Thursday (Feb. 25) was an unusually big day in politics, even by Louisiana standards.
The big news in Baton Rouge on Thursday was House passage of Gov. John Bel Edwards’ one-cent sales tax (minus the assessment on manufacturing) but the action was quickly overshadowed by a credit rating downgrade by Moody’s. http://theadvocate.com/news/14993547-79/moodys-downgrades-louisianas-credit-rating
The state also received a “negative outlook” from Moody’s, meaning the state could be downgraded again.
Coupled with the sales passage, which must now go to the Senate for a vote, was additional cuts of $100 million in state spending and the taking of $128 million from the rainy day fund. With the $60 million already cut by the Edwards administration, Thursday’s action will make up about $700 million of the $900 million needed by the end of the current fiscal year on June 30.
The downgrade was the first for the state since Hurricane Katrina and the lower rating means when borrowing money, the state will have to pay higher interest rates.
And just to add a touch of spice to an already politically volatile state, Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell announced on the Jim Engster Show on Thursday that he will be a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. David Vitter. http://www.jimengster.com/
Campbell, an outspoken PSC member and a former state senator, is the second Democrat to enter the already crowded field of senatorial hopefuls. So far, U.S. Reps. Charles Boustany, Jr. of the state’s 3rd Congressional District and John Fleming of the 4th District, State Treasurer John Kennedy and U.S. Air Force veteran Rob Maness, all Republicans, a second Democrat, New Orleans attorney Caroline Fayard, and, of course, the former director of Louisiana Alcohol and Tobacco Control, the inimitable Troy Hebert, an Independent.
A debate between all the candidates could be reminiscent of the early debates between the 17 original candidates for the Republican president nomination—but without the charm, sparkle and depth of Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, a lot less fun.
Maness was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate seat won by Bill Cassidy in 2014 and Fayard was defeated in a special election for lieutenant governor in 2010 by Jay Dardenne.
Campbell, something of a throwback to the populist candidates of another era, is outspoken on issues, particularly with utility companies and the oil and gas industry, and while in the State Senate, he crossed party lines to lend strong support to then-Gov. Dave Treen’s proposed Coastal Wetlands Environmental Levy (CWEL), a $450 million tax on petroleum and natural gas. Campbell today says had CWEL passed, the state would not be in the financial bind in which it now finds itself. But strong opposition by LABI and the oil and gas lobby defeated the proposal.
In a related but relative minor matter, LouisianaVoice received one of those “independent political polls” that was so obviously commissioned by Rep. Fleming that it may as well have been conducted by the good congressman himself.
The questions were prefaced by glowing stories of Fleming’s humble background and how he pulled himself by the bootstraps to not only become a doctor but to establish “numerous businesses,” one of which just happened to be a payday loan company that preys on low-income citizens, hooking them for exorbitant interest rates.
At the same time, the pollster, a woman, set up other questions about the other candidates with disparaging background stories on Boustany, Fayard and Kennedy (Maness was omitted, possibly in deference to his military service) that stopped just short of labeling them as subversives. Also omitted from the verbal flogging was Campbell, obviously only because he was not a declared candidate at the time Fleming wrote the questions for the poll.
Louisiana’s credit rating was not changed by Fitch and Standard & Poor’s, the other two major financial rating agencies.
But Moody’s move, dropping the state from Aa2 to Aa3 leaves Louisiana with better credit ratings than just two other states, New Jersey and Illinois. The downgrade will be applied to the state’s general obligation bonds and gas and fuel tax bonds. That means in turn that when the state issues bonds to finance construction projects such as roads and public buildings, it will have to pay higher interest rates on the borrowed money.
The move came as a surprise as most observers, including Kennedy, though Moody’s would wait until the Legislature completed the current special session, which is scheduled to end March 9.
Kennedy used the downgrade to take shots at both Bobby Jindal and Gov. Edwards. “You can’t spend more taxpayer money than you take in for seven years in a row and not expect a downgrade to your credit rating,” Kennedy said. “You also can’t make public statements about suspending TOPS, ending LSU football, closing Nicholls State University and closing five prisons without scaring the daylights out of the credit rating agencies that grade our debt and the institutional investors that buy our debt. What we tell our children is true: Acts have consequences.” http://theadvocate.com/news/14993547-79/moodys-downgrades-louisianas-credit-rating#comments
Edwards, meanwhile, blamed the downgrade on the seven years of patchwork budgeting by the Jindal administration, calling it “a disappointing development, particularly since we believed that Moody’s would wait until the conclusion of the special session to make any decision on our rating. Unfortunately, the downgrade confirms what we’ve been saying about the structural imbalance of our budget. The overuse and abuses of one-time money and fund sweeps by the Jindal Administration were a major factor in this decision.”
Louisiana Voice 
A 20% revenue deficit gets their attention.
Where have these people, now so righteously indignant, been the past 7-8 years while the Jindal gang eviscerated Louisiana’s cash, land and other capital holdings?
Mr. Kennedy, if you are so deeply concerned about TOPS, Nicholls State University, LSU football and state prisons, why haven’t you spoken out before? Anyone with half a grain of sense has seen these cuts coming for quite some time. Bobby blew the money, Honey…it’s gone. He gave away the farm. ( I typed that very slowly to give it time to sink in.)
Here’s the Deal 101: Louisiana is a fortune beyond broke. There is not enough money to go around. We are using up our emergency funds. Gov. Edwards is proposing temporary shelving of some beloved programs and valuable public services to keep Louisiana up and running. Don’t think things can’t get worse because they can–a lot worse.
The worst sort of politicians prey on our fears. They blame others for what is wrong. They take no responsibility for their role, whether it be through their actions or lack of thereof, and they offer no real direction for overcoming the problem.
Louisiana is in a precarious situation; it would’t take much more than a good puff to blow our house down. If you know anything about the hierarchy of needs (and if not, google it) you know that survival is the first need to be satisfied. The extent to which survival needs are met greatly determines how well safety needs can be satisfied. Survival and safety are the base that support all other needs…they have to come first, before TOPS, before football, before education, before public service.
We elected Gov. Edwards to clean up 8 years of misbehavior and bad business practices. He deserves the opportunity to do the job we hired him for. In the meantime, if you have concerns about life and law in our state, write your state and federal elected officials, join with others who feel as you do, share your opinions with your community through local media or speaking at public gatherings.
Citizens, we possess two very powerful weapons to address public issues in Louisiana–a voice and a vote. Use them both wisely.
Is it just me, it is it true that our state Democratic Party seem in effective. I don’t see strong Dem candidates for critical elected offices. I don’t see activity at the local and parish levels in support of the Dem candidates and policies. I don’t see how we can turn out the votes needed without strong leadership from the state level. Am I not seeing this right and what is the solution?
I would think that now (post- theJindal Disaster) should be a good time to be a Democrat in Louisiana, but politicians are tentative about embracing such a thing due to recent past political history in Louisiana. I am hopeful that more Democratic candidates (I don’t mean Mitch Landrieu – I have lost all respect for him & John Kennedy who isn’t even a Democrat anymore!) will realize the potential advantage to standing up for fair & democratic ideas at this beyond difficult time
Why are some people jumping on John Kennedy? He has been the lone political voice out there for the past 7 years calling out Jindal and the legislature for the out of control spending and smoke and mirrors budgeting. And Jindal was not a King, he had the legislature with him the whole way. We should be zeroing in on our representatives for allowing us to be in this position. John Alario is Edwards man in the Senate and he is just as guilty as Jindal and anybody else.
John Kennedy has been recycling the same “solutions” and talking points for the last 4-5 years, none of which will begin to solve the current budget problems in our state. Yes, contracts should be reviewed and cut or eliminated, but, again, that’s only a drop in the bucket. He’s never done anything more than whine about contracts in a public venue to get his “air-time” as he plans for which office to run for next. If you will notice, he never runs for another office if he would have to give up his current office. He’s had many, many years to make a public records request for details on all of those contracts he claims can be eliminated and provide the Leges with some very solid recommendations about which ones to cut and eliminate – as he knew good and well that the Jindal staff wouldn’t do it. Yet, all he does is keep giving the same examples over and over again or a few new ones he downloads before going down the elevator to testify. The Leges don’t have the time or attention span to do it themselves; the DOA staff are running like hamsters on a wheel trying to find money under the couch cushions to keep the lights on. If he really thinks this is a solution, then he should take the initiative to do something about it other than grandstand in front of the reporters so he can get his name in the paper. Please don’t be influenced by grandstanding and slick commercials, He hasn’t been part of any solution.
There were plenty of legislators in the last few years who called out Jindal and his acolytes over questionable budget tactics, but they were in the minority. And, when they made noise, he (Jindal) retaliated with vetoed bills and removal of budgeted earmarks.
There is one common thread running throughout the last 7 years of state government – Republicans and their ideology have run every, E.V.E.R.Y., aspect of state government. They have bowed down to LABI and Grover Norquist at every big moment instead of thinking for themselves and doing what is right for all of the citizens of the state, not just their campaign contributors.
I’m now an independent – driven there from watching this train-wreck unfold before my eyes year after year. So, don’t think this is a Democrat bad-mouthing conservatives. I’m not a “sheeple” – I don’t follow someone because they have an R or D behind their name. I stay informed on the issues, and this La.-experiment should be held up as the best example of why we need balance in government – both state and federal.
But yes, we, as citizens, should be contacting our legislators. Most people had no idea how bad it had gotten until the TOPS faucet was turned off, and that is the biggest shame. Legislators enabled Jindal to create this chaos, and they should share the blame as well as being ready to come up with real solutions that are more of the compromise-nature than they have been willing to do for the last 7 years. If they can’t do that, they might as well go home.
I remember when Foster Campbell drove illegally down an uncompleted section of I-49. He had a wreck (there was a reason the section was closed) and lost the vision in one eye. Then, he sued the State of Louisiana for damages. If we elect him as U.S. senator, he can belly up to the big ole federal feeding trough in D.C. I’ve had nothing but contempt for the man since he blamed the state for his own stupidity.
I remember that but was unaware he sued the state.
I do remember the state trooper’s explanation as to why Campbell wasn’t given a ticket for driving on a closed highway: “He suffered enough,” we were told, apparently with a straight face. Funny how that standard was and is not applied uniformly.
I have also felt the Democratic Party in Louisiana was weak, John Fleming is vulnerable, he is a terrible representative….he blocks all, dissenting opinions from his Facebook, posts really biased, slanted articles fro Breitbart, Red State, etc, many of us who live in the 4th District are banned, and it wasn’t because of abuse, he will not hear any other opinion….he used to respond to comments on the Shreveporttimes.com site, but he has stopped, and I am assuming its because some of his comments were rude and abusive…and could hurt him politically, however not with his faithful, they are just like him, and support his brand of hateful bigotry….I hope he gets his A$$ handed to him, and sent packing back to Minden. I haven’t decided on who I will support, but I know who I wont.
I hate the guy too Charmaine. He’s one of the most evasive I’ve exchanged emails with. This is a bit dated but some background….
http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2009/09/todays-most-hateful-republican-stooge.html
Thanks for the links, Fleming has a history, and its well documented on the Internet, and he could have been beaten, but his opposition, Randall Lord was an underfunded Libertarian, he had no chance against a well funded bigot like Fleming..
Libertarian??? Oh, Oh no. You don’t want anything to do with Libertarians. They and their Hayekian ideology is more or less what the conservatives are about. Franz Hayek was the Ronald Reagan of his time and wrote the conservative response to the rise of socialism in Europe. His followers were no less than the most rabid Republicans of our time. Margaret Thatcher was known to carry a copy of his Road to Serfdom with her as a reference. In actuality the conservative ideas that he expressed is the real road to serfdom and you see the results of that ideology in the situation La. is in this day. Reduced taxes for corporations, serfdom for labor.
Correction: Friedrick Hayek
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek
Here’s a very good explanation of Hayek so that you can better understand. Libertarians are just a branch of his philosophy. Hayek/Friedman philosophies are primary to the Chicago School neoliberal economists.
Rewriting Economic Thought
http://michael-hudson.com/2015/10/rewriting-economic-thought/
Plus more good bits and pieces here and there. I love Howie Klein!
https://www.google.com/search?as_q=&as_epq=John+Fleming&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=http%3A%2F%2Fdownwithtyranny.blogspot.com%2F&as_occt=any&safe=images&as_filetype=&as_rights=
Thank you, Charmaine. When I asked the State Dem party headquarters if they had a candidate to run against Fleming, the reply was that they were looking…guess they still are looking. To me this is a huge problem. I can attest to what you say about Fleming. I can’t get his supporters to tell me what he has done for our district, yet they give to his campaign. Makes one wonder.
Hunycat, he appeals to the racist that live amongst us, he uses fear, to manipulate his followers, that’s why those of us who called him out, were banned, he wanted to control the message, he has an obsessive hatred of Obama.
Charmaine, I found out that it does no good to send Fleming an honest question about activities, policies, etc. I always get a form letter that repeats his current talking points and never, never replies to my concerns. I am probably the only person in my area that even bothers to try and communicate with him. He is so obviously worthless and it doesn’t seem to matter. I have to think that most voters are just not concerned with what is happening and are all in a knot over Planned Parenthood, gay marriage, immigrants, persecution of Christians and 2nd Amendment rights…while our “Rome” burns. Our newly elected Democrat Senator is so proud that he is attacking Common Core. If he doesn’t get his mind on our finances, there won’t be public schools to teach any curriculum. However, he is closely aligned with a church that has a school. Again, I ask…where are the good, strong Democratic candidates? Maybe I am just beating the dead horse.
[…] Source: PSC member Foster Campbell enters Senate race, Moody’s downgrades state credit as House passes… […]
I’m assuming Kennedy would prefer for Edwards not to tell the truth, paint a rosy picture, lie to us, tell us, just like Jindal has done for eight years, that we can “rob from Peter to pay Paul”, employ using one time revenue sources-something illegal under state law-and the financial headaches facing the state will “evaporate”.
Needless to say, I’m less than impressed.