As a recovering Republican, I feel I am in a unique position to suggest that all political party labels be abandoned in favor of candidates representing constituents as opposed to clinging stubbornly to the blind loyalty of some group of adherents referring to themselves as Democrat, Republican or Libertarian.
Civilized countries like Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom have no legal political parties (although the media sometimes mistakenly refer to opposition groups as “parties”). If it’s good enough for them, it should suffice for us.
For once, I’d like to see a politician who is defined not by some label but by his own core beliefs and principles, formed independently and absent the dictates of a so-called “party” which is supported by special interests who dictate the philosophy of its labeled and packaged candidates.
I would much prefer to vote for someone because of he or she actually stands for something rather than putting party loyalty above all else. President Teddy Roosevelt had the political courage to stand up to his own Republican Party and demand corporate health regulations and to fight monopolistic trusts. Somehow, that courage has evaporated in the interest of party unity which, of course, encourages a more reliable flow of campaign contributions from the vested interests.
I don’t say this as a way of placing my intellect above that of my contemporaries (God knows that would be a foolish assumption on my part) but the two major parties in this country—all the way down to our petulant legislature—long ago arrived at loggerheads with each other to the detriment of those who put them in office.
It’s more than a little sickening to watch. Besides, we already have The Jerry Springer Show.
In a recent discussion with an old friend and long-time political observer, he noted that Democrats as a group refuse to accept anything proposed by Republicans and Republicans as a group counter in kind. Can anyone really wonder that Congress has a lower approval rating than porta-potty cleaner-uppers? (Coincidentally, it might be worth mentioning that the longer Congress is in session, the greater the demand for porta-potty cleaner-uppers.)
My friend, who spent his career in state government, confided in me that he promised himself long ago that if he ever became jaded with his job, he would retire. He is now retired.
So, why don’t we just be honest with ourselves and admit that our political system no longer functions as a two-party, give-and-take forum? When you had someone like Sam Rayburn as Speaker of the House, things got done in Congress even though there was Republican opposition. That’s because while there was opposition, the two sides left room for compromise. With Newt Gingrich, we instead got a governmental shutdown. (Rayburn, the longest-serving House speaker in history, by the way, died broke while our own Bobby Jindal, by contrast, became a multi-millionaire during his three years in Congress.)
Elected office is no longer considered a public service; it is instead, an avocation in and of itself, a stepping stone to the next move up. Witness the shameless pursuit of the presidency by Jindal and the equally self-serving ambition of Attorney General Jeff Landry, U.S. Rep. Garrett Graves and U.S. Sen. John Kennedy to oust John Bel Edwards as governor. Accordingly, you will not hear the first utterance by Landry, Graves or Kennedy in support of anything proposed by Edwards.
Likewise, should Donald Trump ever say or propose anything with a scintilla of original thought or meaningful purpose, you will never hear Nancy Pelosi or any other Democrat speak out in support. That just isn’t done any more. There’s no civility in politics, no room for compromise.
Witness the banal, hackneyed behavior of the Louisiana Legislature, particularly over the past 10, 20, 30 years.
Because the state has systematically failed to pay its mandated share into the state retirement system, we’re now saddled with an insurmountable unfunded liability in each of the state retirement systems.
For decades, taxpayers of Livingston, Ascension and East Baton Rouge parishes have been paying a millage to construct the Comite River Diversion Canal project to prevent flooding. The project is no nearer completion today than it was 25 years ago and we have the delays to thank, at least in part, for that horrendous flood of last August. And now guess what? After pissing away the monies that were supposed to have gone to flood control with those millage collections, some legislators, in their collective buffoonery, now want to snatch nearly $200 million from federal monies intended for flood victims to use instead for flood control.
It’s almost like gasoline taxes that were supposed to have gone to repair our roads and bridges and the revenue from gaming that was supposed to fund public education. Of course, as soon as those gaming funds were approved, the legislature jerked an identical amount from other funding, the Support Education in Louisiana First Fund, and the result for public education was another version of the old shell game. Now you see it, not you don’t.
Fast forward to the Jindal years when state employees suddenly found themselves going six years on end without a pay raise. Now those Jindal years have spilled over into the Edwards years and those same legislators are still playing a game called kick the financial can down the road and state employees are still falling further and further behind the inflationary curve. Prices are up, health insurance is up, but salaries remain stagnant—with the exception of State Police (not to be confused with Department of Public Safety officers who undergo the same training but have not enjoyed the 30 percent pay raise received by State Troopers).
And now, House Bill 302 by House majority leader Lance Harris (R-Alexandria) would assess parolees an additional $37 fee per month (from $63 to $100), the money to be used to fund a pay increase for parole officers. As has become almost a ritual, the vote was split along party lines.
It’s really a beautiful thing to watch these guys cherry pick their personal little projects—like Harris’s fee assessment. I’m sure the rest of Louisiana’s civil service employees are applauding his magnanimous gesture toward the beleaguered parole officers.
Not to diminish the seriousness of their plight, but parole officers aren’t the only state civil service employees who are hurting. And Harris is not the only member of the legislature who is completely out of touch with the daily struggles of state employees, many of whom were victims of last year’s floods.
This is serious business and Harris and his colleagues should get together and try to figure out how the state’s fiscal problems can be addressed without the same old tired political rhetoric spouted along party lines. It’s time for compromise and hard decisions and the legislature, as a body, is not showing any inclination of making those hard decisions.
The governor’s plan is not perfect—far from it. But neither is the continued petty bickering of the legislature getting anything done. You’re not being paid to come to Baton Rouge to participate in some kind of elementary school blame game. You were sent here to solve problems and put this state back on sound financial footing.
Instead, you plaster an “R” or a “D” to your respective foreheads and start squawking like a couple of tomcats in a dark alley—even as you hold out your hands for political contributions from the special interests who pay you to just keep squawking like you always have.
A hint: We can see you and we can hear you and you’re not impressing anyone.
Drop the party labels and declare yourselves not as Republican or Democrat but as Louisianans.
Do the right thing. Do your jobs.
Louisiana Voice 
As Benjamin Franklin once said: If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking.
Forgive the brevity, but…
AMEN and AMEN!!!
Doesn’t matter if you are any party, it’s all about the money !
Totally agree. Lately my rants have been on party platforms and their expected conformity. I’m sure there are Democrats, like our governor, who oppose abortion, just as there are Republicans in favor. I’m for Congress defining problems like health care costs or gun control and then establishing bi-partisan committees to meet with genuine experts, not party hacks, to study the issues and propose legislation to solve the problem. The same group should stay in touch to tweak or replace things that don’t work or work poorly. The Republicans are showing why the two party system doesn’t work in today’s climate. For that matter, neither party is unified, and little will get done. Hey! That may be the good news…?
Politicians:
1. Quit blaming Obama or cuddling up to Trump
2. Answer question asked SPECIFICALLY instead of vague generalities. If you don’t have an answer or opinion, say so.
3. Quit answering every question by telling the audience how conservative you are. Formulate actual solutions that solve problems. Example – Talk about how to deal with climate change. It is real.
4. Remember, you do not work for a political party you work for the people of the state, all of them
I guess I’m in the minority right now, but I’m pretty satisfied with our state government representatives and senators.
For the most part, they are reflecting what their individual constituents provide as feedback. That’s why we see the tax measures dying on the vine. I have heard many Democratic legislators say their constituents have said “enough” with the taxes.
They are particularly opposed to the gas tax. So, I’m fairly happy right now, and I think that ANY legislator who caves to more taxes (and that includes the renewal of the penny sales tax) and is not term limited, is likely on his or her way out, and that’s the people speaking with a loud voice.
I hope I don’t spoil the negative sentiment by admitting to being pretty content with the direction in which we appear to be heading.
Robert, you completely missed my point. I never once advocated increasing taxes. I said neither party wants to adequately address the problems. And I stand by that. They would rather bitch and moan than fix the problem.
So the legislature will adjourn in June without any permanent solutions and they will come back next year facing the same problems. You may be content with that but I certainly am not and I don’t believe many others in this state are.
That was my point.
Of course they don’t want to fix the issue it’s perfect for those campaign commercials. We blocked the (insert party here) agenda return us so we can work for you!
Except they don’t work for the people, only donors.
I agree, Tom. In fact, I am furious with what I think is the willful destruction of our State!
I actually don’t think I missed the point at all. My point is that, contrary to what some comments are indicating, the premise that people aren’t being listened to by legislators is simply false.
I believe (actually I know because too many legislators have been kind enough to admit it to me or to close friends who have told me what they said) that legislators returned home after last year’s sessions and got “an earful” about all the tax increases. That’s why there’s so much newfound opposition to them, with opposition to the gas tax even stronger among Democratic lawmakers (reflecting the will of their constituents) than Republican lawmakers.
I guess I’m also elated over a hearing of the House Commerce Committee on Monday of this week, I was there for it and interacted with several lawmakers and lobbyists, and I was thrilled beyond words with the outcome. More importantly, there was a packed committee chamber of ordinary citizens there from every side of the political spectrum (Democrat, Republican, white, black, male, female), and everyone was in unity on the matter. How often are we going to see that?
I’ll have a Sound Off feature on it before the week is up (still working on processing video), but I think what transpired should inspire everyone to realize that the American dream of entrepreneurship is not dead despite some state agencies’ best efforts to drive a stake straight through its heart.
Well Robert, I don’t know you, but it appears to me that you still don’t get the point. Our representatives and senators need to listen to all, then collaboratively make decisions about what works best for the nation and the majority of the people as a whole. Lots of people don’t want to pay taxes, and many don’t. However, they want to be able to drive down good roads and highways, be protected and enjoy a good life in the U.S. Fact is, if taxes are not paid and in some cases increased then highways, roads and many other infrastructure items become useless. Our governing bodies need to think about how to best run and manage the country overall without favoring those that fill their pockets. We can’t eat our cake and have it too.
Actually, I reiterate my point, Jon, that I do “get it.”
Infrastructure repairs are very much needed, and they can best be accomplished via delegating entire projects to private companies with the authority to collect tolls to service debt issued by the private company. Instead, the Louisiana model has been to collect hundreds of millions of dollars into the Transportation Trust Fund, only see see that fund consistently raided for other purposes, with the biggest recipient being Louisiana State Police. LSP, meanwhile, as demonstrated by Tom and the late C. B. Forgotston, proceeded to flush millions of our tax dollars down the toilet on items such as those itemized here: http://www.lspripoff.com/act14.htm.
So, when legislators and/or the governor make proposals that alter the means by which we pay for services, and that mechanism relies upon private companies to shoulder projects from start to finish, including financing and raising the debt and funding to service that debt, many fiscal conservatives will be on board. If it means simply throwing more money at DOTD bureaucrats, however, many of us have seen more of those episodes fail than necessary to ascertain that it is a broken model that perpetuates governmental inefficiency.
Robert Burns is right. We do have some lege’s who are in fact listening to their constituents. If doing your job is to walk lockset with the administration and vote for all the proposed tax increases then they will be out of a job at the next election. Both parties, especially at the national level, work to pass their agenda and not represent the people. Sam Jones is not representing us when he proposes massive tax increases. Sam would do a better job of representing us by telling us where the money has been spent and what steps are being taken to control spending. Their job is to get spending under control. If you put the dems and the repubs together and grind them up, you would only get one sack of Ol Roy dog food out of the mix. However, I am impressed with some of the new members who are fighting the Alario/Dardenne/Edwards cartel and representing their constituents.
I appreciate your reinforcement, Sidwit, and if you’d like to see first hand legislators listening to the will of collective individuals, here’s a great example: http://www.soundoffla.com/?p=732.
I don’t think it was ever suggested that legislators’ job is to walk lockstep with the governor – at least I believe you meant lockstep instead of lockset. I think the point was that legislators who walk lockstep with a given party, Democrat or Republican – I believe he was all-inclusive on that – should be out of a job next election.
Our national and state governing seems to have devolved into politicking as opposed to governing. I do not think that we can depend on our elected officials to listen to us. For many reasons, some involving money and the opportunity for political career promise, what they are doing has no relation to governing. It is more like a game of “gotcha” or “we won – you lost”. I do not see a solution. Why should they pay attention to news articles, constituent opinions, when there is no reward to do so? Their reward is what the Party and the Party funders can do for them. They do seem to be somewhat affected by these protests or being confronted with actual voters that give their opinions at their meetings, etc. This might mean votes at some point. However, after they campaign on Party talking points that their voters have already been brainwashed to accept by listening to their media propaganda, then they feel justified in playing the governing game according to those talking points – after all, they won an election. This will not end well and it looks as if time is running out for our hopes of reasonable governing – period!
Tom: Spot on, but I think that the influence of lobbyists and certain industry groups on the actions of politicians are a major problem that won’t be going away soon. The country, state, and parishes would be better off if the politicians were working for the betterment of the citizens rather than lining their pockets and voting for the interests of the highest bidder. The Citizens United decision has already had a devastating effect on our election process. A much shorter election cycle, such as many other civilized nations, would also be helpful.
There is no doubt that our state and federal senators and representatives do not listen to “we the people.” Once they are elected, regardless of the percentage of the win, they think they are mandated to do what their big money contributors, Republicans or Democrats tell them to do. I will say that Bobby Jindal did us all a favor. Because he was term-limited, he went away. Senator Vitter thought he was a shoo-in for governor, but lost and Representative John Fleming thought he was a shoo-in for Senator Vitter’s position and he lost. Why? Neither of them listened to or cared what “we the people” said and we were able to flush Fleming and Vitter down the same drain Jindal went. A term limit worked to their perfection in this case. We got 3 for 1.
William J. Guste is what changed in 1992. I graduated high school in ’92. left and joined the Army. This is not the state I grew up in.
I am also a recovering republican and have never been happier! This article was exactly what is wrong with our political system- when a party affiliation is given, everything else is minimized because people only want to hear what their party affiliation says. By not being of any party affiliation, I am able to read and listen to both sides.
Spot on… Tribalism in our society has reached the point where we blindly support “our guy or girl” even in the face of what is clearly nonsensical actions. If our person says or does something stupid then call it so – and conversely if the other side makes an argument that makes sense then be willing to change your position.
As it stands now the blind tribalism is causing hatred in our society and is counter productive to making progress.
A scary aspect to this piece is how in my head you were. Thank You for your words!!!
I think if the Governor spent half as much time on the budget as he did creating “Task Forces” and committees, we wouldn’t even have this blog to read. Here’s an idea, why doesn’t the Governor take a pay cut to help the budget, or better yet stop throwing parties at his house at the tax payers expense? No one is seeing the big picture here, and that is the fact that everyone sits around talking about parties, when the first thing that needs to be addressed is where in the hell is all our money going to begin with? Why isn’t someone digging into the fact that no one knows where the funds from gaming are going, and no one knows where any of the new tax money is going? Why doesn’t anyone spend their time investigating what tax dollars ARE being spent on, instead of trying to find new money that the state just doesn’t have? We are being taxed to death and no one is asking where the money has been spent in the last 10 years. Isn’t that what we should want to know? I can’t say I am happy at all with how they are doing. No one ever questions the fact that we are paying these Republicans and Democrats to sit on their butt, eat meals that our money pays for, while driving cars that our money paid for, all to sit behind a chair all day and decide whether or not they want to allow an individual to be able to sale rabbits on the side of the road! I mean are you kidding me?
You make a couple of false assumptions, the first being this blog wouldn’t exist if the governor didn’t spend all his time creating task forces and committees. This blog existed long before Gov. Edwards took office and if you follow what I write, you would know that I cover a multitude of issues—not just the governor.
Second, legislators’ meals are not paid for by taxpayers and we certainly don’t purchase their cars. Not sure where that came from.
If the governor took a pay cut, it would be minuscule in the overall budget. That trip by state police personnel to San Diego, for example, in a span of only 10 days, amounted to half the governor’s annual salary.
As for time wasted regulating rabbit sales, you are quite correct. That’s not why we send legislators to Baton Rouge. There’re far more important issues on the table and a lot of time is wasted on frivolous matters.
I’m not an auditor, so I can’t respond to your question about where the gaming money goes, but I am working on tracking expenditures for certain state agencies and I find a lot of questionable spending on which I will be reporting soon—probably next week.
“Recovering Republican”…… I like it!
Well, it is Sunday and I am on my way to Church, and I have faith in this great Country, and won’t gilve up on loving my neighbors as much as I love myself. Sometimes I love myself too much and think I am better than others. not my call, keep learning and love always ron thompson