Round Robineer

Both the Advocate and the Times-Pic report on the new hurricane evaucation plan with a new map available. The new plan, I'm sure is good, but I don't think the plan, or lack of one, during Hurricane Ivan was the problem. Everybody knows you've got to get people out of the saucer cup of New Orleans by opening all lanes of traffic to flow out, not into the city. For Hurricane Ivan, N.O. area officials begged state police to start the contraflow plan, but state police waited and waited to make the call, then had to play catch up in getting troopers in position. The plan was not the problem, it was the execution. Sort of like the Saints for most of the past 39 years. It was the small problems that made the plan worse. Red lights were turned green up and down Highway 90, but small town cops along the way gave tickets to people trying to get out of town. Then once people were on the highway, there was no place to go, except the parking lot of Wal-Marts along the way.
In the Advocate article, officials lay blame on the people getting out of town for slow traffic: "Problems that slowed traffic during Ivan included breakdowns and signs that were too hard to read, forcing drivers to slow excessively" The solution: Put tow trucks on the highways to drag people's cars away. Give me a break.
Fine, you have a new map, a new plan. Now execute the darn thing state police.
Go to the Times-Pic Web site to find out where to get the map and plan: http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1119076097174710.xml

This would have never happened back in the day. The Daily Advertiser reports that Candy Edwards, former wife of former Gov. Edwin Edwards, was pulled over in Port Barre Friday night for speeding and driving with a suspended license. She was arrested and booked into jail after telling the officer she would not be arrested, that she would have the officer's job, walking away from the officer while being handcuffed, and trying to make a call on a cell phone while in the back seat of the cruiser, though the article doesn't exactly explain how that was attempted. Driving on Highway 190 west through the speed traps of Port Barre, she had to be headed to visit Mr. Innocence himself in the federal pen in Oakdale, less than an hour up the same highway.
The Port Barre police chief threw down the gauntlet, but saying he is going to back his officer on this arrest.
We'll find out now how much stroke the ex-governor still has left in him after he finds out about this. I'm sure Edwins friend, attorney Mike Fawer will come to her aide. But at some point, you gotta believe a legislator, a councilman or some state bureaucrat is going to try to withhold funding from the police department, or misplace a grant application. The officer might not get fired, but remember this is Louisiana, the town police department is going to suffer somehow.
Look for the Free Candy bumper stickers now alongside the Free Edwin stickers.

The Times-Picayune report's today on corruption at City-Hall, in which several low level Morial supporters are indicted for inflating bills to Johnson Controls in the name of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The interesting part here, because corruption in New Orleans is almost taken for granted now, is that U.S. Attorney Jim Letten didn't let Marc Morial off the hook. Letten is quoted, "I simply have to say that I am not in a position to speculate about that or provide any information other than to say that we have no preconceived notions about where any case goes." There's a trial in Cleveland in which the feds are going after Morial's top housing aide and manager of political campaigns. The tell-tale sign here is that the feds are pecking away at Morial, and even if they don't get him on corruption, they'll get his reputation. Check out the story for yourself, www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1118987996223610.xml

Who you gonna call? Seems a bill is about the pass that would prevent you from using a cell phone or other electronic device (blackberry) in a voting booth. The Advocate quotes the sponsor of the bill as saying he doesn't want people in the booth getting calls on how to vote. What's he afraid of?

Are they with us or against us? Many of the state Republicans who said they would have voted agaist the cigarette tax for teachers because, well, they are against more taxes, voted for the 1.5 percent tax increase for public and private hospitals. How you explain that to the teachers. Apparently, the hospital tax works much like the Minimum Foundation Program for local school district funding. The more you tax yourself, the more reimbursement money you get from Big Brother. In the MFP case, the more parish voters tax themselves for education, the more local school districts get from the state Department of Education. In the hospital tax case, the more the state taxes hospitals, the more they get in Medicaid reimbursement to pay for poor people's health care.

"We are dropping like flies," said Evangline Parish Police Jury Secretary-Treasurer Doug Deville.
Mitchell Ardoin became the second police juror to be indicted for malfeasance in office and public payroll charges. Marc E. Guillory plead guilty to malfeasance and public payroll fraud charges this week. Apparently, Ardoin was paying a friend with taxpayer money for work that wasn't done. Guillory admitted using an inmate to do private work. Seems District Attorney Brent Coreil is willing to take on public corruption in a good ole boy parish where they take a day off from school for the opening of hunting season. Coreil must not be running for reelection.

I heard on Jeff's radio show this morning, 1240 A.M., that the state bond commission is meeting this week to consider approving the refinancing of $330,000 or so in debt for a hospital in New Iberia. Somebody explain to me why I and other taxpayers are going to extend the debt of a hospital? Why doesn't the hospital go to a mortgage broker or bank like the rest of the private sector to finance or refinance projects. Hospitals get state backed money all of the time. What makes them different from a restaurant or architect's firm or a Web-based company, for that matter?

Her people are trying to soften the blow as much as possible, but the fact that Gov. Kathleen Blanco couldn't get the votes to pass the cigarette tax is a major defeat. It shows she doesn't have the stroke of Gov. Foster or Edwards.

State Rep. Peppi Bruneau of New Orleans wants to give every politician in the state another year in office under a bill that passed the House to combine state and federal elections in the same year. The states constitutional amendment on three terms for legislators would be extended one last time by another year to coinside the presidential election with state and local elections. The arguement is an election on the same day for your sheriff, city councilman, governor, secretary of state, treasurer, and other state offices, along with president and congress would save taxpayers $6.3 million out of a $19 billion state budget. The bill awaits approval or rejection from the Senate. The same bill failed miserably last year in the Senate. Here's why, according to Jeff David, publisher of the Livingston Parish News:
"Presidential campaigns eat up political contributions like a hungry Pac Man. United States Senate and congressional races also occur on presidential election dates, further soaking up what political money is available. If all statewide races and all parish races in Louisiana are placed on the same ballot, those seeking offices at the bottom of that ballot will find most of the fruit picked by the time they get to the orchard.
"Having Louisiana elections in the years preceding presidential ballots helps local and state politicians raise the money they need to run a campaign. Political money is not a huge factor for veteran urban legislators like Peppi Bruneau who are blessed with districts where voters are much more focused on city issues than on state problems. But in other more competitive legislative districts, incumbent legislators can easily see how the proposed change could make fundraising much more difficult. Everyone will be clamoring for political contributions at the same time, including presidential candidates who, in this modern era, spend more than $100 million to run.
"That's why Peppi Bruneau's bill got beat 27-9 in the Senate last year after passing the House with more than 70 votes. And that's why it's likely to meet a similar fate this year."

How ironic. The state Senate wants to snuff out smoking in public places, and the governor is encouraging people to smoke to give teachers a raise. What a joke.

We'll, it's nothing we haven't heard before in the college ranks. Anybody remember Lester Earl from LSU. The Lafayette paper drops a bombshell Sunday on the University of Louisiana at Lafayette by reporting that Coach Lee gave money to a recruit. The story allows the recruit to make all kinds of accusations, and sets up the AD to be a liar based on the recruits statements. Only thing is, we don't know why the recruit is making the accusations now, and Lee is never given the opportunity to respond in the story. Take a look yourself, http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050612/NEWS01/506120377/1002

I created this blog on June 12, 2005, because after the loss of Deduct Box and Timshel, I can't find a good Louisiana political commentary blog. The name Round Robin stems from the orginal 15 men who bailed Huey Long out of impeachment and subsquently became more wealthy from the good ole politics of the day. The Web site address, La Louisiane, is named after that famous News Orleans restaurant where deals often were made politicians in hearing distance of federal wiretaps, which helped shape our great state. All of this is done to offer political commentary and views on other aspects of Louisiana. What do I know about Louisiana? Nothing more than living here and reading the newspaper. We'll have fun.
Round Robin