radical proclamations regularly. You may remember he implied Katrina could be God’s retribution for America’s abortion policy and was possibly tied in some way to 9/11. His views on Islam and other issues are essentially the same as Jindal’s.

Robertson only needed about $7,000 per month from 700 believers to get his empire going. That wouldn’t cut it today, but if Jindal could get his own 700,000 club going, it would certainly be a good start for him, generating $7 million a month even at the old subscription fee of $10.

If there are approximately 55 million registered Republican voters in the U. S. [sources give varying numbers, the party was in decline in 2014], 700,000 equals slightly more than 1.2% of them. All things considered, it is not unrealistic to expect Jindal could attract a loyal following of that number, if he hasn’t already.

My point is obvious. Was my original joke a joke, or has the real joke always been on us? In other words, have we mistaken a coldly calculated prosperity plan for tomfoolery aimed at genuine Presidential aspirations?

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After further review, the call by LouisianaVoice is reversed; that Norquist letter may have been slick trap set for Jindal

Posted in ALEC, American Legislative Exchange Council, Finances, Governor's Office, House, Legislature, Legislators, Politicians, Taxes on June 9, 2015| 18 Comments »

Twenty-four hours of reflection and some well-chosen observations from retired State Budget Director Stephen Winham have us now considering the possibility that the letter from those 11 Republican Louisiana House members seeking advice on the controversial SAVE bill may not have been so much a capitulation to Grover Norquist as it was a set up that left Bobby Jindal looking like the fool he is on the eve of his formal entry into the GOP presidential sweepstakes.

And that classic no-response response by Norquist only adds to the speculation that the whole thing was a devilishly clever trap designed to ensnare Jindal in his own web of deceit and rigid demagoguery.

If that indeed was the purpose of the letter, we at LouisianaVoice have more than a little egg on our faces and an apology to the 11 legislators on our lips because, quite frankly (and there is no spin we can put on this) we were taken in as were most of us who read the letter for the first time.

Unlike traditional media, we do not bury our “clarifications” in some obscure part of our publication with a two- or three-sentence acknowledgement of the error; we put it out there for all to see.

We’re still not certain that the letter was written with the intent of putting Jindal in a box from which there was no graceful exit as opposed to the first blush appearance of pathetic groveling, but it’s sure beginning to look that way. And if that is what it was, we can only add, Touché.

The only thing that gives us pause is the fact that four members of the Ways and Means Committee who signed the letter—Cameron Henry of Metairie, Kirk Talbot of River Ridge, Joe Harrison of Gray, and John Schroder of Covington—also signed Norquist’s “no tax” pledge.

Moreover, five of the 11 (Brett Geymann of Lake Charles, Harrison, Henry, Schroder and Talbot are either current or former members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the national non-profit organization funded by some of America’s largest corporations, including Wal-Mart, major oil, pharmaceutical, and insurance companies and Koch Industries.

But perhaps the biggest indication that the letter was an elaborate ruse, and one we did not initially consider, is simply this: Why would the committee release the letter—and Norquist’s response—to the media unless it was just that: a scheme to back Jindal into a corner? It would be too convenient to say the letter was simply leaked; it’s more likely now, considering the meek response by Norquist, that it was spoon-fed to the media with the express purpose of embarrassing Jindal.

“I have read and re-read the letter,” said Winham in an email to LouisianaVoice, “and I still see it as a direct hit on Norquist and Jindal and that it serves as an official record of opposition  to SAVE and to Grover Norquist and to Bobby Jindal.

“I also agree that, in addition to its (SAVE’s) utter stupidity, it would establish a horrible precedent that (says) pure gimmicks suffice to do anything with taxes,” he said. “I am not anti-tax and (I) believe anybody ought to have sense enough to know which services we need and that they have to be paid for. I am not for using totally idiotic loopholes as a means to pass taxes and then pretend you didn’t.”

Winham said that had he been a legislator, “I would have signed that sucker” with the view of telling Grover where he could stick it and with the admonition to “leave us alone.”

Winham is not alone in concocting his theory, not by a long shot. Sharing his views were superb Baton Rouge Advocate political columnist Stephanie Grace who has recently been taking Jindal to task on his budget proposals and his silly presidential run.

In her Tuesday column, she said the letter makes a lot of sense on a number of levels—mostly because it puts the ball squarely in Norquist’s and Jindal’s corner.

http://theadvocate.com/columnists/12585102-123/stephanie-grace-saving-save-a#comments

Another is a blogger known only as Skydancer. In her most recent post, she pours the metaphorical gasoline on the fire that is quickly bringing to a boil the hot water that Jindal finds himself in only days before his (yawn) announcement that he is a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.

Skydancer notes that Rep. Joel Robideaux (R-Lafayette), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said in the letter that the bill, if enacted, “would successfully and irreparably establish the precedent that future legislatures and governors can raise taxes on a nearly unlimited basis and then claim revenue neutrality solely based on the creation of a purely fictional, procedural phantom paper tax credit.” http://skydancingblog.com/2015/06/08/monday-reads-take-our-governor-please/

But the most important endorsement of Winham’s theory comes from none other than Norquist himself. The leader of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), Norquist initiated the infamous “no tax” pledge that a couple of dozen Louisiana lawmakers signed off on, including those four Ways and Means Committee members.

So, what was the response to the letter by Norquist? He punted. “ATR is agnostic as to whether a credit or deduction is good policy. We merely call balls and strikes regarding whether a change in tax law results in a net tax increase,” he wrote back. “ATR does not support or oppose the SAVE Act. While the SAVE Act does include a credit that can be used to offset other tax increases, there are other ways to achieve revenue neutrality, such as by repealing the corporate franchise tax and/or cutting the state income tax. If you don’t like the SAVE Act, why not find other offsetting tax cuts that are more to your liking?” he added.

Obviously, that response is significant.

First, it gives the Ways and Means Committee all the ammunition it needs to kill the SAVE bill and for the Legislature to move forward in the final week of the 2015 session in passing a budget that will almost certainly be vetoed by Jindal.

Second, it sets up a confrontation that could result in just the third override of a governor’s veto in Louisiana history.

That will look great on Jindal’s resumé when he makes his official announcement in New Orleans on June 24.

 

[TA1]

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Notable Quotables (in their own words)

Posted in Budget, Finances, Governor's Office, House, Legislature, Legislators, Notable Quotables, Taxes on June 8, 2015| 7 Comments »

“I am writing as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, along with several of my fellow House Members, to personally ask for your timely assistance in a very important matter.

“…It is our profound hope that you will be able to take a few minutes from your busy schedule to review this matter and contact us at your earliest possible convenience. The taxpayers of Louisiana anxiously await your timely reply.”

The first and last paragraphs of one of the most pathetic letters ever from 11 Republican members of the House Ways and Means Committee seeking, of all things, guidance from Grover Norquist on Louisiana legislative matters.

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Eleven Republican members of House Ways and Means Committee go groveling to Grover Norquist for direction

Posted in Budget, Finances, Governor's Office, House, Legislature, Legislators, Taxes on June 8, 2015| 15 Comments »

C.B. Forgotston calls it “the lowest of a lot of low points” in Louisiana legislative history.

He says legislators have “already abdicated their constitutional responsibility to Bobby Jindal,” and now they are pleading with a non-resident of Louisiana “for help doing their jobs.”

Sadly, we agree.

In the waning days of the 2015 legislative session 11 Republican members of the Louisiana House are groveling to Grover.

Eleven state representatives who made all kinds of promises when they ran for office, chief among the promises they most likely made was one in which they swore their independence and ability to represent you, their constituents, and to not be beholden to the special interests.

But now the Elastic Eleven, as we shall call them from this point forward, have revealed their collective feet of clay as the legislative session winds to a close by begging Sir Grover, the sole possessor of that is wise, to please, sir, won’t you reconsider your “no tax” pledge so that we won’t incur the wrath of Grovernor Jindal?

The 11 spineless legislators, all members of the House Ways and Means Committee, otherwise known as Norquist’s House “No-way and by No Means Committee,” following the lead of Committee Chairman Joel Robideaux of Lafayette, have each signed off on a letter to Grover Norquist dated today (Monday, June 8) but apparently written and faxed Sunday night whining that Jindal “intends to veto the 2015-16 Louisiana State Budget and/or revenue measures if the legislature doesn’t approve Senate Bill 284 (SB284),” otherwise known as the Student Assessment for Valuable Education, or SAVE credit program.

The SAVE bill is an illusion from the get-go, creating money out of thin air, apparently from bit coins, as Stephen Winham has already explained in LouisianaVoice.  The bill would establish a new higher education tax credit to cover a nonexistent student fee, which makes no sense whatever. It would save families and students zilch on their college bills while creating the illusion of a tax break worth of David Copperfield. Which, according to the gospel of Grover, would allow Jindal to claim in his equally illusionist—and delusional—quest for the Republic president nomination that the credit would “offset” other tax increases being proposed.

https://louisianavoice.com/2015/06/05/save-guest-columnist-wonders-if-grover-norquist-holding-compromising-videos-of-louisiana-legislators-bobby-jindal/

“We are told that SB284 would allow him to remain in compliance with ATR’s (Norquist’s personal organization Americans for Tax Reform) ‘no tax pledge.’ However, we do not have any direct confirmation from your organization that this is actually the case.”

Wait. What?

No direct confirmation from Norquist’s organization? Do these so-called leaders need permission or confirmation from Norquist before they can go form an opinion? Good God, what have we become in this state that our legislators have to go kiss the ring of some guy in Washington, D.C. before they can make a decision? Are we living in a bad version of The Godfather where Don Vito Corleone must be consulted on every move that is made?

Here’s a news flash, folks: Grover Norquist is not a resident of Louisiana, he does not pay taxes in Louisiana and, most of all, he does not vote in Louisiana. So why do you give a rat’s behind what he thinks?

“We are deeply concerned about the clear and present danger posed by this bill,” their letter said. “As conservative Republican legislators, we firmly believe SB 284 is the biggest threat to fiscal responsibility our state has ever faced.”

So, what, exactly is the problem? If it’s a bad bill, kill it in committee. Problem solved.

But they can’t do that. They’re so upset by all of this and so intimidated by Norquist that a tear probably ran down each member’s leg as they signed the letter.

“Mr. Norquist, we are proud to have enacted numerous genuine tax cuts in our time here, primarily to attract business and grow our economy,” the letter continues. “Over the last 5 years, these reductions have save Louisiana taxpayers over $2.1 billion. Over the past 7 years, the duration of Governor Jindal’s term, the reductions have topped $2.7 billion.”

My God in heaven. How pathetic is that?

And just how well have those tax cuts, by their own admission granted “primarily to attract business,” worked out for Louisiana? Well, according to various surveys we have:

  • The highest poverty rate in the nation;
  • The third highest income disparity between its richest and poorest citizens;
  • The second highest disparity of income between men and women (yet the legislature continues to defeat bills to close that gap);
  • The sixth worst ranking in terms of employee economic mobility (opportunity for advancement);
  • The fifth lowest percentage of adults with bachelor’s degrees;
  • The fourth worst infrastructure in the U.S.
  • The 23rd lowest average salary and the seventy-lowest median household income;
  • The 17th lowest domestic product growth;
  • The nation’s second highest cancer mortality rate;

Couple that with our ranking as third from the bottom in quality of life, ninth worst state in which to be unemployed and dead last in business climate, and the picture just isn’t very encouraging.

And it seems the Elastic Eleven, while boasting of that $2.7 billion in tax cuts, mostly to corporations and certainly not the middle class or lower income segments of the population, have conveniently overlooked the current $1.6 billion budget hole those cuts have dug the state into.

“It is our profound hope that you will be able to take a few minutes from your busy schedule to review this matter and contact us at your earliest possible convenience,” the letter concludes. “The taxpayers of Louisiana anxiously await your timely reply.”

What?!!! Busy schedule? Review this matter? Your earliest convenience? The taxpayers?

To paraphrase former New Orleans Saints Coach Jim Mora: “The TAXPAYERS? The TAXPAYERS? Don’t talk to me about the taxpayers!” You no longer speak for the taxpayers. You are crouched in your collective fear of a lame duck governor and a non-resident who apparently is calling all the shots.

Are you truly concerned about the taxpayers? Well, surely there are a goodly number of Louisiana taxpayers in your respective districts who have very strong feelings, one way or another, about taxes.

So why do you feel the need to get the opinion of an absentee governor who long ago quit caring about this state or some yahoo in Washington before you are brave enough to venture off to the restroom to make tee-tee or butt pudding?

Do us all a favor. Grow a set. Right or wrong, be your own person. That’s what you were elected to do.

Those members besides Robideaux who signed this humiliating letter were Brett Geymann of Lake Charles, Lance Harris of Alexandria, Joe Harrison of Gray, Cameron Henry of Metairie, Eddie Lambert of Gonzales, Nancy Landry of Lafayette, Jay Morris of Monroe, Jim Morris of Oil City, John Schroder of Covington and Kirk Talbot of River Ridge.

Perhaps C.B. said it best: “I am calling on all of the legislators who signed onto this letter to resign immediately. You are an embarrassment to our state.”

To that we would add: if they won’t resign then perhaps the voters in their respective districts can help them with that difficult decision in October.

Oh, one more thing. Whoever is in charge of the legislative web pages should do a little updating. Of the 11 who signed the letter, only Robideaux and Lambert are listed on the web page as members of the Ways and Means Committee which must mean the web page is hopelessly out of date for anyone who wanted to do a little research.

Or was web maintenance among Jindal’s budget cuts?

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