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Archive for 2015

There’s no explanation for some things: idiotic speed limits on Louisiana highways and disparity at the gasoline pumps

Posted in Politics on July 6, 2015| 3 Comments »

Sometimes we just ride around and see things and wonder how come?

Monday was one of those days.

For 20 years I worked for the Office of Risk Management in the Road Hazards Section. My job was to work with contract or attorney general attorneys in formulating a defense for the multitude of lawsuits filed against the state by motorists involved in accidents.

In many of the cases, it was the driver who was inattentive or driving vehicles in excess of safe speeds or vehicles with worn tires, defective brakes or some other mechanical problem. In short, most of the accidents could have been avoided with a little preventive maintenance or by putting down the cell phone and turning on the headlights at dawn and dusk and during rainfall—and, of course, slowing down in inclement weather.

On the other side of the coin, I handled cases that presented clear liabilities for the state. These included shoulder drop-offs, rutted asphalt roadways that led to water collecting after rains which in turn led to hydroplaning, neglected potholes, missing signs, etc.

Another contributing factor, I believe, is the utter lack of logic by the Department of Transportation and Development in setting speed limits, which brings me to my point.

Driving north on LA. 1019 Monday, I observed speed limit signs of 45 mph. LA. 1019, which is a two-lane road with twists and curves, is nevertheless a major, or primary, roadway in Louisiana and is clearly marked with all the appropriate lines. But when I turned east onto LA. 1024 to cut across to LA. 16, the major north-south artery that slices through Livingston Parish en route to St. Helena, Tangipahoa and Washington parishes, I found myself on an inferior, or secondary, roadway with no fog lines (the white lines along the outer edge of each lane) and little or no shoulders. Inexplicably, the speed limit was bumped up to 55 mph.

The distance along LA. 1024 between the two larger highways is just under a mile and I soon found myself on LA. 16, a modern, four-lane highway complete with a grassy median separating northbound and southbound traffic. The speed limit on this major artery? 45 mph. I don’t question the wisdom of the 45 mph speed limit on LA. 16 or LA 1019. But 55 mph on this narrow road? Insane.

LA 1024LA. 1024 (CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE)

45 MPH

LA. 16 (CHECK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE)

If you see irrational sights like this on Louisiana’s highways, take photos and send them along to us and we’ll post them. Be certain to identify the highway numbers and the parishes where they are located.

As if that was not enough, there is the case of the two Murphy Oil convenience stores only 1.6 miles apart near the town of Watson along LA. 16 in Livingston parish.

The first, shown here, was selling regular gasoline for $2.38 per gallon.

MURPHY 1(CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE)

Just up the road, though was this Murphy’s with gasoline going for $2.44 a gallon.

MURPHY 2(CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE)

Of course, a motorist purchasing 20 gallons of gasoline would pay a relative paltry $1.20 more for a fill up.

But when considering the total amount of gasoline sold on a given day, the number begins to take significance.  The average convenience store in America sells roughly 125,000 gallons of motor fuel (gasoline and diesel) per month (about 4,000 gallons per day).

Running those numbers, that extra six cents per gallon can run to an additional profit of $7,500 per month or $90,000 per year.

But it’s okay, folks. It’s just big oil trying to eke out a living—and to pay off a few politicians.

 

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Taking a break to address Jindal’s incredulous (Richard Nixon redux) ‘Tanned, Ready & Rested’ campaign slogan

Posted in Elections, Governor's Office on July 2, 2015| 11 Comments »

Just a quick update to let readers know I haven’t gone anywhere.

Even though I’ve been immersed in wrapping up my book on the Bobby Jindal train wreck of an administration and his off the wall statements as he descends into obscurity in his quest for the presidency. One of the most absurd things he has said yet (there are so many, it’s difficult to rank them, but advocating elimination of the U.S. Supreme Court is right up there) was that he was “tanned, rested and ready.” He’s even selling T-shirts with that slogan on them—at twenty bucks a pop.

Did the man (or his advisers, Larry, Moe and Curly) even know that was the slogan adopted by the Young Republican national convention in 1987—in support of a 1988 Richard Nixon comeback?

JINDAL T-SHIRT

Did the man (or his advisers, Larry, Moe and Curly) even know that was the slogan adopted by the Young Republican national convention in 1987—in support of a 1988 Richard Nixon comeback?

NIXON T-SHIRT

Yes, the slogan was mostly facetious and coined as a form of protest to the choice of then-Vice President George H.W. Bush to succeed Ronald Reagan, but even so….

And who was assistant treasurer of the Young Republicans that year? Why, none other than Livingston Parish’s very own, Walker, Louisiana, chemical pesticide plant owner Rhett (“I kill bugs and beat Democrats”) Davis, former Executive Director of the Louisiana Republican Party, a delegate to the 2012 Republican National Convention, and a major state supporter of Rick Santorum in that same year.

As our friend C.B. Forgotston is so fond of saying, You just can’t make this stuff up.

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Just when it seems Jindal cannot get creepier: viral video shows willingness to exploit his children for political gain

Posted in Civil Service, Elections, Ethics, Governor's Office, Media, Politicians on June 26, 2015| 17 Comments »

JINDAL'S CANDID CAMERA BOMB(CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE)

The unfolding tragi-comedy known as the Bobby Jindal campaign just keeps getting weirder but it’s hard to imagine it getting any creepier than his crude re-creation of America’s Funniest Videos episode in which he attempts to exploit his children—except it wasn’t really funny.

Apparently it was some kind of desperate, pathetic stunt designed to project his image as a family values candidate. Instead, it served up a sure-to-become-viral video that rivals his pitiful performance in that abysmal Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union address in 2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmNM0oj79t8

It’s almost enough to make us forget that exorcism he performed on “Susan” during his years as a student at Brown University. http://www.newoxfordreview.org/article.jsp?did=1294-jindal

We’re talking, of course, about that cozy family gathering around a patio table, apparently at the governor’s mansion, during which he breaks the news in the most contrived, stilted manner possible that “mommy and daddy” are running for president—complete with the amateurishly scripted promise of a puppy “if we move into the White House.”

That his wife, Supriya, would be a part of such a blatantly manipulative display is in itself worthy of analysis by parenting experts but we will leave that argument for others. https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/inside-bobby-jindals-bizarre-trick-on-his-kids-122433837582.html

The performance drew such negative reaction that the video, which had been featured at the top of the web page announcing his candidacy, was removed altogether within hours of its posting.

But it did prompt some creative voiceover editing by a web site called Funny or Die, which resulted in this parody of the family discussion of his candidacy: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/fc8ad653ff/bobby-jindal-campaign-announcement-video-i-m-going-to-do-a-bad-job?_cc=__d___&_ccid=87jc4s.nqjwjn

Even Jon Stewart took the opportunity to lampoon the Jindal clan’s confab on the Daily Show:

http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/2n06t0/jindal-all-the-way

All of which brings us to his formal announcement in Kenner on Wednesday.

What first was one of those aha! moments about the possible violation of state ethics and civil service rules quickly evaporated but at the same time raised new questions about the crowd attending that announcement.

There she was, smiling in her red dress as she stood in the crowd behind Bobby Jindal as he declared that he was officially a candidate for the Republican nomination for President.

Article X Section 9, parts A and C of the Louisiana State Constitution spell it out in clear and unmistakable terms:

  • No member of …the classified service shall participate or engage in political activity; be a candidate for nomination or election to public office …or take active part in …any political campaign, except to exercise his right as a citizen to express his opinion privately, to serve as a commissioner or official watcher at the polls, and to cast his vote as he desires.
  • Political Activity Defined. As used in this Part, “political activity” means an effort to support or oppose the election of a candidate for political office or to support a particular political party in an election.

 

Yep, there she was, blonde hair, red dress, beaming, and standing directly behind the lady holding the red “Geaux Bobby” sign. JESSICA STARMS

(CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE)

But wait.

Jessica Starns, formerly legal counsel for Troy Hebert’s Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, and until recently, a state classified (civil service) employee, attended Jindal’s big coming out party, and was even allowed (or perhaps required?) to actually share the stage with him and his family when he announced that he would do for the U.S. what he’s done for Louisiana.

It was more than a photo-op; this was an extended live, made-for-television event on national display in its finest pageantry. You’d probably call it a warm fuzzy for lack of a better term.

But a state classified employee attending, nay, participating in a political campaign event is strictly verboten under the Louisiana Constitution which Jindal was sworn to uphold.

Except that upon checking with Civil Service, we found that Starns is no longer a classified employee. Nor is she still at ATC.

It turns out that as of March 30 of this yer, she has a brand new title and classification. She is now an unclassified (appointed) $96,750 per year “advisor,” assigned to the Executive Office (governor). That means, of course, that her attendance at the event was legal after all.

While that quickly became a non-story, it did raise this question:

  • How many other state unclassified employees attended either by choice or mandatory dictate to show their enthusiastic support of Jindal? Or more accurately, to pack the crowd to make it appear Jindal had a groundswell of popular support? Unclassified employees, after all, serve at the pleasure of the governor. (And to tell the unvarnished truth, some of the ones in the photo looked for the world like they would’ve preferred being somewhere—anywhere—else.)

Not that Jindal or his handlers would ever participate in such a crass exercise as a tightly-controlled event like say, a scripted family meeting on the patio of the governor’s mansion.

 

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We haven’t gone anywhere; work on our book on Jindal’s administration is time consuming but should be worth it

Posted in ALEC, American Legislative Exchange Council, Book Review, Campaign Contributions, Contract, Contracts, Education, Ethics, Governor's Office, Guest Columnist, Health Care, Higher Education, Privatization, Taxes, Transparency on June 23, 2015| 23 Comments »

PLEASE MOVE TO THE END OF THE LINE(CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE)

On the eve of Bobby Jindal’s anticipated earth shaking announcement that he is squeezing himself into the clown car of candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, I thought we should let our readers know that I am still on the job, appearances to the contrary notwithstanding.

As we wait with collective bated breath for word that Bobby is not only available but more than willing to do for the nation what he has done for Louisiana (God help us all, Tiny Tim), I remain cloistered in my cluttered home office, working diligently on my book, as yet untitled, in which I intend to fully document precisely what he has done for to Louisiana.

Among the topics to be covered are public education, higher education, health care, the state budget, campaign contributions, political appointments, ethics, privatization, his ALEC connections, the explosion in corporate tax breaks during his two terms, the lack of progress as reflected in myriad state rankings and surveys throughout his eight years as our largely absentee governor, the lack of transparency, his thinly veiled use of foundations and non-profit organizations to advance his political career, his intolerance for dissent (teaguing), his actual performance as compared to campaign promises as candidate Bobby, and his general incompetence.

I was asked on a local radio show if I could be fair to Jindal, given my personal feelings about his abilities as reflected in more than a thousand posts on this site. The short answer is: probably not. The long answer is I can—and will—be as fair to him as he has been to the state I love and call home. Because I do not claim to be objective (as opposed to the paid media who cling to that word as if it were some kind of Holy Grail), I am not bound by any rules that place limits on the expression of my opinions. I see what he has done, I understand the adverse effect his actions have had on this state, and I will offer my take on them for the reader to either accept or reject. If that is not fair, then so be it.

I have written about 60,000 words of an anticipated 100,000-word manuscript thus far. A couple of other writers have volunteered to contribute chapters, which should add another 20,000 words. I have a self-imposed deadline of July 1—give or take a few days—in which to have the rough draft completed. I also have several very capable editors poring over the chapters as they are completed. Their corrections, deletions, additions and suggestions will be incorporated into the final manuscript which is to be submitted to the publisher by late August.

The publisher originally gave me a publication target date of next Spring but recently moved the anticipated publication date up to January, with an e-book to be released possibly as early as this Fall.

That would coincide nicely with Jindal’s second ghost-written book, scheduled out in September.

There will be one major difference in our books: Mine will be based on his record while the source of his claims of balanced budgets and other wild, unsubstantiated assertions are certain to remain a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma (with apologies to Winston Churchill).

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Notable Quotables (in their own words)

Posted in Budget, Governor's Office, Legislature, Legislators, Taxes on June 15, 2015| 11 Comments »

“When I ran for Governor of Louisiana, I made a promise to the people of this state that I would not raise taxes. I kept my promise. I’ve taken a lot of heat from politicians and special interests, including some in my own party, for my refusal to raise taxes. To some politicians, principles are meant to be compromised on and promises are meant to be broken. When I said I wouldn’t raise taxes, I meant it.”

Bobby Jindal, in his best Joseph Goebbelesque claim that he balanced the 2015-16 budget without raising taxes despite $750 million in tax increases approved by the legislature.

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