Don't Dissapoint

I just received some very depressing news.  According to several media outlets it is projected that voter turnout for the upcoming gubernatorial election will be less than 50%.  This projection is based upon early voting turnout, which was low.

After eight years of suffering under Jindal and his minions, it appears that Louisiana voters are going to pass on an opportunity to put some new blood in Baton Rouge.  Of course low voter turnout helps the incumbents and most assuredly will benefit one Republican candidate, David Vitter.

Unlike the national election which relies on the Electoral College system which masks an individual’s vote, our state election is truly based upon each vote cast.  One vote can decide whether or not a candidate wins.  Any candidate who gets 50% of the votes wins outright, without the need for any runoff election, and this can be decided by a single vote.

Right now Louisiana voters have the ultimate power to send incompetent representatives home for good.  Yet the predictions are they will choose not to do so.

But I have more faith in them and feel they’ll rise to the occasion at the last minute and vote.  Please don’t forget all the harm this state has endured at these individuals’ hands.  Vote this Saturday for it will be four years before you will have this power again and a lot more damage can occur during those years with the present folks.

"You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”

You’ve got to admit Louisiana legislators may be some of the luckiest people in the world.  Just as this state is facing one of the most serious financial crisis in its history thanks to our leges’ fiscal mismanagement, along comes some more one-time money, the BP Settlement.

Louisiana’s share, a whopping $6.8 billion is the largest among the 5 coastal states.  Five billion of that is ear-marked for coastal restoration.  Just how much of the money will actually be used for this purpose without some budgetary trickery remains to be seen.

However, since $1 billion can be used to cover the state’s economic losses, it would appear that any newly elected governor and our legislative minions could use these funds in conjunction with some of the restoration money to fund this state for yet another fiscal year with one-time money without enacting any sound fiscal stabilization legislative measures.  To their delight they might even be able to roll back some of the unpopular, pitiful, symbolic revenue generating measures they did manage to pass. 

One would hope that such a timely fiscal reprieve would allow our legislators to enact  fiscally responsible revenue generating policies that would once and for all end reliance on non-reoccurring funding sources.

But since 95% of those up for election this fall will most likely be given yet another chance to serve, by the voters of this state, the chances are slim to none that any real budgetary changes will occur.  They can simply continue ‘to kick the can down the road’ as they have done for the past 8 years and hope that some other one-time monies will materialize in the future.

You simply, “Can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

The Affordable Care Act isn’t going away

Do you remember the saying “Too big to fail?” It was born during the bank and large investment firms meltdown several years ago.  AIG was one of the financial firms it aptly was applied to because that company was so large and financially intertwined throughout the world that its collapse would cause global financial disaster.  So it was bailed out.

It would appear that this term could be revived once again when it comes to the notorious Affordable Care Act, or more commonly called Obamacare.

 

The repeal of this act has become the centerpiece for all the Republican presidential candidate wanabees.  However, the reality is the Affordable Care Act has been quietly gaining steam and it’s probably too late to stop it because of the economic ramifications.

Over 9 million formerly uninsured persons are now insured, including those with preexisting conditions formerly unable to get health insurance.   Young people are permitted to continue coverage under their parents’ plan until age 26 giving them time to find employment and get their own coverage. Thirty-one (31) out of the 49 states have bought into the Medicaid expansion funding under Obamacare.  And last, but by far the most important, insurance companies throughout our nation have spent millions of dollars devising new plans to accommodate the changes and have adjusted their premiums accordingly.

Do you really believe all these changes would not create major economic problems and even louder public outcry if the Affordable Care Act were suddenly defunded as promised?  It would cause some serious economic problems not only for the insurance companies but for the 31 states already invested in the increased Medicaid funds.  Additionally, it would harm those presently involved in the system.  Do you really believe the insurance companies would roll back the premium increases they attributed to Obamacare if the plan were wiped out?  And what about all the Medicaid recipients who would no longer be eligible for medical services under the expanded funding?  Hospitals would again be forced to service these individuals in emergency room settings with NO compensation.

Talk is cheap and to state that if a Republican were elected Obamacare would be totally defunded is total deception on the part of the potential candidates.  It has a nice ring for a political buzz phrase, but that train left the station about three years ago.  It’s simply “Too big to fail,” and to advocate otherwise is blatant political hogwash.

Besides, contrary to what the candidates would prefer, though the precise numbers vary a bit from survey to survey, the majority of the public doesn’t support repealing the concept of the law.  Some people who are included in the disapproval category of the present Affordable Care Act, like the idea, but wish it went even further. Additionally, many reporting dissatisfaction don't even participate in it but simply want to jump on the fashionable anti-Obama train.

I hope all the potential presidential candidates will eventually get around to telling us how they will solve the major issues this country faces worldwide, and how they intend to end the politically created divisiveness that has polarized our citizenry and is destroying our nation.   But please remember not to be disappointed if a Republican takes over the reigns as President, and most of the Affordable Care Act remains.

‘Mum’ is the Louisiana residents’ code word

The 'silent majority' has lived up to its name, and remained silent.  Forty-three percent (43%) of the 1,150 legislative offices slated for election this year are going to be filled without opposition.  No one chose to run against the incumbents.

This figure includes two of our state senators heavily responsible for the budget bankruptcy our state faces today, John Alario, Senate President, from Westwego, and John Donohue, chairman of the Senate Finance committee, from Covington.  These individuals were the major players in ramming Jindal’s ‘voodoo’ budgets through the legislature.   Both supported his raiding of various dedicated trust funds coupled with draconian cuts to services for the disabled and disadvantage, and  record funding cuts for health care and education.

Senator John Alario has run unopposed since 2007 and has served for over 43 years in the legislature.  Voters must love him even though a year ago, local media reported that Alario spent $705,000 between 2009 and 2012 in campaign money to rent a suite at Tiger Stadium for LSU football games, to lease and repair cars, to buy tickets for Saints and Hornets games and to pay for meals at expensive restaurants.  Additionally in1992, while serving in the House, as House Speaker,  he won passage of the hotly contested land casino for New Orleans by secretly telling the House clerk beforehand to shut down the electronic voting procedure several seconds early, before some members had cast their final votes. The bill passed with no votes to spare. Opponents howled in protest. 

Sadly these two individuals are just the tip of the apathetic iceberg.  The indifference shown this year by Louisiana residents even caught the Secretary of State, Tom Schedler by surprise.  He can’t believe how many Louisiana officials have been elected automatically.  Even vacancies created by term limits drew no competition; with just a single person choosing to qualify to run and therefore automatically winning the position.

I guess Bobby Jindal’s national campaign message is correct after all when he touts Louisiana as an example of a well-run, fiscally solvent, success story.  So let’s stop the complaining because obviously most of us don’t wish to change the way things are.

Bobby Jindal’s Exclusive Club

As Jindal continues his delusional national quest to earn a spot as a presidential candidate it is important for voters to give him the recognition he deserves as a member of an exclusive GOP candidates club.  He is a proud member of what some refer to as the “Most Hated Governors Club.”  Other honorary members include Scott Walker, and Chris Christie.  Polls show all are rejected by their state residents.

Recent polls also show that Bobby is so despised by Louisianans that if the election were held today, and Hillary Clinton was the opposition, she would carry deep red Louisiana.   Bobby Jindal couldn’t ever deliver his home state for the Republicans.  Of course Bobby ‘s excuse for this catastrophic reality is that he had to make some unpopular decisions when he cut the fat at the state level reducing the state budget by over 26%, as he recently bragged on national news.

 

However, Bobby must be in need of some Common Core math because according to the Cato Institute which just published a report on state governors’ fiscal spending habits, that 26% number is substantially exaggerated.  Most of the money that Bobby claims as evidence of his reduction in the size of our state budget came from the drying up of Katrina federal funds which had little to do with Jindal’s frugality.

But let’s give credit where credit is due.  After the Katrina funds adjustment, the Cato Institute did give Jindal credit for an actual 7% reduction in state spending.  And he is the only GOP governor competing for a presidential nod that did this.  Of course these results mainly came about through draconian cuts to health care and education funding while at the same time increasing the costs for outside legal and consultants’ contracts.  This behavior was coupled with inaction with regard to reducing tax breaks for favored businesses and special interest entities.  Jindal deserves an ‘F’ for his failure to reduce any of these costs. 

Sadly, part of being a good politician is the ability to self-promote by distorting the facts and Bobby Jindal ranks right up there with the best of them; and he needs to, because he is running almost dead last.