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U.S. Sen. John Kennedy’s performance during Sally Yates’ testimony Monday fully qualifies him for governor’s office

May 8, 2017 by tomaswell

After long and careful research, I’ve come to the undeniable conclusion that Jeff Sadow and U.S. Sen. John Kennedy are one and the same.

One, Sadow, is an associate professor of political Science at LSU-Shreveport who writes a weekly column for the Baton Rouge Advocate while masquerading alternately as a psychologist, a theologian, or an economist.

To paraphrase Bon Jovi, he gives conservatism a bad name.

Kennedy, on the other hand, is a political opportunist who masquerades alternately as State Treasurer, U.S. Senator, and Governor and gives Trumpism a bad name.

Sadow, in his latest column on Sunday, implied that one of the advantages of capital punishment was that it served as an impetus for forgiveness and redemption for the condemned who, faced with imminent mortality, often repents and turns to Jesus in his final hours in order to punch his ticket to an eternity of strumming a harp while walking the streets paved of gold.

Sadow obviously didn’t take into account those poor people on death row who might be of the Jewish faith. Or even Islamic, Hindu or Buddhist.

But Sadow doesn’t hold franchise rights to banalities. Nor does he hold any exclusive rights to distorting facts.

Unless he is, in fact, John Neely Kennedy incognito.

Let’s roll back the calendar to 1999, the year then-State Secretary of Revenue John Kennedy was elected State Treasurer. During his campaign there was that infamous TV ad in which Kennedy boasted that during his stint as revenue secretary, “I decreased paper work for small businesses by 150 percent.”

That sounds pretty impressive until you put the pencil to it. You can increase costs by 150 percent; you can increase the crime rate by 150 percent, you can theoretically increase enrollment in a college or university by 150 percent, and if you go from 30 mph to 75 mph on the interstate, you have increased your speed 150 percent.

But you cannot, under any circumstances reduce anything, except the temperature, 150 percent (if, say, you go from 10 degrees above zero to five degrees below zero, that might be considered a 150 percent decrease). Otherwise, once you reduce anything, eggs, turnips, tires, by 100 percent, you’re at zero.

And remember: Kennedy was running for State Treasurer. He was asking us to entrust him with the state’s finances.

Oh, the irony.

Makes about as much sense as sending men to death row so they can more readily be converted to Christianity.

So he gets the treasurer’s job and manages to hold onto it for 17 years until he sets his sights on the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by David Vitter in 2016.

To win that seat, he falls back on two incredibly, yea, I say unto you, unbelievably, lame phrases in his TV ad blitz. The first was when he channeled Donald Trump when he said of his prospects of supporting Obamacare, “I’d rather drink weedkiller.”

The other was when he said, as the TV ad simultaneously displayed his wedding photo, “I believe that love is the answer, but you oughta carry a handgun just in case.”

What the hell does that even mean?

Believe it or not, that silly crap swept him into office where he promptly set his sights on the 2019 governor’s election.

Ordinarily, I’d say keep him in Washington, out of sight, out of mind.

Except he just won’t allow that to happen. He keeps reminding us that he’s hanging around, waiting and criticizing anything with John Bel Edwards’s fingerprints on it. Edwards could introduce a bill that would guarantee full employment and the best-educated children and the best-paid teachers in America and Kennedy would find fault with it.

On one recent occasion in that historic fraternity called the U.S. Senate, he reached back into his old treasurer chest and repeated that gawd-awful love and handgun quote in a committee hearing, prefacing his homespun philosophy by saying (incorrectly) that it was “an old saying we have back home.”

It is no such thing. I never heard that asinine expression until his Vitter-financed TV ads invaded my living room about this time last year.

Then, on Monday (May 8) he pulled a couple more embarrassingly stupid remarks out of the lower part of his anatomy. (It had to be that area doing the talking; surely his head knows better.)

Already having sold his heart and soul to Trump (“I was for Trump before he was nominated and I’m for him now” was another of his campaign proclamations), he made a complete fool of himself during Monday’s testimony of former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

And the saddest part is he didn’t even know it, didn’t have a clue.

In an institution sometimes compared to clowns, he was Emmett Kelly, Red Skelton, Bozo, Krusty and Clarabell rolled into one. He (and Louisiana) would have been better off had he chosen Marcel Marceau to impersonate.

Yates, who was fired by Trump for refusing to enforce his first immigration order (which was quickly thrown out by the courts), was testifying about conversations between former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and the Russian ambassador to the U.S. She said she feared the conversations (conversations about which Trump was told nearly three weeks before he was forced to fire Flynn—only after the Washington Post broke the story) compromised U.S. security.

The fact that he was about as uninformed about the issue as was Trump (until told by Steve Bannon, apparently) that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican or in his belief that Andrew Jackson could have prevented the Civil War, didn’t deter Kennedy from sounding like some country boy come to town for the very first time.

Author and editor Adam Weinstein felt compelled to tweet on Monday: “I didn’t know a single thing about Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) before this hearing, but thanks to this hearing I know he’s embarrassingly dumb.”

Josh Marshall, editor and publisher of Talking Points Memo, tweeted this comment: “From Kennedy to Yates: ‘I mean this with all due respect Ms Yates but I’m going to say something really stupid now.'”

Uh, yeah…No doubt.

Finally, this tweet from John Harwood, chief Washington correspondent for CNBC, of a Kennedy-Yates exchange during Monday’s committee hearing: “GOP Sen Kennedy upbraiding Yates on travel ban: ‘who appointed you to Supreme Court?’ Yates: ‘I took my responsibilities seriously as acting AG.'”

Seriously, John? That’s the best you’ve got? “Who appointed you to the Supreme Court?”

You’re not concerned about the substance of her testimony which revealed that national security could have been compromised by Flynn?

The fact that your boy Trump kept Flynn on for 18 days after learning he had lied about his conversation with the Russian didn’t raise a red flag for you?

You only wanted to know who appointed Yates to the Supreme Court?

Good God.

You’re fully qualified to be our next governor.

And the same people who lapped up your weedkiller and handgun lines will, in all probability, fall over themselves to vote for you.

 

Posted in Politics | 47 Comments »

FEMA, politics and insurance form unholy alliance as storms cost policyholders, US taxpayers $10 billion in padded costs

May 4, 2017 by tomaswell

To get past those cute but misleading TV ads, and arrive at a better understanding of just how the insurance industry really works, you need to understand first, that insurance companies are in the business to make money for their stockholders.

That’s it. There is no second. The policyholder is never taken into consideration when there is a claim. The mindset for the insurance company, no matter what name or logo is on its letterhead, is driven by one overriding question: How can we get out of this obligation with the least cost to shareholders?

It matters not one whit whether it is life, property & casualty, auto, or health insurance. The company’s very purpose for existing is not to see that policyholders are made whole but how the payout on claims may be minimized so as to inflict the least monetary damage to the company’s bottom line.

Do you think that life insurance claim that was slow paying off was simply to investigate whether or not the beneficiary had a part in the insured’s death? While that may be a part of it, particularly in cases of suspicious circumstances (such as falling off a cliff during a hike in Bryce Canyon), there may well be other factors involved, such as delaying payment as long as possible in order to accrue as much return on the investment of premiums as possible.

You didn’t really think the companies just leave that money lying around waiting for the insured to die, did you? No, it’s invested heavily in all sorts of things in order to earn money for the company.  https://www.paxforpeace.nl/stay-informed/news/insurers-invest-nearly-7-billion-in-controversial-arms-trade

And it’s your money they do it with.

Did you ever wonder why your auto insurance company would suggest a particular body shop for repairs to your car after an accident? Why not the body shop of the dealer from whom the car was purchased? It could be—and often is—because the recommended body shop uses what is called “after-market” parts for repairs. That means the parts are generally inferior to those of the dealership’s original parts and can diminish the resale value of your vehicle. Did you ever notice that after repairs at some of those shops, the quarter panel replacement no longer fits flush with the original undamaged part of your car? Or you have air leaks (or worse, water leaks) around the replacement door that weren’t there before? That would be the likely result of after-market parts. http://www.repairerdrivennews.com/2015/02/12/anderson-cooper-360-piece-attacks-insurers-for-steering-parts-video/

You’re not happy, but your insurance company is ecstatic. https://louisianavoice.com/2014/05/08/insurers-auto-repair-tactics-only-part-of-problem-jindal-old-firm-mckinsey-co-coached-katrina-on-claims-delays-denials/

And who hasn’t experienced battles with health insurance companies that refused to cover a certain type of treatment because it’s considered “experimental.” Now, because of changes in the Office of Group Benefits instituted by the Jindal administration, state retirees who move out of state may find themselves no longer covered because their physicians are “out of network,” meaning they are non-participants in OGB’s coverage plan. Sorry, we don’t have any doctors in Arkansas or Mississippi who are part of the plan. https://louisianavoice.com/2014/08/25/louisianavoice-learns-of-jindal-plan-to-force-state-retirees-out-of-ogb-by-raising-members-premiums-cutting-benefits/

But by far, the most subtle method of claim manipulation is in the property & casualty field, namely your homeowners and flood insurance programs.

As we wrote in April, insurers will prepare repair estimates at two costs, depending on whether the damage to a home was caused by wind or flood. Repair estimates generally run much less on wind damage claims than for floods—even though the same material is used on each claim.

That is because the companies themselves are on the hook for any wind damage while flood damage, if covered at all, is the responsibility of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), claims for which are paid by the federal government, i.e. taxpayers.

But that’s not to say Allstate is averse to handling flood claims. Quite the contrary. Allstate, in fact, has had an arrangement with NFIP under which NFIP Allstate is paid for handling flood claims.

Accordingly, if Allstate found itself on the hook for wind damages, it would use a lower formula for paying claimants but if it determined the damages were caused by flooding, a second, more expensive separate formula would be employed.

In one example we found, damage was determined to be from wind and Allstate paid 83 cents per square foot for removal and replacement of drywall (sheetrock). In another claim from the same storm and in the same part of the state, it was determined to be flood damage and that same dry wall removal and replacement—paid for by American taxpayers—was $1.53 per square foot, a difference of 70 cents per square foot. Painting that drywall cost Allstate 35 cents per square foot for the wind-damage claim but cost NFIP (taxpayers) 58 cents per square foot for the flood damage claim.

That was not an anomaly. In comparing two 2011 claims from Tropical Storm Lee in southwest Louisiana, LouisianaVoice found that damage to one home was determined to be from wind. The cost of removing and replacing drywall (sheetrock) was estimated at $1.75 per square foot and painting of the drywall was estimated at 55 cents per square foot. That, of course was the cost to the insurance company, in this case, Colonial.

A second claim only a few miles away, also the result of Lee, was also for a home covered by Colonial. In this case, the damaged was determined to be the result of flooding, so the claim now belonged to NFIP. The estimate to remove and repair drywall for this home was $2.47 per square foot and the cost of painting that same drywall was estimated at 87 cents per square foot.

Assuming an area of 1000 square feet, you’re looking at a cost differential of $720 for removal and replacement of the drywall and a difference of $320 for painting, or an overall cost increase of $1,040 for repairs to a flood-damaged home compared to the wind-damaged structure.

By the time, other costs are factored in—costs for such things as replacing and painting molding, baseboards, doors and door frames, replacing electrical outlets and door hardware, removing and replacing windows and window trim, painting window frames, replacement of carpeting and/or wood flooring, the difference between a wind and a flood claim can be enormous.

And that doesn’t even include one other factor that goes into all estimates—overhead and profit (O&P) for the contractor. There has to be a profit for the contractor. That’s understandable; no one would expect him to repair your house for nothing.

But like the repairs themselves, the percentage of overhead and profit has a wide variance, depending on whether or not the damage is determined to be from wind or flooding.

LouisianaVoice has obtained three boxes of claims documents that not only reflect damning evidence of NFIP gouging on the costs of specific repairs, but in the allowance for contractor O&P, as well.

Built-in allowances for O&P for wind claims paid by the individual companies range around 20-29 percent. But for flood claims, paid by the American taxpayer through the NFIP, that O&P can range from 48 to 51 percent, according to documents in our possession.

For example, going back to 2005, O&P for one wind-damage claim was estimated at 28 percent for a Mississippi wind claim from 2005’s Hurricane Katrina. But flood damage from the same hurricane resulted in contractor O&P of 51 percent. Both estimates were done by Allstate.

Wind damage from Hurricane Ida in Texas in 2009 resulted in a claim in which contractor O&P was 29 percent, according to Allstate damage estimates. But when damage from that same storm was determined to be from flooding, the contractor O&P shot up quickly, to 49 percent, Allstate documents show.

But Allstate and Colonial were not the only practitioners of such claim manipulation—not by a long shot. Here’s a story about how the game was played in the same manner by STATE FARM.

Project these tactics over a large, densely-populated area like that destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and at least one estimate of the increased cost from “padding” both specific damages and contractor overhead and profit has taxpayers in the two states being ripped off to the tune of approximately $10 billion.

And while strict insurance fraud laws are on the books that could result in a prison sentence if you so much as included a non-existent flat screen television on your claim, there apparently is no one minding the store to guard against raping the taxpayer-funded NFIP.

And as long as the insurance companies continue to pour money into the campaign coffers of members of Congress, state legislators and regulators, you can be sure there will never be.

Perfect.

Posted in Business, Congress, Corruption, Ethics, Fraud, Legislature, Legislators, Politicians, Taxes, Waste | 9 Comments »

Here’s a novel idea for all politicians, federal down to local: drop the Democrat, Republican labels and just do your jobs

May 3, 2017 by tomaswell

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.

Posted in Campaign Contributions, Civil Service, Congress, Elections, Ethics, Finances, Governor's Office, Legislature, Legislators, Lobbyist, Politicians, Retirement | 26 Comments »

Legislature continues to dodge its fiduciary responsibility but you can’t say it hasn’t been a ‘Commend Performance’

April 27, 2017 by tomaswell

Legislators continue to whistle past the fiscal graveyard as the state’s highways and bridges are crumbling, public education is starving, state workers are looking at yet another year without a raise, the unfunded liabilities of the state’s retirement systems continue to grow and colleges and universities are looking at the hopeless abyss of $1.7 billion in deferred maintenance of physical plant. (A school-by-school breakdown of that deferred maintenance at the state’s higher education institutions can be found HERE in the latest post of ulyankee.)

Like a spoiled child who refuses to listen to parents who are equally reluctant to discipline him, the Legislature continues to play the artful dodger in meeting its fiduciary responsibilities. As pitiful a governor as Bobby Jindal was, he only did what the House and Senate allowed him to do. And while all those corporate tax breaks looked great to LABI, ALEC, lobbyists, and the generous corporate campaign contributors, they did little to prop up the economic structure of the state or to meet the responsibilities for education, roads, services for the mentally ill, children’s services, state employees, teachers, the sick and the state’s low-income citizens.

And now, with a real opportunity to do something about the myriad of problems, it appears legislators will again punt by categorically rejecting any progressive legislation while rolling over for their corporate donors.

It would be one thing to resist the administration’s less than confidence-inspiring proposals if an alternative, workable plan were offered up. But when is the last time anyone has seen that coming from either chamber? (Hint: Never.)

When a baseball or football team performs as miserably, it’s always the coach who’s fired—because it’s impractical to fire the entire team. When the legislature fails to do its job, it’s the governor who’s thrown under the bus for the failure to accomplish anything toward solving the problems.

But that’s not to say the legislature has been standing idly by. For from it. The 2017 legislative session has thus far turned in a bona fide commend performance for Louisiana’s senators and representatives who apparently never saw someone or something to commend they didn’t like or, lacking that, to seize the opportunity to designate some special day.

Here’s a partial example of what your elected representatives and senators have accomplished 17 days into the 60-day session:

  • SB 29 (ALARIO): Recognizes April 19, 2017, as University of Louisiana System Day at the Louisiana Legislature.
  • SB 23 (ALARIO): Designates the new bridge across Goose Bayou on LA 45 in Jefferson Parish as the “Jules Nunez Bridge”
  • HCR 44 (AMADEE): Commends the Louisiana State University at Alexandria men’s basketball team for its outstanding achievements in its first three seasons
  • HR 32 (BARRAS): Designates Tuesday, April 18, 2017, as LSU Day at the state capitol
  • HR 48 (BARRAS): Recognizes Wednesday, April 19, 2017, as University of Louisiana System day at the state capitol (Sorry, dude, Alario beat you to it.)
  • HR 60 (BARRAS):  Designates Wednesday, April 26, 2017, as Liquefied Natural Gas Day at the state capitol (We already have too much hot air at the Capitol, why do we need gas, too?)
  • SCR 6 (BARROW): Designates Tuesday, April 11, 2017, as AKA Day at the capitol.
  • SR 11 (BARROW): Commends Tiffany Dickerson on her reign as Mrs. Baton Rouge 2016.
  • SR 12 (BARROW): Commends Tanya Crowe on her reign as Miss Baton Rouge USA 2016
  • SR 13 (BARROW): Commends Kimberly Maria Ducote on her reign as Miss Teen Baton Rouge USA 2016.
  • SR 14 (BARROW): Commends Brittany Arbor Shipp on winning the 2016 Mrs. Louisiana America Pageant.
  • SR 16 (BARROW): Commends Stacey Richard on her accomplishments and contributions as executive director of the Mrs. Louisiana Pageant, the Miss Baton Rouge Pageant, and the Miss Capital City Pageant.
  • HCR 39 (BERTHELOT): Designates Wednesday, May 3, 2017, as LMA Municipal Day at the state capitol
  • SR 47 (WESLEY BISHIP):  Commends XS Martial Arts Dojo and Save One Now for presenting the 10th Annual Crescent City Kumite being held on May 20, 2017. (Whatever.)
  • SCRs 21-24 (BOUDREAUX): Commends Marion Overton White, Clifton Lemelle Sr., Gloria Nye, PhD, and Patrick Fontenot for their induction into the St. Landry Parish Democratic Party Hall of Fame.
  • HR 22 (BROADWATER): Commends the Louisiana Athletic Trainers Association and designates Wednesday, April 19, 2017, as LATA Day at the state capitol
  • HCR 50 (CARMODY): Recognizes May 2017 as Building Safety Month
  • HR 29, 30 (CARPENTER): Recognizes Tuesday, April 18, 2017, asPhi Beta Sigma & Zeta Phi Beta Day at the state capitol
  • HCR 41 (GARY CARTER): Commends several Tulane University students upon winning NASA’s BIG Idea Challenge competition (is that the way the commendation reads: “several Tulane students”?)
  • HB 297 (ROBBY CARTER):  Provides relative to membership on the Sweet Potato Advertising and Development Commission (More proof we have too damn many board and commissions.)
  • SR 26 (TROY CARTER): Recognizes April 23, 2017, as International Children’s Day.
  • SR 59 (CHABERT): Recognizes April 27, 2017, as Louisiana Society of Professional Surveyors Day at the Louisiana State Capitol.
  • SR 9 (CLAITOR): Designates April 17, 2017, as Kappa Beta Delta Day.
  • SCR 44 (COLOMB): Commends the Public Administration Institute Student Association (PAISA) at Louisiana State University and recognizes April 13, 2017, as the 19th annual PAISA Day at the Louisiana Legislature.
  • HCR 22 (COUSSAN): Commends the St. Thomas More Catholic High School football team on winning the 2016 Division II state championship
  • HR 37 (COX): Commends William Hymes on his significant accomplishments
  • HR 33 (DAVIS): Commends LSU Physicist Gabriela Gonzalez for her work in a groundbreaking scientific discovery (again: does the commendation say simply for “a groundbreaking scientific discovery”?)
  • HR 31 (DEVILLIER): Commends Louisiana State University Eunice for its efforts to offer more educational opportunities for the state’s residents (Isn’t that why it exists? So we commend institutions for doing their job now?)
  • HCR 23 (DWIGHT): Commends the South Beauregard girls’ basketball team upon winning the 2017 Class 3A state championship
  • HCR 5 (EMERSON): Amends and repeals administrative licensing requirements relative to alternative hair and alternative hair design (Your guess is as good as ours).
  • HR 27 (FOIL): Designates Monday, April 17, 2017, as DASH Diet Day at the state capitol (If this will help rid the capitol of all those fat cats down there, I’m all for it.)
  • HR 34 (FRANKLIN): Commends Shelton Dunaway for his musical achievements and recognizes him as a southwest La. cultural treasure (For those who might not know, he was a member of Cookie and the Cupcakes that had the wonder song Matilda.)
  • HB 612 (GLOVER): Provides for compensation for wrongful conviction and imprisonment (This from a man who, while mayor of Shreveport, told a person that once an officer pulls him over, he has no rights.)
  • HB 191 (GUINN): Changes the name of the “Quail Unlimited” prestige license plate to the “Quail Forever” prestige license plate (Sigh.)
  • HB 243 (HALL): Changes “school bus driver” to “school bus operator” in Title 17 (Please tell us this is a joke.)
  • HCR 40 (HALL): Commends Peabody Magnet High School boys’ basketball team upon winning the 2017 Class 3A state championship
  • HCR 20 (HENSGENS): Commends the Gueydan High School girls’ basketball team upon winning the 2017 Class A state championship
  • SCR 17 (HEWITT): Commends the Slidell Republican Women’s Club on its 50th anniversary.
  • SCR 20 (HEWITT): Designates the first week of December as Shop Local Artists Week in Louisiana.
  • SR 37 (HEWITT): Recognizes the Junior Auxiliary of Slidell and designates April 2-8, 2017, as “Junior Auxiliary Week” at the Louisiana Senate.
  • HR 4 (HOFFMAN): Recognizes April 11, 2017, as Louisiana Society of Anesthesiologists Day at the state capitol
  • HB 214 (HORTON):  Prohibits the roadside sale of domestic rabbits (Seriously?)
  • HR 56 (HUNTER): Recognizes Wednesday, May 3, 2017, as Omega Psi Phi Day at the state capitol
  • HR 21 (HUVAL): Recognizes Monday, May 15, 2017, as I-49 South Day at the state capitol
  • HR 67 (HUVAL): Commends the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival and designates Thursday, April 27, 2017, as Crawfish Festival Day at the state capitol
  • HR 9 (JAMES): Commends Kimberly Maria Ducote of Mansura on being named Miss Teen Baton Rouge USA
  • HR 10 (JAMES): Commends Tanya Crowe of Amite on being named Miss Baton Rouge USA
  • HR 11 (JAMES):  Commends Tiffany Dickerson on being named Mrs. Baton Rouge
  • HR 12 (JAMES): Commends Brittany Arbor Shipp on being named Mrs. Louisiana America of Baton Rouge
  • HR 13 (JAMES): Commends Stacey Richard, executive director for the Miss Baton Rouge and the Mrs. Louisiana America pageant organizations
  • HR 44 (JEFFERSON): Commends Coach Eric Dooley of Grambling State University for being named the American Football Coaches Association Football Championship Subdivision Assistant Coach of the Year
  • HR 52 (JEFFERSON): Commends Grambling State University for winning the 2016 Southwestern Athletic Conference Football Championship and the 2016 Historically Black College and University National Football Championship
  • HCR 33 (JENKINS): Commends Dr. G. E. Ghali for his leadership as chancellor of LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport
  • SCR 10 (JOHNS): Recognizes May 3, 2017, as Purple and Teal Day in the state of Louisiana.
  • SR 44 (JOHNS): Recognizes Wednesday, April 26, 2017, as the fifth annual Liquefied Natural Gas Day at the state capitol
  • HR 28 (JORDAN): Commends ExxonMobil and recognizes April 17, 2017, as ExxonMobil Day at the Louisiana State Capitol
  • SR 42 (LAFLEUR): Designates Monday, April 24, 2017, as Tourism Day at the state capitol.
  • HCR 42 (TERRY LANDRY): Commends Mt. Calvary Baptist Church of New Iberia on its one hundred forty-second anniversary
  • HR 36 (LEBAS): Commends the Louisiana Physical Therapy Association and designates Tuesday, April 18, 2017, as Louisiana Physical Therapy Association Day at the state capitol
  • HCR 25 (LEGER): Recognizes Wednesday, April 19, 2017, as Louisiana A+ Schools Day at the state capitol
  • HCR 29 (LEGER): Designates Wednesday, April 19, 2017, as New Orleans Day at the legislature
  • HR 17 (LEOPOLD): Designates Wednesday, April 19, 2017, as Plaquemines Parish Day at the state capitol
  • HR 50 (LEOPOLD): Commends the organizers and volunteers of the 2017 Plaquemines Parish Fair and Orange Festival, Orange Queen, and Teen Orange Queen
  • HR 51 (LEOPOLD): Commends the organizers and volunteers of the 2017 Plaquemines Parish Heritage and Seafood Festival and its Seafood Queen (Oranges and seafood; what a combination!)
  • HR 61 (MAGEE): Designates Thursday, April 27, 2017, as Louisiana Society of Professional Surveyors Day at the state capitol
  • HCR 43 (DUSTIN MILLER): Recognizes the week of May 6 through 12, 2017, as National Nurses Week in Louisiana
  • SR 4 (MILLS): Recognizes April 11, 2017, as Louisiana Society of Anesthesiologists Day at the state capitol. (Didn’t Hoffman already that, too? You guys really should communicate more.)
  • SR 25 (MILLS):  Commends the Louisiana Physical Therapy Association for its outstanding achievements and recognizes Tuesday, April 18, 2017, as Louisiana Physical Therapy Association Day.
  • SCR 23 (MIZELL): Declares May 26, 2017, as John Wayne Day at the Legislature. (Well, pilgrim…..I’m mighty obliged to ya.)
  • SR 19 (MIZELL): Commends the Loranger High School cheerleading team on winning the National Championship.
  • HR 58 (MORENO): Designates Monday, April 24, 2017, as Tourism Day at the state capitol
  • HR 71 (JIM MORRIS): Commends Vivian United Methodist Church upon the celebration of its one hundred thirteenth anniversary (and next year, we’ll commend it on its 114th.)
  • SR 10 (MORRISH): Designates November 2017 as School Psychologist Awareness Month.
  • SCR 7 (PEACOCK): Commends Fairfield Elementary Magnet School of Shreveport on receipt of the 2016-2018 National Parent Teacher Association School of Excellence Award.
  • SCR 33 (PEACOCK): Designates May 17, 2017, as Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) Awareness Day. (If ANYONE knows what DIPG is….don’t tell us. We’ll wait until May 17.)
  • HR 66 (PRICE): Commends the White Castle High School boys’ basketball team upon winning the Class 1A State Championship
  • HR 20 (PUGH):  Designates Tuesday, May 23, 2017, as Elmer’s Candy Day
  • HR 8 (SCHEXNAYDER): Commends the athletes and coaches of the Lutcher High School girls’ powerlifting team upon winning the 2017 Division III state championship
  • HR 42 (SCHEXNAYDER): Commends the Riverside Academy football team upon winning the 2016 Division III state championship
  • HR 49 (SCHEXNAYDER):  Commends the Lutcher High School Bulldogs football team upon winning the 2016 Class 3A state championship
  • SCR 28 (GARY SMITH): Commends Cara Ursin on winning the Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year award for Girls’ Basketball three times.
  • SCR 29 (GARY SMITH): Commends the Destrehan High School Lady Cats on winning the LHSAA Class 5A state girls’ basketball championship.
  • HR 2 (PATRICIA SMITH HAYNES): Designates Tuesday, April 11, 2017, as AKA day at the state capitol
  • SR 18 (THOMPSON): Designates April 27, 2017, as FFA Day at the Louisiana State Capitol and commends the state officers of the Louisiana FFA Association.
  • SR 6 (WALSWORTH):  Designates April 12, 2017, as Y Day in Louisiana. (Why Y?)

Posted in Education, Ethics, Finances, Governor's Office, Higher Education, House, Senate, Legislature, Legislators, Politicians | 21 Comments »

House Bill 207 would create special exception allowing Sen. Cassidy to double dip as LSU prof despite questions of 2014

April 20, 2017 by tomaswell

An updated variation of the infamous Mike Edmonson Amendment has made its way into the 2017 legislative session in an effort to help yet another public official scratch out a little more money from the public fisc.*

*fisc (fisk) noun: The public treasury of Rome.

It’s really amazing how these legislators can work so diligently on behalf of certain connected individuals while ignoring much larger problems facing the state.

As much as LouisianaVoice criticized Bobby Jindal during his eight years of misrule, it was the legislature that allowed him to do what he did. It was the legislature that brought about the state’s fiscal problems by refusing to stand up to his ill-advised “reforms,” and it’s the legislature that has steadfastly refused to address those problems with anything approaching realistic solutions.

But when there’s a chance to help one of their own: stand back, there’s work to be done.

Rep. Gary Carter (D-New Orleans) has introduced House Bill 207 aimed specifically at benefiting U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy.

Louisiana, it seems, has this pesky little dual office holding/dual employment law that might otherwise prove a hindrance to Cassidy’s ability to moonlight by teaching at the LSU Health Science Center while serving in the U.S. Senate.

Carter wants to remedy and if you don’t think this bill was written specifically for Cassidy, here’s the particulars of the bill:

“To enact R.S. 42:66(E), relative to dual officeholding and dual employment; to allow a healthcare provider who is a member of the faculty or staff of a public higher education institution to also hold elective office in the government of the United States…”

The bill would provide an exception to the current law which prohibits “certain specific combinations of public office and employment, including a prohibition against a person holding at the same time an elective or appointive office or employment in state government and an elective office, appointive office, or employment in the U.S. government.”

We could be wrong, but it just seems to us that serving in the U.S. Senate is a full-time job that demands the full attention of whomever happens to be representing Louisiana in that august body.

It was just such an amendment in 2014 that helped prove the eventual undoing of Edmonson’s career and his political aspirations. The word was that Edmonson planned to seek the state’s second-highest office in 2015—and was considered a fairly viable candidate.

LouisianaVoice broke the story of State Sen. Neil Riser (R-Columbia) and his tacking an amendment onto an otherwise benign bill that would have given Edmonson between $50,000 and $100,000 per year in additional retirement income. Because of the resulting furor over that amendment, State Sen. Dan Claitor (R-Baton Rouge) successfully sued to block the increase in Baton Rouge district court.

A veteran political observer recently told us, “If you hadn’t broken that story, Mike Edmonson would be lieutenant governor today.” (We don’t know about that but at least he’d be better than what we now have in that office.)

Remember in the 2014 senatorial race between then-incumbent Mary Landrieu and challenger U.S. Rep. Cassidy when Landrieu claimed Cassidy was paid for time lecturing classes not supported by his time sheets?

Jason Berry, publisher of The American Zombie Web blog said that on no fewer than 21 occasions over a 30-month span, U.S. Rep. Cassidy billed LSU Health Science Center for work supposedly performed on the same days that Congress was in session and voting on major legislation and holding crucial committee hearings on energy and the Affordable Care Act.

“On at least 17 different occasions,” Berry wrote, “he (Cassidy) spent multiple hours in LSU-HSC’s clinics on the same days in which he also participated in committee hearings and roll call votes.”

Landrieu said at the time of the revelations that Cassidy, while claiming to serve the poor, was in fact, “serving himself an extra paycheck. That’s not right. It could be illegal and it looks very much like payroll fraud.”

The arrangement apparently also troubled then-Earl K. Long Hospital Business Manager William Livings who said in an email to Internal Medicine Department Head George Karam, “We are going to really have to spell out exactly what it is he does for us for his remuneration from us. Believe me, this scenario will be a very auditable item and I feel they will really hone in on this situation to make sure we are meeting all federal and state regulations.”

In addition to Cassidy’s salary, Berry said, LSU also paid for his medical malpractice insurance, his continuing education and his licensing fees, “expenses that can easily total in the thousands.”

And now Carter wants to make it all nice and legal—but only for Cassidy. All other state employees who would like to do a little double-dipping to supplement their income can just fuggedaboutit.

Posted in Congress, Corruption, Ethics, Fraud, LSU, Politicians, Senate | 16 Comments »

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