Louisiana Voice

Some good news for Louisiana for a change.

Or at least good non-news.

Wall Street 24/7, that online service that provides up-to-date statistics on everything from poverty and obesity to which cars to buy and which to avoid, has released a list of the 15 states with the biggest spikes in UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS over the past three years.

It’s one of those bad lists and for once, Louisiana is not on it. Neither, for that matter is our neighbors to the east, Mississippi or Alabama, or Arkansas to the north.

But hey, it’s a different story for Texas, led by those Republican Sens. Ted “Cancun” Cruz and John Cornyn and Gov. Greg “we’re gonna eliminate rape” Abbott. The Lone Star State shows up with the 12^th-highest gain in unemployment claims with an increase of 7.4 percent.

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that Texas also has the nation’s 10^th highest overall unemployment rate (4.3 percent) and the country’s 12^th highest poverty rate (14.2 percent).

You’d think that Abbott, instead of attempting to abolish women’s rights, limiting voting for people of color, setting school curricula, and blaming mental health for mass shootings (even as his state continues to cut back on the availability of mental health treatment facilities) all while focusing on a possible White House run, would be attempting to improve the economic condition of his constituents.

Other Republican-dominated states who made the list were Oklahoma (8^th biggest increase in claims at 15.1 percent and 8^th– highest poverty rate at 15.3 percent), and Missouri (it’s three-year increase in unemployment claims ranking 7^th with a gain of 27.8 percent and the nation’s 19^th highest poverty rate at 13.0 percent). Missouri’s senators are John Hawley and Roy Blount.

And which state do you think is number 5 with an increase in unemployment claims of 38.4 percent? Why, none other than Kentucky, home of Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul. You’d think they’d be trying to do something about the state’s 5^th highest poverty rate (16.6 percent).

And yes, there were some notably Democrat-led states on that list and some other red states that were not on it which, I suppose, really means nothing in the overall scheme of things because no one senator or governor can control the economy just as no one president can control the price of gasoline (though you’d never know it by listening to those who would blame Biden for fuel prices. And the Keystone XL pipeline wasn’t closed because it had never opened and it was never going to be used for domestic production in the first place). And of course, the price of everything else is tied directly to fuel costs because of the costs of transporting goods. But when oil companies reported record profits last quarter, something doesn’t add up.

I guess the point I’m trying to make here is to illustrate how we’ve lost the ability to work together to solve our problems. When someone like McConnell openly admits that his number one objective is to block every proposal put forward by a Democratic president, something is terribly wrong.

And no matter how you may try to spin it, the federal deficit is directly to blame for the rate of inflation in this country. It took a few years to catch up, but you just cannot increase the federal debt by $4 trillion and not expect it to have an effect down the road. And that was done by a Republican Congress and a Republican president. Finally, you cannot continue to ship jobs overseas and not expect it to impact unemployment rates. And you cannot expect the easy accessibility of assault weapons not to have an impact on the murder rate in this country.

Eisenhower was right in warning Americans against the increasing power and influence of the military-industrial complex. And now, with Congress and most state legislatures bought by the special interests, it appears that it’s too late.

What do we have to offset the influence of evangelicals, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), future US Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell’s 1971 MANIFESTO (written for the US Chamber of Commerce), the Goldwater/Nixon SOUTHERN STRATEGY, or the NRA? Neither the ACLU nor The Southern Poverty Law Center, can approach the financial resources of those extreme right-wing organizations. The Democrats cannot hope to match the support the Republicans get from corporate America.

Neither party is immune from the trappings of power and money, but overall, I’d say the Republicans pretty much have a monopoly on the big bucks.

For comparative strengths, look no further than the manner in which a Supreme Court nominee was blocked by the Republicans in the last months of the Obama administration but rushed through literally in the final days of Trump’s term of office. Though patently unfair, the Democrats were powerless to stop McConnell and company from having their way.

While much attention has been given, rightfully so, to the leak of the pending Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade, a decision that has flown under the radar but which has the potential of being far more sinister may have doomed innocent prisoners to execution.

In Shinn v. Ramirez and Jones, the 6^th Amendment is literally STRUCK DOWN.

Justice Sonia Sotomayer, in writing her dissent to the opinion, said, “The court’s decision will leave many people who were convicted in violation of the Sixth Amendment to face incarceration or even execution without any meaningful chance to vindicate their right to counsel.” She said the court negates the federal courts’ authority to safeguard that right and “reduces to rubble” many 6^th Amendment constitutional rights.

Indigent defendants in particular will be hurt the most by the ruling because they are generally defended by court-appointed public attorneys who are underpaid, understaffed, and in many cases, unmotivated. But the argument of ineffective counsel has now been taken away by an out-of-touch Supreme Court.

Don’t be at all surprised if, barely two years after being declared unconstitutional, the court revisits and ultimately reinstates SPLIT JURY VERDICTS, even in capital cases.

Predictably, it took about a nano-second for Republicans in Congress to show their loyalty to the NRA over the lives of children.

Call that a harsh evaluation if you will, but I will not back down on this. Republicans – or those of any stripe – who continue to refuse to address some type of reform to our gun laws are little more than pond scum.

And that includes the entire Louisiana Republican delegation to Congress and virtually every state legislator of either party who continues to take money from the NRA in the name of upholding the sacred 2^nd Amendment.

And while we’re being so damned protective of the 2^nd Amendment, let’s consider a few other things our founding fathers believed and even enacted into law.

White humans had the right to own black humans. In fact, many of those founding fathers were themselves slave owners and one, Thomas Jefferson, even fathered children by one of his slaves.

Whites and whites only were benefactors of Manifest Destiny which was a license to eradicate the western states of Native Americans. In fact, Gen. Phillip Sheridan was quoted in the book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee as saying the only good Indian was a dead Indian. And after we stopped killing them, we attempted to Americanize them, Capt. Richard Pratt said in 1892, “Kill the Indian and save the man.”

• Only land owners, meaning the American aristocracy, could vote.
• Blacks, considered as less than a full person for purposes of congressional representation (three-fifths, according to the U.S. Constitution, no less.
• And blacks certainly could not vote. They did not get that right until the 15^th Amendment, ratified in 1870, gave the right to vote to all men. But it wouldn’t be until the 24^th Amendment was ratified in 1964 which abolished the poll tax, that the right to vote was truly extended to all.
• Women were not allowed to vote or to hold office. It wasn’t until the 19^th Amendment (apparently a little lower in priority than the 2^nd) was finally passed that women finally got the right to vote in…1918. So much for the idea of a representative democracy that those founding fathers established for us.
• And blacks were relegated to their own inferior schools, to their own drinking fountains and waiting rooms at bus stations, their own back-door entrance to cafes where they usually had to eat in the kitchen, their places at the back of the bus (until Rosa Parks decided differently) and their own balcony seats in movie theaters. There were other indignities, too many to list here, but be assured they were all sanctioned by our founding fathers until the Constitution was amended to correct those injustices.

So, you macho, gun-toting, swaggering John Wayne wannabes who look so ridiculous with your sidearms in the Home Depot, do you really think your 2^nd Amendment is really carved in stone? Think again. When it’s determined that a constructional provision’s effects are adversarial to Americans, it is tweaked.

I’m fairly certain the founding fathers never anticipated 30-round clips for an AR-15. By the say, if you need a 30-round clip to bring down Bambi, then you suck big time as a hunter and you really should take up checkers as a hobby.

What I’m saying here, for those gun nuts too thick to comprehend it, is no one needs and assault weapon – for any damn thing.

The one argument I keep hearing from the conceal carry advocates is that the guvmint wants to take our guns so they can rule our lives.

Here’s a news flash, Poindexter. You want your guns so you can stand up to the guvmint and fight for freedom, God, and the American way. (And this is mostly for those who would actually stay and fight and not cut and run at the first sign of gunplay – which is what most of you so-called conceal carry advocates would do). You have your sidearms and your AR-15s and well, that’s about it. The guvmint has all manner of aircraft, bombs, missiles, tanks, rocket launchers, land mines, grenades, and the wherewithal to initiate blockades of all major ports and they have the ability to seize social media and all electronic communications.

You really think you’re going to prevail against that kind of onslaught if it ever comes to that? If so, you’re more ignorant than I give you credit for.

I posted a STORY on Tuesday, only hours before the Uvalde tragedy, in which I named Louisiana politicos who either contributed to the NRA or who were recipients of NRA political contributions. There were a few who showed up on both lists.

I will say it now that if they don’t either demand a refund of their own membership fees or other contributions or if they do not return NRA money contributed to their campaigns, then the blood of 19 Uvalde students and two of their teachers is on their hands.

On May 18, H.R. 350, the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2022, passed the House by a razor-thin vote of 222-203, no thanks to the five cowardly Repugnantcan members in the Louisiana delegation: Steve KKK. Scalise, neophyte Julia Letlow, family values Mike Johnson, Clay “Shoot from the Lip” Higgins, and Garret Graves. The bill fared even worse in the Senate, failing to pass in a 47-47 vote with both Louisiana Senators, John “Foghorn Leghorn” Kennedy and Bill “We Don’t Need Black Women in Louisiana” Cassidy voting no.

Let’s compare the respective reactions to two individuals: Sen. Cancun TED CRUZ and the man who very nearly defeated him for reelection and who now is challenging Gov. Greg Abbott, BETO O’ROURKE, who crashed Abbott’s and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s orchestrated press conference yesterday. On the one hand, Cruz walked away from a legitimate question while O’Rourke, facing stiff opposition from a hostile crowd, challenged Abbott face-to-face.

Also, let’s hear how a couple of Repugnantcans have attempted to deflect blame for the slaughter of those 21 people: First, there’s Texas Congressman RONNY JACKSON, who put the blame on rap music, video games (neither of which I particularly care for but my distaste doesn’t extend to blaming them for senseless butchery), and the Internet. But the best deflection – and the most inaccurate and by far, the most stupid – comes from Arizona U.S. Rep. PAUL GOSAR, who labeled the shooter, Salvatore Ramos, as “a transsexual leftist illegal alien,” an absolutely absurd allegation which conspiracy nut Alex Jones picked up and ran with.

Problem is, Gosar, a fool in his own right, picked up his misinformation from social media when another conspiracy nut (their numbers are staggering) stumbled across a photo of transsexual Sam from Georgia who bore a resemblance to Ramos. And that, by Gawd, was all it took for the rumor to go viral that the transsexual was Ramos and for Gosar to latch onto it as gospel.

The NRA is holding its convention in Houston this weekend and the former guy is scheduled to speak, along with Abbott and Cruz. Of course, no guns will be allowed in the room with Trump as per the Secret Service.

So, bottom line: We are burdened with far too many nutcases out there who find it far too easy to purchase assault weapons to kill far too many children while far too many spineless politicians react with far too many “thoughts and prayers” and far too little action because they are whoring themselves out to an NRA a corrupt organization charged with money laundering, insurance fraud, misuse of $64 million of the organization’s money, and of illegal ties with Russia.

But as long as some of that money flows into certain political campaigns, all we’re going to get is, “Now is not the time to discuss gun legislation.”

What a pathetic bunch of gutless wonders.

“This (yesterday’s mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in which 19 elementary students and two teachers were killed) is not a political issue”

–Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick at today’s press conference.

Then, Mr. Patrick, please tell us what the bloody hell is it when political whores choose NRA money over common sense.

Since 2010, there have been 152 153 mass shootings in the US, including those last week in Buffalo, Laguna Woods, California, and one in CHICAGO which escaped media attention but in which two died and another eight were wounded.

And those don’t include the innumerable one-on-one shootings that occur with increasing frequency. In Baton Rouge and New Orleans, like Chicago, we’ve become so desensitized that it’s only news now when there is not a shooting reported on the local news.

But an update of this story, posted earlier today, does include the sickening, nauseating shooting at an elementary school in Texas today that took the lives of 19 children, two teachers, and the shooter, who was taken down by Border Patrol agents.

Let that sink in. nineteen elementary school students who had done nothing to anyone and two teachers who was most likely grossly underpaid and underappreciated even as they tried to shield the kids from danger.

In those 152 153 incidents, 825 847 people have died and another 1,293 were wounded.

Many of the victims of the other 152 shootings were also children.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who, along with Donald Trump and Greg Abbott, is scheduled to speak at the NRA’s annual convention in Houston this weekend, predictably parroted the sacred 2nd Amendment right to bear arms (apparently including AR-15s, which today’s killer used in his assault. Well, Ted Cruz can go straight to hell along with those shooters who take innocent lives.

All of which kind of makes one wonder where all those open carry zealots were during those shootings. I thought the theory was the best way to stop the bad guys with guns was with good guys with guns.

But apparently, all those open carry advocates who strut around Walmart and Starbucks with their holstered sidearms to put their machismo on display for all to see just weren’t around when the killings took place.

Or maybe they just ran for cover when the shooting started.

Since 2010, Louisiana had 193 candidates for political office incumbents and other public officials who contributed more than $171,000 to the National Rifle Association (NRA), the singular opponent of reform of the ease with which Americans are able to purchase assault weapons, the armaments of choice for many of the perpetrators of the most senseless attacks.

And it’s worth mentioning that every penny of those contributions came from campaign funds, money given by campaign supporters, and not from personal bank accounts.

It’s also worth noting that every single one of the contributors bears a share of the responsibility for the needless killing that has taken place over that period. While they obviously did not bear the weapons used in the butchery, they did contribute to the mindset that has gripped this country that every slight, every perceived injustice, can be resolved with a damned gun – even if it involves the killing of innocent second-, third-, and fourth-grade children.

And “thoughts and prayers” won’t cut it anymore. Neither will saying, “This is not the time to discuss gun control.” We’re damned tired of hearing that crap. It’s time to drop the partisan bitching and act like the leaders you pretend to be. (Not that anyone expects that to happen, of course.)

Many of the “contributions” were for NRA membership dues.

STATE ETHICS LAWS allow for the payment of certain membership dues from campaign funds so long as the memberships are necessary for office holders to “stay in touch with their constituencies and/or to enhance their professional standing.” These memberships include the National Conference of State Legislatures, Common Cause, Public Affairs Research Council, etc. But paying for membership in the NRA might be considered a stretch.

Other payments appeared to simply be largesse to keep politicos in the good graces of the NRA.

Donors to the NRA include:

• Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Jeff Hughes – $8500;
• Louisiana State Supreme Court Justice Jay McCallum – $1040;
• Gov. John Bel Edwards – $700;
• Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff and brother to Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, Daniel Edwards – $800;
• Vernon Parish Sheriff Sam Craft – $3600;
• Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard – $3270
• Union Parish Sheriff Dusty Gates – $1500;
• Richland Parish Sheriff Gary Gilley – $3315;
• Allen Parish Sheriff Douglas Hebert, III – $3400;
• Retired Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Jerry Larpenter – $1400;
• Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto, III – $1500;
• Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Tony Mancuso – $8230;
• Grant Parish Sheriff Steven John McCain – $965
• Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator – $950;
• DeSoto Parish Sheriff Jayson Richardson – $2750;
• Ouachita Parish Sheriff Jay Russell – $1500;
• St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith – $3400;
• Retired Lincoln Parish Sheriff Mike Stone – $455;
• Former Jefferson Parish Chief Deputy Sheriff Craig Taffaro, sentenced to five years’ probation after his conviction on six counts of tax evasion, five counts of filing false returns and a single count of failing to file a tax return – $105;
• Former State Rep. Andy Anders – $1490;
• Former State Rep. Chris Broadwater (R-Hammond) – $6600;
• State Sen. Cameron Henry (R-Metairie) – $3084;
• Former Calcasieu Parish District Attorney John DeRosier – $2900;
• Calcasieu-Beauregard parishes District Attorney Stephen Dwight – $725;
• Allen Parish Tax Assessor Richad Earl – $480;
• Former State Sen. Dale Erdy – $3050;
• Former State Rep. Jim Fannin – $2270;
• Public Service Commissioner Jimmy Field – $310;
• State Rep. Michael “Gabe” Firment (R-Pollock) – $630;
• Walker Mayor Bobby Font – $1600;
• Retired Webster Parish assessor Morris Guin – $1450;
• 15^th JDC District Attorney candidate Michael Harson – $1200;
• Former State Sen. and current Chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Commission Ronnie Johns – $1750;
• Former State Rep. Kay Katz (R-Monroe) – $293
• Former State Treasurer and current US Sen. John Kennedy – $376
• State Sen. Beth Mizell (R-Franklinton) – $475;
• Dwayne Munch, assistant to Jefferson Parish President
• 21^st JDC District Attorney Scott Perrilloux – $2300;
• Louisiana Wildlife & Fisheries Commissioner Harlie Reynolds of Dubberly – $845;
• State Rep. nee State Sen. and concealed carry advocate Neil Riser (R-Columbia) – $1325;
• Retired general counsel for the Louisiana Ethics Board Gray Sexton – $2000;
• Livingston Parish Assessor Jeff Taylor – $1375;
• State Sen. Mack “Bodi” White (R-Central) – $1600;
• Slidell Mayor Freddie Drennan – $2510;
• Former State Sen. Conrad Appel (R-Metairie) – $175;
• Former State Sen. Robert Adley (R-Bossier City) – $350;
• Former State Rep. Johnny Berthelot (R-Gonzales) – $700;
• Former State Sen. A.G. Crowe (R-Pearl River) – $125;
• Former State Sen. Gerald Long (R-Natchitoches) – $190;
• Former East Carroll Parish Sheriff Mark Shumate (ironically prohibited from possessing a firearm after pleading guilty to hunting with a convicted felon) – $3000;
• Former State Rep. M.J. “Mert” Smiley (R-St. Amant) – $240;
• State Rep. nee State Sen. nee State Rep. Francis Thompson (D-Delhi) – $110;
• Former US Sen. David Vitter (R-Metairie) – $175;
• House Speaker Clay Schexnayder (R-Gonzales) – $350;
• State Rep. Alan Seabaugh (R-Shreveport) – $850.

For some, their contributions appear to have been sound investments. Crowe, for example, received a $500 contribution from the NRA in exchange for his $125 contribution to the organization.

For his paltry $50 contribution in 2018, Attorney General Jeff Landry received a whopping $2500 back in the form of a 2020 campaign contribution from NRA.

Mizell’s $475 contribution to NRA was almost a wash as she received $500 from the NRA.

Schexnayder did a little better, getting $500 in 2020 after contributing $350 in 2012.

Others not so much. Bodi White, for example, received $500 in 2011 for his $1600 paid to NRA in 2011, 2012, and 2013.

Cameron Henry did even worse, receiving only $500 in 2019 in return for his $3084 contributed to the organization.

Likewise, Riser, who contributed $1325 over four years (2013, 2014, 2015, and 2019), received only $1000 in 2019.

Sheriff Lopinto, for his $1500 in 2018 and 2019 contributions totaling $1500, received only a $500 campaign contribution in 2015.

Seabaugh received only $250 in 2011 in exchange for his $850 paid to NRA in 2011 and 2020.

And while the NRA stiffed all the others listed above, it did open up its checkbook to some:

• US Rep. Steve Scalise – $1000;
• State Senate President Page Cortez (R-Lafayette) – $1000;
• State Rep. Sherman Mack (R-Albany) – $500;
• Former State Commissioner of Elections Suzanne Haik Terrell – $500;
• State Sen. Gary Smith (D-Norco) – $750;
• Former State Rep. and US Senate candidate Louis “Woody” Jenkins (R-Central) – $5000;
• Former State Sen. Danny Martiny (R-Metairie) – $1500;
• Former State Sen. James David Cain (R-Dry Creek) – $2000;
• State Sen. Barrow Peacock (R-Bossier City) – $1500.

And each of those must search his or her conscience to learn if those campaign contributions were worth the price paid in Texas today.

Way back in November 2010, when I launched this blog, my very first story was about a hidden legislative perk: Pentagon Barracks housing. In case you missed it then or in case you’d like to re-read it, you can do so by clicking HERE.

Back then, the highest rent paid by a legislator for what amounted to prestigious apartments in a prime location was a whopping $565 for a 1,764-square-foot apartment – double the size of the next largest (10 units that are 882 square feet each).

Anyone know of a 1700-square-foot apartment (or house) anywhere in the greater Baton Rouge area that rents for $565 per month? Didn’t think so.

Fast forward 12 years to 2022 and we find via a public records request that the highest rent paid is $500 per month by (ahem) that paragon of virtue, House Speaker Clay Schexnayder(R-Gonzales). That’s right, the rent over a 12-year period that saw prices of everything else spike, the highest rent for a Pentagon Barracks apartment actually decreased – and Rep. Schexnayder was the fortunate beneficiary.

Here is a complete list of House members who have Pentagon apartments:

And here is the list of Senators with apartments (reduce to 50% by clicking – sign for full image) Note: Francis Thompson is a former senator now serving in the House:

On the Senate side, some members actually doubled up to share costs on those exorbitant $370-per-month units. They were Sens. Jay Luneau (D-Alexandria) and Gary Smith, Jr. (D-Norco), Ed Price (D-Gonzales) and Gary Carter (D-New Orleans), Kirk Talbot (R-River Ridge) and Cameron Henry (R-Metairie), Jimmy Harris (D-New Orleans and Joseph Bouie (D-New Orleans), and Barry Milligan (R-Shreveport) and Jeremy Stine (R-Lake Charles). Who says politicians can’t be thrifty – especially when it’s their own money?

But let us return for the moment to Schexnayder, who, among other things, has sold his soul to the oil and gas industry – you know, those people who are raking in record profits by jacking your gasoline prices up because…well, because they can. (They blame Biden for shutting off a pipeline that was never built, but I just can’t get around those record profits. I can’t help but notice they haven’t given him credit for enriching stockholders.)

A member of the LOUISIANA REPUGNANTCAN FRAUD SQUAD, the Cliff Clavin LOOKALIKE was initially backed by Bobby Jindal. He recently show his true colors in a fine piece of reporting by Baton Rouge Advocate reporters Tyler Bridges and Sam Karlin.

The two journalists REPORTED that Schexnayder eschewed a state-approved contractor to perform renovation work on his Pentagon apartment in favor of hiring his two stepsons, Jonathan and Beau Diez, to perform the work and then tried to hand the bill to the state.

Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne refused to honor the bill for $48,462 and Schexnayder ended up paying it himself. It was immediately unclear whether the payment came from Schexnayder’s personally or whether it was paid by his campaign because the Ethics Commission’s campaign contribution/expenditure report is not current as yet.

But it is clear that Schexnayder skirted several state ethics laws in awarding his stepsons the contract. First of all, they are not licensed contractors, a condition for obtaining any state contract in excess of $50,000. Second, the cost came in just under that amount, although the costs of materials, if not included in that amount, could pushed the total well past $50,000. Thirdly, Schexnayder dodged ethics regulations regarding hiring family members because stepchildren, under the ethics regulations, are not considered immediate family, thus are exempted from nepotism prohibitions.

As a crowning touch, as it were, Schexnayder’s wife Phoebe purchased new appliances for the apartment and purchased them from Gorman Brothers in Prairieville. She just happens to be employed by (wait for it) …Gorman Brothers in Prairieville.

But that’s not the end of the Schexnayder saga. Not by any means. Louisiana is simply too rife with crass politics for that the director to yell “Print” for this scene.

The same two reporters WROTE the following day that Schexnayder had slashed the Division of Administration (DOA) budget by $3.3 million as retaliation for Dardenne’s refusal to pay Schexnayder’s stepsons’ company, DAPA Enterprises, for the renovation work.

Schexnayder was full of bluster over the issue, claiming that DOA uses the Pentagon Barracks “as a political tool.”

Speaking of political tools, Schexnayder took that $3.3 million that he cut from DOA and gave it to the lieutenant governor’s office.

Meanwhile, he is pushing his House Bill 756 hard. That bill would move the Pentagon Barracks, the State Capitol, the Capitol Annex, the Old Arsenal Magazine Museum and the adjoining grounds from DOA to the lieutenant governor’s office.

And oh, it seems that Schexnayder is indicating that he plans to run for lieutenant governor in 2023.

Louisiana politics at its best.