Once Again Video Games Under Attack

Today's front page Baton Rouge Advocate headline reads 'Investigators say shooter, 8, played violent video game'.

A tragic shooting in Clinton, Louisiana, has inspired the moral zealots to once again resurrect their agenda that video games are one of the leading causes of violent acts in our youth.

The fact that an 8 year-old shot his caretaker in the back of the head while she watched TV is a horrific act. To infer that a video game was responsible for this is ludicrous. An unsecured gun killed that individual.  No availability, no killing.

In reality, investigators don't even know if the game triggered this violence because they can't determine if the boy was even playing the game before the incident took place.  All they know is the game was found in the game console.  However, they have adopted this line of reasoning in their investigation of this case.

Let's examine the known facts in this situation.  One, the video game purportedly involved has a MA 17+ rating.  It can only be purchased by someone 17 or older. Consequently, the eight year-old couldn't even buy the game, and had no business having the game in his possession, let alone playing it.  Secondly, a loaded gun was once again not properly hidden in a secured place, and had no safety lock.

The bottom line is there are possibly two scenarios having little to do with the video game itself.  One, an unsupervised child found the gun, and, like most 8 year-olds, out of curiosity,  begin pointing it at objects around the house, similar to a hunter, and this time pulled the trigger; or two, the caretaker angered the boy, who knew there was a gun in the house, knew  there was no security utilized in preventing its easy access, pointed the gun at the individual to scare her, and pulled the trigger.

However, these facts in no way minimize the tragedy of this incident, but let's stick to the reality of what was used to do the killing and who did it.

Jindal administration withdraws request for Obamacare money

Once again the Jindal administration has shown that it is not concerned about providing medical services to the citizens of Louisiana.  In its latest move, it withdrew an application to request some Obamacare monies to fund a program that would have provided in-home health-care services for some adults.  The government was going to pay 68% of the cost and the state only needed to come up with 32%.

Now all of a sudden the Department of Health and Services in Baton Rouge says we can’t afford the 32% matching monies needed to fund the Community Choice Program.  They knew the cost, or should have known the cost, when initially applying for the funds so I suspect the real reason for the application withdrawal was the hypocritical nature of the request that could cause political PR problems for Jindal in the future.

After all, if you advocate for the abolishment of Obamacare and turn down the additional  Medicaid funding offered by the plan, how could you even remotely justify accepting  some other funding offered?

Bobby certainly doesn’t want to make such a political faux pas in his presidential quest.

The refusal of these funds had to be politically motivated because, in reality, the monies were available to fund this program and others.  After all, didn’t Jindal find monies in the state budget to expand his school voucher program in order to enhance his national political image on school reform? If he wanted the program, he would have instructed his political puppets in the Senate to find the funding!

Additionally, please remember that earlier this year a legislative committee discovered that over 4.4 billion dollars in tax incentives are given away to businesses and INDIVIDUALS by our great state.  Some recipients even include ‘social clubs’ in New Orleans.

So the monies exist,  but unfortunately Jindal and many of our state legislators don’t have the guts  to go after some of the ‘sacred cows’ receiving these tax breaks, for the only conclusion reached by the legislative committee after identifying all these breaks was that the issue needed further study.

Repeatedly, Jindal has shown when it comes to making a choice between what’s good for Louisiana citizens or what’s good for his personal political agenda, his agenda ALWAYS takes precedence.

LA Superintendent of Education

When John White, our present State Superintendant of Education, was initially hired by the Department of Education as Superintendant of the RSD, I couldn’t believe that somehow they had finally found an honest, innovative, hard working educator, unlike his predecessor, who was more concerned about furthering his own career than actually implementing sound educational reforms.

 Mr. White seemed to actually care about solving the Louisiana educational woes and appeared to possess the skills to do so.

However, now I am beginning to worry about him as he sinks further into the dismal abyss known as Jindal politics.

The Jindal School Voucher System could be his undoing.  He’s smart enough to know that the plan as implemented, without any accountability, is seriously flawed.  He is also aware of the fact that eventually it will lead to tremendous financial hardships for the public school system in Louisiana.  Furthermore, I’m sure he also questions the legality of the entire plan.

But he is also aware of the reality that exists within the governor’s mansion, ‘it’s Bobby’s way or the highway’.

However, I still have faith in Mr. White for I feel that he will come to the realization that if he continues down the Jindal path, he will end up selling his soul and joining the ranks of the educational do- nothings that are so abundant in our society.

Mr. White’s past accomplishments serve as evidence that he will not allow this to occur, consequently, I predict he will soon leave Louisiana and never look back.  It’s only a matter of time.

Finally, Louisiana is Number One

 

Don’t get too excited because the number one ranking was given to our fine state by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the percent of obese adults.  Thirty-five percent (35%), or more than 1 in 3 adults living in Louisiana are now classified as being obese.  Not just overweight……..obese!

CDC defines someone as obese if their weigh to height ratio is 30 or higher.  For example, a 5 foot , 9inch person would be considered obese if he or she weighs 203 pounds or more.

This revelation about how our obesity problem sneaks into our daily lives came to my attention just two days ago after I made a somewhat horrible discovery while eating a free cheeseburger at a national fast food chain.

As I was chewing this free gift, I just happened to peruse the Nutrition Facts Chart that appears on the bottom of the container.  To my horror this single cheeseburger was supplying me with 41% of my daily fat intake, 31% of my cholesterol intake, and 46% of my salt intake, the only one I initially was concerned about.

I also added a soft drink to this mess, which someone once told me, was like eating 12 teaspoons of sugar at one time.  Now if someone put a bowl of sugar in front of you, do you really think you could swallow 12 teaspoons of that stuff all at once?  And what if I had added fries?

The tragedy of all of this is that a lot of our obese citizens are dooming their children to a life of obesity even before they have had the chance to make that decision on their own.  I often see three and four-year-old children of obese parents severely over weight due to their parents’ poor eating habits. Children learn from the actions of their parents, and consequently will adopt these poor habits for the remainder of their lives.  And this destructive cycle will continue with their children.

Let’s all read the labels and at least give our kids a fighting chance to decide their own adult fate!

Legal, probably, Moral, questionable!

I promise you that I really don’t like to continually bash our governor, but his continual actions that border on questions of morality must be noted.

Upon cruising the local news media this weekend I found a small blip that I feel deserved local front page news.

My understanding concerning Federal grants allocated to states was that the monies had to be totally used for the purpose of their intent.   Apparently this is not true from Governor Jindal’s perspective. 

Last year, the Federal government allocated $5.4 million to our state for use to help fund local Offices of Emergency Preparedness operations.  The key word here is LOCAL.   In other words, tax payers’ dollars were intended to provide financial assistance to each parish in our state.

Of those funds, the governor allocated $3.4 million to the parishes, but kept $2 million for use supposedly by the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security.

This year, same grant, but ‘Bobby’ has decided to keep $3.5 million leaving only $1.9 million for the 64 local Offices of Emergency Preparedness.  Offices will see their funds cut 30% to 53% on top of the partial funding put in place last year.  Remember this when an emergency weather situation hits and your parish can’t respond appropriately.

The irony of all this is, that when citizens complain about reduction in services they mostly likely will falsely blame the present Federal administration, starting with the President on down.   This plays right in to ‘Bobby’s’ plan.  He gets to spend the money the way he wants, and the Federal government gets blamed for the reduction in services.  This is not something new.  Jindal continually alters the intent of Federal grants to this state with his political party rhetoric that state governors should have the final say on how Federal dollars should be spent because they best know what the needs are in their localities.

This would be ok with me if we had a governor who proved himself as a competent fiscal manager interested in bettering the lives of the citizens who elected him.  So far, the evidence to support this is suspect.

This whole scenario is pretty slick if you ask me.  However, the downside of all this trickery is the Feds might come to the conclusion that the local offices don’t need all this money after all, since apparently the state doesn’t feel they need it, so they end up cutting the funds permanently

The amazing Bobby Jindal

Governor Jindal never ceases to amaze me.  Tuesday, LSU’s College of Engineering held a news media event to announce that they had received a $2 million donation from the family of an Alexandria based lumber, timber and land company that will help finish the renovations of the existing 36 year engineering building and bring it into to a state–of–the–art facility.  Guess who showed up and was all smiles? Governor Bobby Jindal.

Naturally, since it was photo op for ‘Bobby’ he just had to say a few words.

He stated that he was 100% behind the project which he said should help LSU reach “its full potential” as a nationally recognized research institution.

This from a man who has been responsible for significant damage to LSU from budget cuts and underfunding.  His actions have led to the elimination of entire course units, the loss of faculty along with their research grants, and the loss of supportive staff.  Damage that LSU may not recover from for a generation or longer.

But then again, we Louisianans never were very good at remembering the bad deeds done by our politicians.  Therefore, I ask each of you, “How in God’s name has Bobby Jindal even remotely contributed to making LSU a nationally recognized research institution?”

Jindal Vetoes Monies to Most in Need

Bobby Jindal is turning out to be the anti-Christ to those suffering with severe disabilities in this state.  His recent veto of funds dedicated to the most severely in need is inhumane.

He claims he must do this to balance a fiscal budget still funded with ‘vapor monies.’

What Jindal and some legislators don’t want the public to know is that there is more than enough monies to fund these programs he placed on the chopping block if some of the state tax incentive programs offered to businesses and individuals were seriously evaluated in terms of the returns received and eliminated.  Presently there are 4.4 billion in tax exemptions on the books.

In July of last  year  just such a movement was started in our state capital.  A 14 member legislative committee was formulated to, as House Speaker, Chuck Kleckley so aptly put it, " flush out low-performing and obsolete tax incentives by exploring their economic impact and value to those affected by them.”

Here’s what the committee was given by the Louisiana Department of revenue as it began its inquiry:

The major categories of taxes collected and tax exemptions in the just-ended 2011-12 included:

Corporate Income Taxes: 

o    Potential collections: $1.7 billion. 

o    Actual collections: $198 million. 

o    Estimated exemptions: $1.5 billion. 

o    Percentage of tax loss: 88 percent. 

Sales Taxes: 

o    Potential collections: $4.1 billion. 

o    Actual collections: $2.7 billion. 

o    Estimated exemptions: $1.4 billion. 

o    Percentage of tax loss: 34 percent. 

Individual Income Taxes: 

o    Potential collections: $3.5 billion. 

o    Actual collections: $2.4 billion. 

o    Estimated exemptions: $1.1 billion. 

o    Percentage of tax loss: 32 percent. 

Severance Taxes: 

o    Potential collections: $1.2 billion. 

o    Actual collections: $764 million. 

o    Estimated exemptions: $432 million. 

o    Percentage of tax loss: 36 percent. 

According to these figures there is 10.5 billion in potential collections, of which approximately 5.6 billion is presently collected.

The moral of this story is our illustrious committee members got so over whelmed by the sheer numbers of tax exemptions that they claimed they didn’t know where to begin and consequently did nothing except state the blatantly obvious that something had to be done, but by further study.

Additionally, Jindal used his traditional excuse of “no new taxes” to further support not dealing with any of these exemptions.

Contrary to Jindal’s opinion, none of this review was about advocating for ‘new taxes’.  It was simply closing tax loop holes. But true to form Bobby claimed if closing these resulted in the entities paying more monies to the state, than this was a ‘new’ tax.

I know that some still feel that our governor is unjustly criticized for fiscal conditions he claims are beyond his control.  However, let the facts speak for themselves. His continuing desire to portray himself nationally as loyal advocate of  the political policies of the party of which he is a member blinds him to the real compassionate solutions that are available to assist the suffering in this state.   The funds exist, we just need someone with enough guts to go after them.

Louisiana Senate Finance Committee Restores Most of Jindal’s Budget

Once again the Pinocchios in the Louisiana Senate have missed their chance to cut their puppet strings, become real people, and break free from their puppet master, Geppetto, known to many as Bobby Jindal.

We all should have known something was up when the Louisiana House reworked Jindal’s proposed state budget plan eliminating all ‘one time’ monies and ‘vapor monies’ that were based upon legal settlements and privatization deals that weren’t even finalized, and Jindal remained silent about it all.

In his heart the puppet master knew his Pinocchios in the Senate wouldn’t let him down and would restore his original smoke and mirrors budget.

And while some programs will rejoice because their budgets have been fully restored, and school vouchers will be fully funded, these joyful moments will be short lived because the reality of the situation is the money doesn’t presently exist to do most of these things

.

If this action by the Senate's Finance Committee becomes final it will lead to yet another midyear budget deficit, resulting in tremendous cuts made to education and health care services to fund the state for the remainder of the fiscal year.

And just wait until next year, when all the one-time, non-reoccurring funds are gone and ALL programs are cut to levels of a catastrophic nature.

Geppetto may be a lame duck governor, but he is still very much in control of his senators

.

There is, however, one last glimmer of hope.  Any Senate budget changes, in reality Jindal’s, must be agreed upon by the House.

However, with the deadline fast approaching for the end of the legislative session and the pattern of  the House’s previous years actions of just caving in to get things over and go home, I suspect our esteemed governor will get HIS budget pretty much the way he originally proposed it.

Just remember at election time, it will be your senators to blame.

U.S. Senators tweak immigration legislation

Maybe the U.S. Senate in their infinite ignorance has inadvertently stumbled upon a way to deal with our problem of drunk drivers.  In formulating the new  immigration legislation for our country, legislators added the requirement that an immigrant’s third drunk driving conviction can result in deportation from our country.

Why stop with just immigrants.  Third DWI and we throw full-blooded, U.S. citizens out of the country!  That would certainly permanently keep the drunks off the road.  Also bet we would lose some of those in congress that support this requirement, another plus.

Sacred Cows in LA

The figures are in for attendance at the 2013 Jazz and Heritage Festival. The good news is the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation reported an attendance figure of approximately 425,000.    The bad news is the state just ‘kissed off’ over 1.1 million dollars in revenue from ticket sales alone that could be used to help offset cuts in health care and educational services in our state.  Thanks to the Jindal administration and our state legislators this organization is exempt from the state sales tax and and consequently charges NO tax on ticket sales.

The Jazz and Heritage Foundation defends this policy by stating that they are trying to keep the ticket prices, this year, $65.00, as low as possible for their fans.  However, no one is suggesting that they pass this sale’s tax cost on to the consumer, and they seem to have no problems with the inflated Ticket Master surcharge.  How many other ‘sacred cows’ exist with such lucrative exemptions?  Time to get the priorities straight in Louisiana.

Priorities of State Legislators Suspect

I am so proud of our fine state legislators that were able to unite to approve legislation concerning ‘gun rights’ bills, which most likely will be declared unconstitutional, while not having a clue as to how to control a state budget billions of dollars in the red. This present action by our legislators is like focusing on a hangnail while dying of cancer.

While health care, the state’s infrastructures, food kitchens for the hungry, and education all continue to be slashed in funding with no united consensus among our legislators on a viable plan to ‘stop the bleeding’,  it’s good to know where their priorities regarding the overall prosperity of the state lay.   

It’s comforting to realize that we can all sleep well at night knowing that no one can place any restrictions on our prized weapons.  However, if the legislators don’t get it together and unite against Governor Jindal, including the necessity of overriding his vetoes, by creating a sound state budgetary plan, everyone may just end up using their guns to guard a ‘junk yard’.

Yet Another Jindal Snake Oil Proposal

As in the old children’s fable, when will Emperor Bobby Jindal realize that he has no clothes on?

His latest proposal for no income tax has been reject by nearly every major organization in this state, some of which seldom agree with each other on many issues.  However, on this one, united they stand.  Jindal’s explanation for this is that they are ALL just ultra-left wing liberal groups out to impede real progress.

However, the very premise of his proposal that it will make Louisiana more attractive for businesses to settle here was just refuted by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry which is involved in process of attracting new businesses by working diligently to improve Louisiana’s working climate.

But Jindal is cleaver and resourceful so don’t be surprised if he tries to use the recent decision by IBM to locate in Baton Rouge as evidence that just submission of his no income tax proposal was responsible for this company’s move.  The facts are this move had been in the works for nearly ten years and has little to do with any actions by the Jindal administration.

And let’s not forget that Jindal keeps changing the statistics to support his plan every time he gets caught fudging on the figures.   When the organization of ministers just found some, his resourceful staff just simply apologized for the errors and came up with some new figures.  They just issued their third revision.  This practice reminds me of one of my favorite t-shirts.   On the front it reads, “When all else fails, manipulate the data”

However, you’ve got to give “Bobby” credit for his perseverance, for basically he maintains the position of “don’t believe the evidence of the masses, I’m the only one with the correct information.”

The scariest part about all this is will our state legislative representatives break with tradition, suddenly growth a part of their anatomy that they have lacked in the past, namely, a spine, and, as in the famous fable, tell the Emperor he is without clothes?  Is the master puppeteer going to finally lose control of his puppets?  To be continued.

Can't Buy Test Scores

RE:  Teachers receive cash rewards for test score gains

In the earlier days of the new educational reform movement in Louisiana, there was a section of the Louisiana Department of Education devoted to monitoring achievement test score gains.   Expected test score gains were calculated based upon the previous year’s test data and if new scores exceeded these projections by a certain statistical amount, the scores were determined to be suspect.

In other word, statistically these gains could not have occurred without some outside interference (cheating).

When such occurrences were discovered a complete audit of the test score documents was done along with interviews of those conducting the testing.  Analyses of the test documents included such techniques as erasure analysis of the number of answers changed from incorrect to correct answers, comparing documents of children seated next to each other, etc.

With the arrival of Education Superintendent Paul Pastorek the test score monitoring function was abolished in the name of departmental reorganization.

So the problem continues with our new new education reform movement that not only factors test score achievement into teachers’ tenure rights but also provides cash rewards to teachers and schools.

Now we are beginning to see tremendous gains in the average test score of classrooms of children from one year to the next.

Just how much gain is too much gain and where is the accountability to determine such?

If our esteemed education leaders would do a little investigation of their own they would find a bundle of research showing that the more heavily test scores are factored into teacher evaluations and rewards, the greater the increase in ’suspect’ test scores.

Assumption Parish Disaster of No Interest to Our Governor

I just finished reading an article on line entitled “Jindal won’t pledge to visit sinkhole”.

The naivety of many Louisiana residents never ceases to amaze me.   Why are Assumption Parish people so upset about Governor Jindal’s reluctance to visit their sinkhole site and show its residents that he is concerned about their troubles?

Such a visit would do little or nothing to strengthen his national image.  He would rather photo-op about bringing new industries to Louisiana, advocate his no income tax plan, and advertise his refusal to accept additional Medicaid funds under The Health Care for America Plan (Obamacare), while at the same time accepting millions of other Federal fund handouts to help balance his proposed state budget for 2013, than show a little respect for the residents of his own state.

Oh, and let’s not forget how fast he jumps into action when a major storm hits the area.  Most think he is doing it out of concern for its residents when, in actuality, it’s really about show casing to the nation that he can expertly handle a major crisis.

It’s too bad that Romney didn’t get elected, if for no other reason than the fact that he might have rewarded Bobby with a cabinet position and taken this political deva away from Louisiana forever.

Jindal’s Voucher Plan Ruled Unconstitutional as Implemented

Already King Bobby is trying to fool the public by declaring that the recent ruling against his voucher plan is hurting families who want a better education for their children. And many parents are falling for it.

The judge simply ruled that MFP funds that are constitutionally mandated to be allocated to public elementary and secondary schools can't be used to FUND the voucher program. No one, including the judge, passed any judgment on the merits of the program.

If Jindal thinks the program is so worthwhile he just needs to find another funding source for it in his budget.

Oh I forgot, the state doesn't have any other funds to do that because thanks to fiscal mismanagement King Bobby's budget is operating in a deficit mode.

The Black Alliance for Educational Options and the parents that spoke in favor of the voucher program need to understand what this ruling really is saying.  No one is trying to deprive children of a good education.

Watch how much more money Jindal wastes appealing this decision and remember how many hospital services he terminated due to a lack of funds.

Honorable Mentions

Two more legislators were just added to my list of honorable mentions.  Thursday, Reps Cameron Henry, R-New Orleans and Joe Harrison, R-Napoleonville, both members of the House Appropriations Committee, along with some of their colleagues, stood up against King Bobby’s proposal to disband the PPO medical insurance plan run by the Office of Group Benefits, fire its employees, and turn it over to one of his campaign contributors, Blue Cross, Blue Shield of Louisiana.

For those not familiar with this medical plan, the state run PPO provides medical insurance coverage for 62,000 of our present and retired state employees, and has been recognized as one of the most efficiently run insurance plans in the nation.

The proposal was harshly criticized mostly by members of the House Appropriations Committee, and eventually withdrawn from the committee’s voting agenda by Jindal’s representative due to a lack of support.

However, the next day two of its loudest critics, Henry and Harrison, were removed from their positions on that committee by one of Jindal’s most allegiant legislative puppets, House speaker Chuck Kleckley, R-Lake Charles.

In the past, others have also spoken up questioning some of Jindal’s legislative plans and they too have lost their positions on various legislative committees.  The list includes: Harold Ritchie, D-Bogalusa, and Jim Morgan R-Oil City.   And let’s not forget Roxane Townsend and Fred Cerise, both removed from their positions on the LSU Health Care Services Division; along with a complete overhaul of the LSU Board of Supervisors and The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) stuffed with Jindal’s hand-picked supporters.  All, questioning Jindal’s decisions, are eliminated.

The U.S sacrifices a great deal of monies and human lives in its quest to dispose dictators throughout the world, yet it appears that we possibly have one of our own operating within the U.S. borders and he is presently serving as the governor of Louisiana.

Don’t be fooled by Jindal’s educational reform in Louisiana!

Let’s not be confused when we talk about educational reform in the state of Louisiana.

Even the nationally recognized Brown Center on Educational Policy has been hoodwinked by Governor Jindal’s slick use of P.R. into thinking that his administration has created real educational reform in our state. They recently praised Jindal’s reform for:

1)      Offering lots of choice through charter schools and voucher programs.

2)      Providing good information to help parents compare schools.

3)      Providing an easy centralized application process for enrollment in the various schools.

4)      Ensuring taxpayer funds follow the students into the schools and courses of their choosing.

It's kind of a ridiculous recognition!  Instead of providing a long range, adequately funded school improvement paradigm for ALL students, Louisiana continues to limp along with in-state developed testing programs which deceive the public, and apparently our legislative representatives, into believing substantial educational reforms are occurring among the public students it is obligated to serve. 

While the Louisiana Department of Education brags that the most recent test score data indicates that 3 out of 4 fourth graders have achieved ‘Basic’ in reading on the Louisiana assessment measures,  the Council for a Better Louisiana (CABL) reports that only 1 in 5 are rated at the ‘Proficient’ level when measured on more realistic national  (NAEP) assessments.  Since NAEP’s standards for “Proficient” in grade-level skills are considered lower than those at “Basic” on LEAP, skepticism surrounds the Louisiana assessment scores.   Additionally, Louisiana was recently rated an ‘F’ for student achievement by Education Magazine.  If one examines last year’s ACT results, a national test of college readiness, only 17% of students in Louisiana met the benchmark for college readiness.  Meaning they scored just well enough to have a 75% chance of earning a ‘C’ or better in college courses.  Additionally, according to a recent study reported by CABL , 1 in 3 college freshman who graduated from a public school  had to take non-credit remedial courses to make up for their educational deficiencies.

Furthermore, the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results indicated that while

the average marks for both reading and math Louisiana fourth and eighth-graders improved slightly, and in two of the four categories gained a little on national averages,  the change from two years ago, when the test was last administered, was not big enough to qualify as statistically significant. Overall, scores in Louisiana still rank near the bottom among other states.

But Jindal continues to mask these harsh realities with the expertise of a magician’s sleight of hand by passing off ‘educational vouchers’ as ‘educational reform’.    He has been so successful in this deception that now he is even receiving acclaims from prestigious national organizations.  He claims that his ‘educational reform’ provides "an opportunity for individuals that have limited resources to enroll their child in a NON-PUBLIC school that is performing well, as opposed to the poor performing PUBLIC school in their neighborhood." 

Jindal’s voucher system is not educational reform, but simply an avoidance mechanism of the real issues impacting public education in this state.  It will do LITTLE to elevate the educational achievement of most children in the entire state.

Who will unmasked this great deception?  Certainly not the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), since most members were handpicked by Jindal.

Will our representatives expose this deception and finally propose real educational reform?  l suspect they also will just follow along with the master magician, as most always do.  Just who will stand up for the children?

Jindal's Latest Budget Fiasco

It’s too bad that Governor Bobby Jindal wasn’t born under my wife’s  Zodiac sign of Scorpio, for if he were,  he would have gotten some great advise that would help him fiscally manage  the Louisiana state budget.

Today, March 4^th, the Scorpio horoscope advise is “Under no condition should you run your financial affairs predicated upon anticipated returns.  The only cash you can count on is what you have in hand.”

Jindal’s latest fiscal state budget mirage, completely ignores this wisdom and is filled with  the use of one time money from such sources as land sales,  which so far have not occurred, legal settlements, the  final figures of which have yet to be determined, the privatization of the state’s  health care system, which so far is not even half operational, and the revamping of the state’s employee retirement plans, whose estimated savings were calculated by a consulting firm which is presently being sued by Providence, R.I., for  providing false statistics as to the savings that would be recouped from their recommended retirement plan changes.  The legal contention is that this consulting firm’s fiscal savings estimates turned in to actual increases in cost when the retirement plans were implemented as proposed.

And let’s not forget Jindal’s plan to eliminate the state income tax while increasing the total sales taxes paid in most state parishes to 12%.  Please remember that Jindal’s own fiscal advisers have stated every year that he’s been in office, but one, that the reason the state has continually run out of money before the end of the fiscal year is due to depressed sales revenues.  Residents just aren’t buying enough commodities.  I bet raising the sales tax would lead to even less spending by residents within the state as well as increased out of state and internet sales, which by the way are supposed to  be claimed  on one’s state income tax form.

The question one has to ask about all the above is will ‘Bobby’ follow his own Zodiac advise for today which states,  “Upon occasion, you can deprive yourself of some useful  information,  all because you don’t like the person who knows it.  Don’t allow something petty to make your life harder than necessary.”

This Zodiac advice is NOT one of Governor Jindal’s strong suits for basically it’s his way or the highway.

There is a realistic solution to the fiscal mismanagement which is presently taking place in this state and it lies with a group of legislators known as ‘the fiscal hawks’.  They want to strip all one time and unrealized funding from the budget, and if they are successful, most people will fully understand the fiscal mess which Jindal continues to perpetuate in the state.  He is playing a smoke and mirrors game with the state finances and it needs to cease so that the citizens of this state will realize what needs to occur for Louisiana to become fiscally solvent.  It’s time for ALL Louisiana legislators to draw a line in the sand.

Maybe Governor Jindal  need s to schedule an appointment with  Mayor Zabbia to see how to accomplish this.