Ph.D., it seems really does stand for “piled higher and deeper” in some quarters.
And Jeff Sadow, Ph.D., proves it in spades.
After all, no self-respecting snake oil salesman would attempt to sell what Sadow was hawking in Sunday’s Baton Rouge Advocate.
Normally, we don’t take issue with other bloggers in this space because it is our firm conviction that everyone has the right to his own opinion.
But no one has the right to his own facts and that’s where Sadow has crossed the line with his latest attempt at political erudition of the masses—or at least that part of Louisiana’s masses who subscribe to The Advocate. (And no, that’s not a dig at The Advocate. The fact is, each major metropolitan area of the state has its own newspaper to the general exclusion of all the others, so that necessarily limits the sphere of influence of any given publication.)
There’s an old joke that says 87.3 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot and unfortunately, the Baton Rouge Advocate has provided him a forum to toss out any figures he can conjure up and feed them to us as facts.
Southeastern Louisiana University associate professor of political science Kurt Corbello recently took him to task in a LouisianaVoice guest column, exposing his LSU-Shreveport counterpart as more than a little off base with his data. https://louisianavoice.com/2016/03/01/slu-associate-professor-says-advocate-columnist-can-only-arrive-at-state-expenditure-numbers-by-making-them-up/
Sadow had published the absurd claim that Louisiana ranked “well above the national average in per capita spending when in fact, the state spent $6,365 per capita in spending, $352 below the state average nationwide.
“The only way to arrive at the columnist’s (Sadow’s) conclusion that Louisiana ranks “well above the national average in per capita spending” is to make it all up, Corbello wrote.
Only a week later, Sadow has gone completely off the reservation by blaming the recent Moody’s downgrade of the state’s credit rating on John Bel Edwards who has been governor less than two months.
Jindal systematically wrecked the state’s economy for a full eight years. And Moody’s and Standard & Poor each put the state on its critical watch list last year. Where the hell was Sadow with his self-righteous indignation during those years?
Remember, Jeff, Louisiana had a Republican governor and Republican majorities (big majorities, we might add) in both the House and Senate during those eight years. Remember also, Jeff, Jindal & Co. managed to incur budgetary shortfalls every single year he was in office even as he kept up the drumbeat to “do more with less.” He cut higher education more than any other state in the nation.
He cut services to the developmentally disadvantaged (but he managed to give $4.7 million of their money to one of the richest families in Louisiana for their Indy racetrack in Avondale. That family, the Chouest family, we should add, was a generous donor to the Jindal campaigns, pour in more than $130,000 to his state campaigns and a cool $1 million to his Believe Again super PAC.
He gutted funding for the Department of Children and Family Services to such an extent that the agency cannot even repair its state vehicles and the overworked staff finds it impossible to properly work its caseloads to protect the state’s foster children.
He did make sure that nursing homes received adequate per bed funding but when you peel back the layers, you see that the industry contributed generously to his campaigns.
A recipient of megabucks from the oil and gas industry, he made sure to kill the lawsuit against 97 oil and gas and pipeline companies for destroying the state’s marshlands.
He vetoed bills passed unanimously in both the House and Senate to ensure transparency in public records, including those of the governor’s office.
He likewise vetoed unanimous legislation that would have made the Louisiana Department of Economic Development justify those billions of dollars of tax breaks, exemption, credits and incentives awarded to businesses and industries who in turn, created only minimum wage, or worse, no new jobs.
Yes, the oil patch dried up virtually with no warning—much like it did in the early 1980s, creating an additional strain on the state budget.
And yet, Jeff, you see all this as the fault of one John Bel Edwards, governor of the State of Louisiana for a full two months?
And you place none of the fault with Jindal? Or the legislature?
Jeff, you’re an educated man, with a Ph.D. on your wall to prove it.
Well, Jeff, I have a degree, too. I have a B.S. degree from Louisiana Tech. You probably graduated with honors while I graduated Magna Cum Barely. But Jeff, I live out here in the real world. I get out and talk to people. You obviously do neither.
If you can convince anyone that Edwards, with two months under his belt, is responsible for all of Louisiana’s ills after eight years of Jindal’s reign of error, then you have truly missed your calling.
You should have been a stage hypnotist or better yet, a televangelist. If you can sell what you’re peddling, you could make a linebacker cluck like a chicken or a heathen throw away his crutches.
Louisiana Voice 
This is just awful. Oh it pissed me off that Gov Edwards just took office. Our budget problems are from Jindal and the world needs to know it.
Not to fear James. At least that part of the world that reads the Washington Post is getting the real scoop. Here, a conservative paper finds value in facts over agenda. Where are the editors at the Advocate? Are they so conservative party oriented that they allow Sadow to pursue what is obviously an agenda without benefit of the facts? Obviously so!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/03/04/the-debilitating-economic-disaster-louisianas-governor-left-behind/?postshare=4041457185578653&tid=ss_tw
Tom, I’d suggest that, based on evidence of output, Sadow’s degree is more likely BS than yours!
He got his PhD from UNO in 1990. Please don’t let this be a reflection on UNO. His refereed (peer reviewed) publication history is really thin–according to his CV he hasn’t published anything in peer reviewed journals recently which IMO says something.
To the Advocate’s credit, they did not link his op-ed from their home page yesterday like they did the last several weeks since Sadow became one of their columnists.
The legislature needs to share responsibility for this crisis. How about that SAVE Act? Today it seems as if they are working on some solutions to the budget crisis, but they still have millions and millions to go
As I said recently, when I see a Sadow piece I skip over it. Life is too busy and short to waste time with writers who live in some kind of permanent fantasy land. The Advocate would garner more respect if they found a real conservative, not a wing-nut, to give the conservative take on state-wide politics.
You’re better than I am, Tom. I can’t bear to read jeff sadow’s garbage. After reading the headline and lead graph I put it down as always. That man’s utter BS is so off-putting that it stirs a violent reaction in my normally tranquil spirit with his nauseating opinions devoid of facts. He just can’t accept the FACT that jindal is a real, live walking disaster who is no longer a public official, and is responsible for decimating the state’s budget.
A little poetic justice would be reaped if budget cuts to higher education necessitated cutting the position of a certain political science professor. sadow could then live on the pigslop that passes for writing.
Earthmother, your last paragraph made my heart leap with joy and anticipation at the possibility that poetic justice would be served upon Sadow.
Still Shaking – the comments to sadow’s Advocate piece will make your heart sing:
http://theadvocate.com/news/opinion/15072709-55/jeff-sadow-markets-not-looking-kindly-on-louisiana
em: In my last letter to Peter Kovacs (unacknowledged, as usual, much less answered), I asked if he ever reads the comments section of his own paper. I have to assume he either doesn’t or, if he considers them at all, he might look at how many there are and figure the more the merrier. Sadow’s continued presence on their editorial page remains a mystery. If they were trying to do some kind of bizarre Onion shtick, it might make sense. Otherwise, it’s just plain offensive.
Mr. Winham – Advocate editor Kovacs apparently ignores reader comment, but hastened to send me a rather nasty email when I cancelled my 30-year subscription. I complained to customer service (which argued with me) that suddenly, after decades, circulation could no longer find my house to throw a paper, and I was fed up with a year of such poor service. I also noted poor journalism – badly written and edited stories, same story on a page twice, etc. Bottom line – it’s about the bottom line, not content or journalistic excellence.
There can be little doubt that Jindal was derelict in rampant cronyism like Edmonson, Troy Hebert, etc. as well as not whopping off sufficient bloat in high-paid administrators’ salaries. Regrettably, Edwards has continued down Jindal’s path and, with costly appointments like Dardenne, even taken it to a whole new level. Combine that with job-killing tax increases by Edwards and Forbes publishing a major article indicating how uncompetitive Louisiana will be in attracting new businesses under Edwards’ regime, and Moody’s had little choice but to act on its earlier placement of our state on a list for potential downgrade. Thus, there is contributory negligence on the parts of both Jindal and Edwards for this downgrade. The only difference is that Jindal will never again be judged by Louisiana’s electorate, whereas Edwards will. If he fails to deliver on structural reform to the state budget as we transition from a 1.5% sales tax increase, to 1%, then to zero, he won’t be able to use the excuse that he had no time to fix the problem, and the voters will resoundingly toss him back to Amite never to be heard from again.
Sadow is beneath contempt. The thing that makes me maddest is the fact there was clear evidence beginning 8 years ago we were headed down the road to fiscal perdition yet the Wall Street rating agencies (and their staffs of highly paid financial experts) WHO WE PAY to rate our bonds sat back and took little note. Jindal went all over the country, UNCHALLENGED, touting the upgrades in bond ratings wrought by his fiscal legerdemain. Now,all of a sudden, the agencies have awakened from their slumber just in time to provide ammunition to the Sadows of the world to burnish Jindal’s image while attempting to destroy John Bel Edwards’. What does that say about the integrity of the agencies?
I think the downgrade was directed at the legislature. A warning that they are being watched to fix the mess correctly and not play politics. Especially since they all of the sudden found their backbone after Jindal left.
Jeffy spent the last 8 years pandering to Jindal, hoping that the guv would notice him and maybe elevate him from his little backwater associate prof job at LSUS. Didn’t work, so now he seems bitter. Maybe he can try the bridge program at BPCC.
Reblogged this on tmabaker.
Anyone with a working brain knows not to pay any attention to this tool. The brainless, not so much.
Jeff Sadow was dissing Gov. Edward within 3 weeks of inauguration. But he thought Jindal was the best thing since sliced bread. We gave Jindal a chance, actually two chances, and now we’re in a mess. Some things our new Governor will have to do to fix the problems won’t be pleasant but, like getting a wound stitched up by a Dr., it will be necessary to improve things. We let Jindal put us in this mess, let’s give Governor Edwards a chance to get us out of it. As for Jeff Sadow, I can imagine the quality of his research papers based on the way he draws conclusions.
I cannot read Jeff Sadow, he makes my head explode, but he does have a like minded audience, who are willing to give Jindal and the Legislature a free pass,and crucify JBE who has been in office 2 months… My simple mind says,..We must understand what got us into this mess, in order, to fix it, and not repeat…..as I read the latest on the budget I am irritated, again because the same folks who aided Jindal are still twisting in the wind, as the clock winds down… tick tock.. I don’t get it!
It’s really very simple. If Edwards is going to look almost exclusively to tax revenues to plug the hole, then Republicans will insist that we ALL pay them (i. e. even bigger sales tax increase than he sought), and that those tax increases be gradually rolled back to force Edwards’ hand on implementing the structural budget reforms Republicans want (as do their constients). I don’t see what’s difficult to grasp about what is going on. It’s exactly what I would have anticipated and, on a scale of 1 – 10, I’d give this session an 8. From all the pouting Edwards has done, he obviously rates it lower, but he better get used to the environment in which he operates. The Republicans aren’t about to agree to permanent (or semi-permanent as in 5-year) tax increases just so all the pressure on the Edwards administration to enact meaningful budget reforms fades. He should have been prepared for this, but judging by some of his childish temper tantrums, it all apparently caught him off guard.
Don’t talk to us about childish temper tantrums – we endured eight years of jindal and his little minions, who really did throw fits and scream until they got their way. (My colleagues and I were yelled at by those cretins more times than I could count.) And look where their way has gotten us! When you consider that the majority of legislators then were complicit in jindal’s raids and depredations on the budget, and the majority of those people are still in the same seats, it should come as no surprise that they will not be particularly cooperative in fixing what they broke.
So now they want to saddle ordinary people with a larger sales tax increase than what JBE requested, and once again protect and exempt business. Now, who exactly is looking out for The People? And who exactly is bought and paid for?
Meaningful, structural budget reform is required to right this ship of state, but at this moment when we are on the rocks of bankruptcy, we have to take the fastest route to safety. Real reform comes after this special session, which is SUPPOSED to get us through the dire straits.
And always keep in mind, no matter what you think about the sitting governor, political party, partisan antics and all that – the governor can recommend, but cannot levy taxes. ONLY THE LEGISLATURE CAN TAX THE PEOPLE.
Sure Keepin’, it’s a head to head chicken contest. But I for one would not want to be found testing the mettle of a hard-nosed ex-82nd Airborne officer. Do be sure there will be Republican reputations at stake, and should they not perform as expected, those reputations will be swept away as everyone remembers what they will have wrought on Louisiana in attempting to preserve corporate privilege. I expect Edwards would do everything to preserve critical state functions, hospitals, etc., but to do that everything else will be on the table, including college sports along with their scholarships as well as TOPS scholarships. The Republican party here will take a big hit that it well deserves, but that’s not to say many Dems wouldn’t be looking for employment either.
I don’t watch sports, so could care less and I worked my way through school and up through the ranks to eventually earn just under what many in Edwards administration do. My only concern is about the harm to lower income classes.
Well, they’re saying on the news tonight that we’re now talking about a 2 cents (50%) increase in the sales tax. So, that’s $400 million THIS fiscal year alone, and $1.8 billion for FYE ’17. So, the massive problem is now solved.
Edwards better get real on consulting contract curtailment, reducing bloated staffing levels, and Medicaid fraud, waste, and abuse as these sales taxes roll back, However, because Republican constituents aren’t going to tolerate a renewal of these taxes, and they DAMN SURE are not going to support an increase in individual or corporate income taxes.
Edwards gets his chance to put up or shut up. The choice is his. As for his proposals for minimum wage increases, etc., he may as well fold the tent on those ideas. He could spend all the political capital he’s got (not that he has much — it’s not like anyone rode his coat tails to victory) and still wouldn’t get to first base.
His next big assignment comes from HRC, for whom he better be out there front-and-center demonstrating his strong and unwavering support. If he’s not, she’ll make there is hell to pay upon her election should she prevail over Trump and any other third candidate in the race (Trump is SURE to run independent now if the GOP screws him out of the nomination with their recent antics).
“He should have been prepared for this, but judging by some of his childish temper tantrums, it all apparently caught him off guard.” You are right earthmother. My former colleagues and I used to call the 4th, 5th, and 6th floor the nursery, because of those youngsters. “And always keep in mind, no matter what you think about the sitting governor, political party, partisan antics and all that – the governor can recommend, but cannot levy taxes. ONLY THE LEGISLATURE CAN TAX THE PEOPLE.” Great statement earthmother and in this case a republican controlled legislature..
Edwards issued the directive: lead, follow, or get out of the way. The legislators led and will present him with the 2% sales tax increase. He can take it, or he can leave it and let all the emotional terrorism presented to legislators in terms of children with disabilities being cut fall on HIS shoulders. Two can play at the emotional fear-mongering game, and Edwards has no monopoly or patent on that tactic!
As Stephen Waugespack pointed out, businesses pay sales taxes (45% of the total if I heard him right) on all their purchases too. To be blunt, we ALL need to have skin in this game of tax increases so that we can ALL clamor for their rollback upon their time period of imposition passing. This whole business of Louisiana Budget Project saying, “We’ve GOT to have tax increases, and WE will dictate who pays them,” is utter horse excrement!!
Here’s the problem for Edwards: Most of the Republicans’ constituents pay CLOSE attention to legislative votes and remember them as they vote years later. Many of Edwards’ supporters, on the other hand, will simply go back to sleep for another four years until they receive their instructions from Cleo Fields to board the busses to vote again. Hence, it’s hard to get such a sleepy group of supporters to lobby their legislators because, well, they’re paying almost no attention to the goings on at the Capitol. Simple fact.
“Here’s the problem for Edwards: Most of the Republicans’ constituents pay CLOSE attention to legislative votes and remember them as they vote years later.” Yeah, right. Well, some of those same Republican constituents must have conveniently forgot how those same republican legislators voted over the past eight years. Many of those republican legislators, who were voted into their THIRD term, this past election, assisted Jindal in wrecking this state. However, there was some Democrats who assisted. But, he could not have done it without the assistance of the republicans. So, I guess they CONVENIENTLY FORGOT those votes.
Calm down, Clifford! One can easily get sloppy with grammar when one writes in haste. It should be “most have forgotten” and not “most have forgot.” It should also be “there were some Democrats” and not “there was some Democrats.” Perhaps “those youngsters” had reason to be upset if you deployed similar communication skills to them or, worse yet, to the outside public.
As to your main argument, sure, Jindal strong-armed everyone, including many of the Republicans who have no qualms now bucking Edwards. Want to know why Jindal could get away with it and Edwards doesn’t have that tool to deploy? Because Jindal had control over something those legislators craved (projects in their districts, etc.) and he used his leverage as a stick. Edwards has nothing to hold as a stick to the legislators in question because he was never in favor with them in the first place. Further, because he overplayed his hand with Leger, he’s now operating from a position of weakness because Barras has no allegiance to him. That’s the case because Edwards had zilch to do with him obtaining the Speaker position. Starting to see how it all works, Clifford?
Thank you for pointing out my errors in grammar. You were correct, in that I typed it in haste. I drafted legislation for the House of Representatives for almost thirty years and I know better. However, those youngsters and Jindal, despite warnings from knowledgeable staff, convinced legislators to enact numerous items of legislation(Jindal’s policies) that have become the subject of numerous lawsuits. I worked for the House during the administration of 5 governors, including Jindal. If you combined the number of lawsuits filed challenging any of the other four governors’ policy initiatives, the number would not add up to the total filed during the Jindal administration.
“Starting to see how it all works, Clifford?” I also worked under 6 different speakers. Believe me, I know how it all works. No, JBE did not get the speaker that he wanted. With a republican majority, that was wishful thinking on his part anyway. As for those projects, they will never materialize. Hunter Greene,(now Judge Greene) was a chairman of Ways and Means(the committee through which the capital outlay process begins) during the administration of Piyush. One day, he went to the podium on the House floor and told many members,(whom Piyush had promised support for their outlay requests in exchange for votes), that their outlay requests will never get to Priority 1, 2, or 3. If you have been keeping up with the news you will find that he was correct. Also, if I am not mistaken, at some point in those first 4 years of the Piyush administration, the legislature gave him control over capital outlay requests.(Stephen can you check me on this).
Keepin’ ‘Em, perhaps you shouldn’t be so quick to correct others’ grammar and/or spelling until you learn the plural for bus is buses, not busses. Buss is either the brand name for an electrical fuse or a kiss, NOT the plural of bus.
Just sayin’…
Good point, and I wasn’t even typing in haste! I just flat by it wrong! I always appreciate a free education and enlightenment. I have no idea why I put that extra “s” in there, but I’m willing to bet I’ve done it all my life. I guess it just somehow looked right to me even though it’s not logical. Thanks!
Anyway, the buses were fired up and operating in droves. I actually took a friend to see it in action, and he was in disbelief. I told him, “There’s nothing illegal about it as long as nobody is paid to vote a certain way.” Hey, it worked!!
Nevertheless, if Fields isn’t handsomely rewarded for his efforts, however, don’t look for him to be so motivated in 2019. That’s one big reason Edwards doesn’t want the sales tax to roll back. He desperately needs funds to return favors (legally) without which he never would have been elected, That’s not easy to accomplish with those pesky Republicans keeping a lid on the taxes raised and the length of time they’re raised.
Thanks again on the spelling tip.
Clifford, your assessment entailing Jindal and the legal expenses he tallied up is spot-on. NOBODY will ever be able to surpass him on that, and it’s an absolute disgrace to this state and every voter irrespective of any political persuasion the voter has..
Sounds like you do know full-well how it all works. I’ve basically given up on getting strong leadership at the top level. I’ve been eligible to vote in 9 gubernatorial elections, and my record is 2-7. I’m not even sure I can live long enough to make it to .500 even if I got on a consecutive winning streak.
Consequently, I tend to just complain about whoever occupies the governor’s mansion since it is almost never the candidate for whom I voted (just viewing my record gives away the fact that I do NOT vote straight-line Republican). I will admit, I thought sure I finally was going to break my 20-year losing streak with Vitter, and damned if THAT didn’t blow up in my face.
Maybe one day a governor will get a 70% approval rating like Jindal had and it not be a mirage and will last and we’ll all be proud of our governor. I’m just losing any slim belief that it will ever be in my lifetime and, while I know many on this list believe Edwards may be that man, I just don’t even slightly share that belief.
You were a great sport on the grammar thing. I knew you were writing in haste. It seems I can often bring out the anger in folks. Just look at some of the replies to posts I made in this one article.
Thanks for the admission. This post gives me a clearer understanding of where you are coming from. Also, I will read your remaining posts, with this post in mind.
“Jindal systematically wrecked the state’s economy for a full eight years”. I agree but he had help. Like John Alario, et al. Jindal was not King he had the legislature helping getting us in this mess we’re in. Edwards chose to threaten us with fire and brimstone with his rhetoric. Can we trust the lege’s who got us in this mess to get us out?
I have a difficult time getting through one of Sadow’s columns. It’s like reading political Faulkner…sentences that can run on for a hundred plus words. His stats are technically correct, however, as far as per capita spending though misleading. That is, almost 1/3rd of our budget is spent on health care, primarily Medicaid. When one considers the Federal match of roughly 72 cents on the dollar, then his numbers are accurate. As the saying goes, the devil is in the details.
“Keepin” As a long term chronic Democratic voter in LA, I was not aware of Cleo Fields’ busses. We’re wide awake, always have been and building momentum.
Dog whistles are noted in your posts. Furthermore, Is it necessary to call citizens names and be so condescending? Your posts don’t qualify as civil discourse, far from it.
Are you denying the buses were in operation last November? I guess you were asleep when Vitter specifically referenced them in the final debate. Either that or, since Vitter uttered it, you immediately assessed it as a lie.
As for calling a citizen’s name, though Edwards wanted to distance himself from Fields for obvious reasons, Fields was a very active advocate for Edwards in the election to include making robocalls imploring people to vote for Edwards.
Funny how when someone posts something that isn’t “rah, rah Republicans are pure evil and corporations are public enemy number one,” they’re immediately deemed “uncivil.”
@Keepin’ ‘Em Honest
So Cleo Fields bused voters to the polls…so what?
My point is that you’re not going to get those folk to “bend the ear” of their state representative or senator because they’re just not politically active until they’re needed again for votes. Therefore, don’t be surprised when others who stay focused on legislative votes ARE able to bend their legislators’ ears. That’s why you’re seeing the politicians that you have such disdain for end up ruling the day. Politics is about intimidation, and a disinterested and disassociated voter base (which defines a significant part of Edwards’ supporters) can’t pursuade an elected official to vote a certain way because they don’t even communicate their desires to their representatives. That’s my only point. If I’m an elected official, I want a connected base of supporters, and Edwards’ is, to a large degree, disconnected with daily votes casts in the legislature,
Clifford has raised an issue related to one of my pet peeves about how our government blurs the lines of separation of powers:
“Also, if I am not mistaken, at some point in those first 4 years of the Piyush administration, the legislature gave him control over capital outlay requests.(Stephen can you check me on this).”
It has long been traditional that legislators “bring home the bacon” primarily by getting projects in the capital outlay bill. However, that bill is loaded up with vastly more items than can be funded, so the governor is allowed to set the priorities. This did not originate with our immediately former beloved leader, but he certainly used it to full advantage.
Allowing the governor the power to determine what actually goes forward is a win-win for everybody. The legislator gets to show his constituency, in black and white, projects he has inserted into the bill. The governor is able to wield his power over legislators by actually determining what actually gets off the ground. When the legislator’s project doesn’t get funded, he can blame the governor. When the governor does not move a project on line he can blame the legislature for loading up the bill. Everybody wins – except us mullets as C. B. called us.
A legislative auditor’s report dated February 11, 2016 points out we are about to hit our debt ceiling, so even fewer projects will be funded. Much more troubling, but having gotten little play in the press is the fact that over $200 million of our problem for next year is a direct result of the way the administration, with complicity by the State Bond Commission (Chairman – John Neely Kennedy) manipulated general obligation bond debt service to provide funds to “balance the budget” in recent years. Compounding this is the fact we will have to pay$231 million more in interest over the life of bonds because we did this.
Sorry this is so long, but it is one of those “elephants in the room” we too often ignore or sweep under the rug, like the hundreds of millions of dollars we are on the hook for annually because the legislature did not adequately front load our state retirement systems.
Thanks for clarifying that,Stephen.
I always heard a PhD stood for “posthole digger”. It seems Mr. Sadow may be better at using this tool than his memory.
Wow just wow. I have a Ph.D. And thanks for writing an incredibly well written piece about the cuts that have been done to services while others benefit