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The Case of the Mysterious ‘X’ (or how Jerry Larpenter went from a deputy to chief criminal deputy to sheriff within days

Posted in Corruption, Elections, Ethics, Fraud, Politicians on June 14, 2018| 4 Comments »

This is the story of the “Mysterious X” that catapulted Jerry Larpenter into the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office way back in April 1987.

Going into the beginning of April of that year, Charlton P. Rozands was still the sheriff, but at that particular point in time, he was:

  • Under federal indictment;
  • Dying of cancer.

Rozands and his two sons, along with Chief of Detectives Aubrey Authement and deputy Elmore Songe were all INDICTED on charges ranging from malfeasance in office, improper removal of weapons from the sheriff’s office, unauthorized and illegal personal use of weapons being held as evidence, and the disposal of weapons being held as evidence but which had been in Authement’s possession.

In fact, the sheriff’s cancer was so advanced that he was said to have been heavily medicated on morphine that he was unable to be arraigned and could not perform the simplest of tasks.

ROZANDS DIED ON APRIL 19 (from the Houma Daily Courier)

Six days before his death, on April 13, Larpenter signed the required OATH OF OFFICE oath of office as Rozands’ Chief Criminal Deputy.

On the second page of that document, in the left-hand margin, is the signature, “C.P. Rozands, Sheriff.”

Except it’s not Rozands’ signature. A comparison of that signature with a document actually signed by Rozands makes that point abundantly clear.

COMPARE SIGNATURES

Several people who were in positions to know have told LouisianaVoice that Rozands would have been physically unable to sign anything because of the advanced stages of his cancer and because he was heavily medicated with morphine. What is not clear is who actually signed his name.

In fact, at some point prior to Larpenter’s signing his oath of office, sources tell LouisianaVoice that a meeting was held to discuss a successor. Said to have been at that meeting were Rozands’ wife Mae, his two sons, and Houma attorney William F. Dodd, legal counsel for the sheriff’s office. He remains the sheriff’s legal counsel today.

The meeting was held to discuss the succession to Rozands who by this time obviously near death. At the time, 1987, state law allowed an official’s widow to assume his seat but Mrs. Rozands let it be known she wasn’t interested in the job. Nor were either of their sons.

The choices were quickly eliminated until there was only Larpenter who, when asked, said he would take the job.

The affidavit was quickly drafted, presumably by Dodd, that named Larpenter as Chief Criminal Deputy, which would make him next in line for the office of sheriff.

But to make the appointment official, Rozands was required to sign it. With him unable to affix his signature, he supposedly signed with an “X.”

But did he? One person close to the series of events said, “I don’t think Rozands would have waited until he was that sick to appoint Jerry Larpenter. They were close, but I think if Rozands had wanted Larpenter as his Chief Criminal Deputy, he would have appointed him while he was well enough to know what he was doing.”

Besides the job promotion and salary boost that came with Larpenter’s ascension into the sheriff’s chair, it also gave him the decided advantage of running as an incumbent in the next regular election only months away in October 1987.

In that election, the incumbency proved beneficial, all right. Larpenter, running against eight opponents, got a whopping 44 per cent of the vote, a full 30 points of his closest competitor, who got 14 percent. In the November runoff, he received 69 per cent of the vote to win his first of seven terms, interrupted only by his unsuccessful run for Parish President in 2007.

Each one of his elections—he was unopposed in 2015—were won by wide margins.

But the details of how he went from obscure deputy to sheriff for those few months in 1987 remain murky and clouded with questions of whether Rozands actually scrawled that “X” or it was done by someone in his name.

It’s almost as big a mystery as that entry in Larpenter’s campaign expense report. He lists an expenditure of $15,400 to an outfit named WEBCORP in Missouri for bulletproof vests for the sheriff’s department.

It’s awfully magnanimous of him to spend his own campaign funds to purchase equipment for his deputies—especially when Web Corp isn’t in the business of bulletproof vests. It’s an Internet web-building company.

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An open letter to the Louisiana Legislature (especially to those members who still insist that they are Christians):

Posted in Ethics, Legislators, Legislature, Lobbyist, Politicians on June 10, 2018| 39 Comments »

 

“The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.”

  • Mahatma Ghandi

“If you don’t want your tax dollars to help the poor, then stop saying you want a country based on Christian values. Because you don’t.”

  • Comedian John Fugelsang (sometimes mistakenly attributed to President Jimmy Carter)

Guest column by earthmother

AKA Jerel M. Giarrusso

As you deliberate – again – about the state budget and taxes and cutting services and all those issues that will have a serious impact on the quality of life for a majority of Louisiana citizens (the folks who voted you into office, not the oligarchs you are beholden to), many of us have some things to say to you.  First of all, STOP WASTING OUR TAX DOLLARS ON SESSIONS, SPECIAL SESSIONS, EXTRA SPECIAL SESSIONS.  You are stealing your salary, your per diem, and even the light bill at the Capitol, etc., when you blather forever without passing a realistic, workable  budget bill.

Citizens have been begging you to do the right thing.  Nothing any of us says has an impact on you.  All we have are votes, not bribes or threats.  We have condemned the corporatocracy, where corporate welfare costs Louisiana more than public welfare.  Three years ago, LouisianaVoice published my first letter to you, with the link below, if you want to refresh your memory.

https://louisianavoice.com/2015/06/04/louisianavoice-reader-pens-open-letter-to-all-144-members-of-louisiana-legislature-asks-each-what-are-you-going-to-do/

Many of you claim to be devout Christians.  Since a majority of you don’t heed the cries of the mortal voting public, thanks to a little nudge from the Holy Spirit, I’ll try letting God do the talking to you.

I checked to see what the Bible says about taking from the poor and giving to the rich.  Here it is:

One who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and one who gives gifts to the rich–both come to poverty. Proverbs 22:16

 Next, His ideas about taking from the poor, those who work, caring for the poor, the oppressed – “the least of My brothers and sisters.”   God’s thoughts about that topic fill up most of the Old and New Testaments with hundreds of verses exhorting us to love another and care for the less fortunate.  It’s not practical to reprint the entire Bible, so a few key verses are printed below. You can read in God’s own words what He expects of us all. That happens to include you.

Before you tell me that God did not say that government has to provide for the less fortunate, but that charities, churches and individuals are commanded to do so:

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God… whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God…For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing. Pay to all what is due them – taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due. Romans 13:1-7

The New International Version (NIV) is quoted.  That’s a version of the Bible, the tome you tried to make the state book a while back.  You might want to actually read it.

Be forewarned, some of this is pretty radical stuff.  Following some of these divine directives will cost you some old friends, who will accuse you of being a liberal, a libtard, or a prog, like that’s a bad thing.  Better to lose those who would lead you down the road to perdition, and save your immortal soul.

What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? Matthew 16:26

Another reminder, while you’re listening to folks like the Koch brothers, Americans for Prosperity, LABI and Stephen Waguespack, Grover Norquist, Father God has more juice than any of them.  You’re better off in the long run being in the good graces of The Lord than with humans serving the wrong overlord.  Satan always comes in last and the Lord God prevails.

I’ll shut up now and let the Lord speak to you in His own words.  Please be sure to read to the end.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27

Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered. Proverbs 21:13

Give to the one who begs from you. Proverbs 29:7

But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 1 John 3:17

No one can serve two masters…You cannot serve both God and money. Matthew 6:24

Do not rob the poor…or crush the afflicted at the gate, for the Lord will plead their cause and rob of life those who rob them. Proverbs 22:22-23

Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God;…woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation; …sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; …it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Luke 6:20, 24

Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will protect them from those who malign them.  Psalm 12:5

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth…For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21 

Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him. Proverbs 14:31 

They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share. 1 Timothy 6:18

Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor. Proverbs 22:9

When you give a feast, invite the poor…and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection. Luke 14:14

 I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy. Psalm 140:12

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner. Leviticus 19:9-10 

A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge. Proverbs 11:4

Those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. There was not a needy person among them, for the owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Acts 4:32-35

Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise. Luke 3:11

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? James 2:15-16

I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. 2 Corinthians 8:13-15

Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways. Proverbs 28:6

Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom; she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. Ezekiel 16:49

I command you, “You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor in your land.” Deuteronomy 15:11

Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what your possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. Matthew 19:21

As for the rich…do not set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future. 1 Timothy 6:17-19

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see him naked, to cover him? Isaiah 58:6-7

If anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:17-18

Open your mouth for the rights of all who are destitute.  Defend the rights of the poor and needy. Proverbs 31:8-9

May he defend the cause of the poor, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor! Psalm 72:4

You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. Deuteronomy 24:14

If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you. Leviticus 25:35

It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud. Proverbs 16:19

Did not I weep for him whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy? Job 30:25

The Final Judgment:

34  Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[a] you did it to me.’

41  ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Matthew 25:34-46

Editor’s note: If you’re a member of the legislature and this made you a little uncomfortable, that was the intent. If it didn’t, then you’re just another political hack, a hypocritical opportunist.

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As the country rushes toward another economic disaster, the Koch Brothers prop up Louisiana’s Graves, Johnson, Scalise

Posted in Business, Campaign Contributions, Congress, Corruption, Economy, Elections, Ethics, Finances, House, Senate, Media, PACs, Politicians on May 28, 2018| 23 Comments »

Here’s a pretty interesting scenario:

The administration, abetted by a Republican congress:

  • Dismantles consumer protection laws. Done.
  • Repeals environmental protection regulations. Check.
  • Does away with civil service protections. In progress.
  • Guts Medicaid, Medicare, and social security. Working on that.
  • Passes more tax breaks for the wealthy and for corporations. Proposed.
  • Moves low-interest federal student loan programs to private banks that charge higher interest rates to already cash-strapped middle- and low-income students. Proposed.
  • Tightens restrictions on illegal immigration—not for the reasons given, but instead, to ensure maximum occupancy of private prisons that are paid according to the number of beds filled. Ongoing;
  • Continues to offer “thoughts and prayers (TAPs) but does little else in the way of addressing the growing problem of mass shootings in America—because that’s the way the NRA wants it. No problem.
  • Systematically undermines organized labor so that worker protection, benefits, pay, etc. are minimized. Ongoing.
  • Screams “law and order” on the campaign trail but ignores, even attacks, the rule of law when it is to their benefit. Just watch the nightly newscasts.
  • Attacks the news media, the one independent institution capable—or willing—to keep check on political misdeeds and wrongdoing. A given.
  • Spew more patriotic rhetoric in order to gin up the war machine in countries where we have no business so more Americans can die needlessly so that the MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX that outgoing President Eisenhower warned us about in 1961 can continue to prosper and thrive. This tactic has never wavered.
  • Continue the practice of rolling the flag, the Bible, and the false label of patriotism into some sort of one-size-fits-all commodity to be sold to evangelicals like Disney souvenirs or McDonald’s Happy Meal toys. Don’t believe me? Watch the mass hypnosis of a Trump rally; it’s the same misplaced trust in a mortal being as the personification of some sort of divinely-inspired savior that we saw with Jim Jones and David Koresh.
  • Repeals banking regulations in order that the country’s financial institutions will be free to plunge the nation—and perhaps the world itself—into another financial crisis as bad, or worse, than the 2008 collapse (and for the information of some who apparently do not know, Dodd-Frank did not enable the last crisis because Dodd-Frank was not enacted until 2010, two years after the collapse). Passed and signed by Trump.

All these objectives, and more, when carried out, will have the cumulative effect of creating economic chaos which in turn will drive housing prices spiraling downward as the market is glutted by foreclosures as before. Layoffs will follow, resulting in high unemployment and homelessness. Businesses will close, causing more economic uncertainty. With instability in the Mideast will come higher oil prices.

That’s when the vultures will move in, snapping up property at bargain basement prices from desperate owners who will be forced to sell for pennies on the dollar because they have no negotiating leverage.

It’s all part of the Shock Doctrine principle that author Naomi Klein wrote about—and it works.

When the recovery does come, it’ll be too late for most. And these investors, these people who propped up the Republican Party, will be holding all the cards. The already gaping abyss between the haves and have-nots, between the 1 percent and the rest of us, will grow ever wider and those in control now will then be in even more control than before as more and more of the country’s wealth flows upward. Trickle down was—is already—a distant fantasy.

So, just who would be in a position to pull off such an economic coup at the expense of American citizens?

Try the Brothers Koch—Charles and David—and their cabal of fat cats.

You can begin the discussion by asking one simple question: why else would they commit their network of billionaires to spending $400 million in the 2018 midterm election cycle (double what they spent in the 2014 mid-terms and a 60 percent increase over 2016) if they did not stand to gain something from it?

If your answer is that they only want good, clean government, you’re just fooling yourself. No one throws that much money at dirty politicians and expects it to come back crisp and clean.

Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips said, “We will be spending more than any midterm in our network history.”

Russian collusion? These guys can play hardball just as well as the Russians can and they do it legally, through their PACs, their foundations, and their personal bankrolling of campaigns.

Facebook account hackings? Try i360, the Koch Industries data analytics company that compiles information on nearly 200 million active voters.

Want to hear how they wrap themselves in the flag? Try some of their front groups: Americans for Prosperity, Libre Initiative, Concerned Veterans for America, Generation Opportunity, and Freedom Partners Action Fund.

Truthout, an online political news organization that is a tad more left-leaning than Faux News (that’s parody, for those of you who don’t recognize it), has compiled a list of 2018 KOCH CANDIDATES to whom they are funneling campaign contributions.

Here are the benefactors of KochPAC’s generosity from Louisiana:

  • S. Rep. Garret Graves of Baton Rouge: $5,500 to Garret Graves for Congress;
  • S. Rep. Mike Johnson of Bossier Parish: $5,000 to Mike Johnson for Louisiana;
  • S. Rep. Steve Scalise of Metairie: $85,000 to his Scalise Leadership Fund; $10,000 to his The Eye of the Tiger Political Action Committee (how’s that for appealing to all those rabid LSU fans?), and another $10,000 to Scalise for Congress ($105,000 total);
  • S. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Baton Rouge: just a measly $1,000 (an insult) to his Continuing America’s Strength and Security (more flag-draping nomenclature) PAC.

But it doesn’t stop with Louisiana. Not by a long shot.

The Kochs also contributed:

  • $10,000 to Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts’ Preserving America’s Traditions (Guess it’s a foregone conclusion that his opponent has no interest in preserving any of the country’s traditions.)
  • $10,000 to Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt’s (get this) Rely on Your Beliefs Fund (now if that doesn’t choke you up, you’re obviously an anarchist);
  • $5,000 to Virginia’s Rep. Dave Brat’s Building and Restoring America Together PAC (oh, puh-leeze!);
  • $10,000 to Texas Rep. Pete (please tell us he’s not related to Jeff) Sessions’s People for Enterprise Trade and Economic Growth (PETE—how clever, but shouldn’t it be PETEG?) PAC;
  • $5,000 for Texas Rep. Will Hurd’s Having Unwavering Resolve and Determination PAC;
  • $5,000 to Texas Rep. Mike Conaway’s Conservative Opportunities for a New America PAC;
  • $10,000 to Pennsylvania Rep. Keith Rothfus’s Relight America PAC;
  • $5,000 to Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry’s Patriots for Perry PAC (the obvious implication being that no patriot could possibly be for his opponent);
  • $10,000 to Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly’s Keep America Rolling PAC (Could this be a subliminal reference to the “Let’s roll” words of Todd Beamer who tried unsuccessfully to disarm hijackers on United Flight 93 just before it crashed in the Pennsylvania countryside on 9/11?).

None of this is intended to diminish, ridicule, or scorn the true patriotic love of this country on anyone’s behalf. Patriotism is a wonderful thing as long as it is kept in perspective. But to allow the love of country to blind you to the shortcomings of our so-called leaders who sell patriotism like a carnival barker sells tickets to a lurid peep show is not my definition of the word. It in fact cheapens the definition.

To paraphrase our most recent former governor, at the end of the day, no one—and I do mean NO ONE, without exception—contributes to a political campaign in the amounts doled out by the Kochs and their ilk, without expecting something in return. That something is always personal enrichment.

So, before you base your decision on a candidate based on the half-truths and outright lies of TV political ads, check to see who gets what in the form of CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS.

Make your decision an intelligent one, not one based on looks or sound bites. Like anything else worthwhile, it takes a little work to do it right.

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Cedric Richmond only member of Louisiana’s congressional delegation wise enough to vote against Dodd-Frank rollback

Posted in Business, Campaign Contributions, Congress, Corruption, Ethics, Finances, Fraud, House, Senate, Media, Politicians, Public Records, Revenue on May 24, 2018| 8 Comments »

I’m no economist and I did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, so I make no claims to be gifted in predicting the future. After all, I smugly opined on the day that Donald Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency that he would crash and burn within six weeks. He may yet crash and burn but it’s taken a tad longer.

But it doesn’t take a crystal ball to see a repeat of the 2008 financial collapse and when it happens, don’t forget to thank Louisiana’s two senators and four of our six representatives. I mean, Stevie Wonder can see the idiocy of the actions of Congress in rolling back the reforms put in place by the DODD-FRANK rules following the disastrous Great Recession brought on by the recklessness of the banking industry.

The HOUSE voted 258-159 on Tuesday to allow banks with up to $250 billion in assets (that’s roughly eight times the size of Louisiana’s $30 billion budget and our legislators can’t even get a grasp on that) to avoid supervision from the Fed and STRESS TESTS. Under Dodd-Frank, the tougher rules applied to banks with at least $50 billion in assets.

Louisiana House members who voted in favor were Garrett Graves, Mike Johnson, Ralph Abraham, and Steve Scalise. Only Rep. Cedric Richmond voted against the measure while Paramilitary Macho-Man, the Cajun John Wayne, Clay Higgins took a powder and did not vote.

The measure, S-2155, had eased through the SENATE by a 67-31 vote back on March 14 and both Louisiana Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy voted in favor. Kennedy, who loves to preach about revenue and spending, should know better: he was Louisiana State Treasurer for eight years, from 2000 to 2008. You’d think he might have learned something during that time. Guess not. But what could you expect from someone who thought he had “reduced paperwork for small businesses by 150 percent” during his tenure as Secretary of Revenue?

You can be sure that the banking industry lobbied Congress hard for this. Their lobbyists may well have outnumbered—and outspent—the NRA and perhaps even big oil and big pharma in its efforts to show members the right thing for baseball, apple pie and the American Way. Here is a blurb from the Arkansas Banking Association to its members on Monday, the day before the House vote, for example:

ABA (the American Banking Association) is asking all bankers to make a final grassroots push by calling their representatives and urging them to vote “yes” on S. 2155. ABA and all 52 state bankers’ associations sent letters to the House on Friday urging passage of S. 2155. Take action now.

Here is a copy of the ABA LETTER to House Speaker Paul Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and the letter sent by the state ASSOCIATIONS, including the Louisiana Bankers’ Association.

It’s almost as if the bankers, their lobbyists and their pawns in Congress have had their collective memories erased.

Remember “TOO-BIG-TO-FAIL” or costs of somewhere in the neighborhood of $14 TRILLION (with a “T”) to the U.S. economy the last time banks got a little carried away with their subprime mortgages and insane investments of OPM (other people’s money)? Remember how the runaway train wreck of 2008 darned-near destroyed the economy not just of this country, but the entire GLOBAL ECONOMY?

Remember how Congress had to bail out the incredibly reckless banks and how not a single person ever did jail time for the manner in which greed and more greed took over for sound fiscal judgment?

Remember the run-up to the 2008 collapse? Deregulation? Warren Buffet’s referring to derivatives as “financial weapons of mass destruction” (was anyone listening)? Enron? Worldcom? Countrywide? Merrill Lynch? Wells Fargo’s manipulation of customers’ accounts? Lincoln Savings & Loan? Pacific Gas and Electric? Arthur Anderson? Lehman Brothers? Bear Stearns? AIG? Washington Mutual?

Did anyone learn a damned thing? Judging from the rollback of Dodd-Frank, the answer to that critical question must be a resounding “NO.”

And lest you feel a pang of sympathy for those poor, over-regulated banks, consider this: PROFITS for AMERICAN BANKS during the first quarter of 2018 increased by 28 percent, shattering the prior record set just three quarters earlier.

The “blockbuster earnings report” was attributed to tax cuts implemented by the Trump administration, which should give you a pretty good idea about just who the tax bill was designed to help in the first place.

And here’s something that will give you a warm fuzzy: American banks are sitting on almost $2 trillion of capital that will help them survive the next recession—whether you get through the next downturn or not. That theory that excess capital would be plowed back into the economy just didn’t seem to pan out. Wall Street is counting on the Dodd-Frank deregulation allowing banks to return as much of that surplus cash as $53 billion back to SHAREHOLDERS.

Reinvestment? More jobs? Stimulating the economy? Fuggedaboutit.

It’s all about the shareholders.

Always has been, always will be.

And you can bet the shareholders won’t fuggedaboutit when it comes to chipping into the campaign coffers of those members of Congress who had the good sense to vote to lift the unreasonable burden of overregulation off the poor, struggling banking industry.

But what the hell? I’m not an economist. I’m just one of those purveyors of all that fake news.

 

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Don’t listen to what they say; listen to what they don’t say

Posted in BESE, Education, Finances, Media, Politicians, Public Records on May 17, 2018| 1 Comment »

The key is to listen to what they don’t say.

Whenever an elected official or bureaucrat starts talking, especially if he’s boasting of some accomplishment, it’s important that you tune out what he says and listen closely to what’s not being said. Always.

A case in point is information fed to the public by the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) this week.

What they said: LDOE issued a glowing news release announcing that the Louisiana high school graduation rate for the class of 2017 was a record 78.1 percent, skyrocketing from the 77 percent of 2016.

What they didn’t say: The Louisiana high school graduation rate is 8th lowest in the nation, higher than Mississippi (4th lowest) and New Mexico (the lowest) but lower than Florida (9th lowest), Alabama (3rd highest), Arkansas (25th highest), Tennessee (9th highest), Oklahoma (21st lowest), and West Virginia (18th highest).

What they said: Students from low-income families graduated at a rate of 72.6 percent, in increase from 71.5 percent in 2016.

What they didn’t say: Speaking of low-income, the median salary for school teachers in Louisiana was 5th lowest in the country—$48,307, compared to the national median salary of $57,949. Mississippi is at rock bottom with a medial salary of $30,070 for all workers.

What Superintendent of Education John White said: “Not only is the state making progress but historically disadvantaged populations are also making progress at a rate that is greater than the state average.”

What he didn’t say: The per pupil expenditure of $12,153 is right in the middle of the pack at 25th highest, which can be attributed in large part to the flow of funding into charter and virtual schools and to top-heavy salaries in the Claiborne Building (headquarters for the Department of Education) where there are 37 political appointees knocking down an average of $127,000 per year.

What he said: “We know our graduation rate needs to be better.”

What he didn’t say: “At least we’re not Mississippi.”

 

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