Louisiana GOP votes to override Jindal’s stimulus rejection
posted at 6:53 pm on May 19, 2009 by Laura
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An epic fail, courtesy of the Louisiana GOP, and a helpful illustration of what’s wrong with the GOP at the national level as well.
Bobby Jindal – who, in spite of some serious flaws, is still the best governor we’ve had in my lifetime – refused part of the Federal “stimulus” package. His reasons for doing so were well-publicized; he didn’t want to commit Louisiana to an unemployment benefit extension that will obligate Louisiana taxpayers to pay up after Federal funding runs out.
Rather than debate this decision on the merits, Democratic Rep. Avon Honey sneaked a provision into an unrelated worker’s compensation bill at the last minute which overrides Jindal’s decision. The House GOP voted for it unanimously.
Rep. Cameron Henry, R-Jefferson, said he would have spoken against the amendment if he had known what it did.
Republican House members are now indulging in outraged rhetoric, but haven’t offered any explanation why they voted for something they had not read. Probably because they don’t want to admit that voting for bills they have not read and don’t understand is standard operating procedure at both the federal and local levels.
A lot of the outrage people I spoke to at the New Orleans tea party was over just this sort of game-playing, and while it was largely directed at Democrats, the GOP certainly wasn’t exempt. The GOP could pick up a lot of votes just by enacting common sense, good government measures like requiring a bill only include provisions about what the bill claims to be about, and requiring that bills be read before they are passed. Those are measures voters would enthusiastically support. I can’t think of a simpler concept to market; the ads practically write themselves. It’s painfully obvious that government of the people, by the people, for the people, should not be hidden from the people by obfuscation. But instead of reforming the system, the GOP publicly whines about Democrats being sneaks and liars and privately reserves the right to slip things like the Merida initiative into a war funding bill. A pox on both their houses.
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Two things: 1)those theatrics were to some extent exactly that: theatrics. Performed by the usual suspects and played up by the media and the Democrats in order to bash Bush. There were legitimate issues here, and yes, looting and bad behavior, especially after the guns were confiscated by Nagin and the National Guard. (Looting happens in every other storm struck city as well, google any hurricane name and looting and you’ll find plenty.) But a lot of what the media hammered day after week after month was about political gain. If I could just get my hands around Geraldo Rivera’s neck for five minutes… The truth is the vast majority of New Orleanians just got on with it. 2)A good part of why people here are still angry is it wasn’t just a catastropic storm. Most of the damage was thanks to poor engineering on the Corps’ part. That Levees.org site is free from hysteria and contains loads of verifiable facts. Paul from Wizbang also beat the media hands-down on reality-based Katrina coverage, this is a must-read if you really want to be informed.
I’m the last person to say tons of things didn’t go wrong, and that the city and state government wasn’t a train wreck. But things are more complicated in this situation that most people understand; the typical narratives really don’t cut it. (Which you know of course, since you’re from around here, but I’m posting this for others as well…)
I will disagree with you on Nagin though… bad as he is (and there was a time I did defend some things about him, but I’m way over that) he is not as bad as letting the Landrieu family get further entrenched in La. politics. The last thing we need is Mary’s little bro to get hold of the city checkbook. At the time of the election, remember: Nagin was the reform candidate. The guy who was a relative newcomer to politics coming from a business background. I would have rather had several other candidates, but when it was time for the runoff, the choices were Nagin and Landrieu, and the voters made the choice they thought would bring the least corruption.
Lay-Z… man, it’s old home week. :-) My church has gutted a lot of houses and cleaned up a lot of yards in Lakeview, and we never miss the marketplaces at Harrison Ave; lots to give away each time. Why are you leaving?
Laura on May 20, 2009 at 12:39 AM
I completely agree with Laura about nagin. He’s 10x better than Landrieu.
TTheoLogan on May 20, 2009 at 12:44 AM
TTheoLogan on May 20, 2009 at 12:44 AM
:-) They don’t call them the Cajun Kennedys for nothing. And we’re in very good company – here’s Ed’s take at his old blog:
Laura on May 20, 2009 at 12:56 AM
Laura
Ummm I’m from there city business is nothing more than a cheerleading rag always has been always will be.
People are “coming” for the Federal contracts – like with the oil boom – they wil be leaving soon as well
Laura, New Orleans is struggling – hey always has ever since about 1983 its been in sharp sharp decline – sad
EricPWJohnson on May 20, 2009 at 3:10 AM
If the republicans claim to have voted for the provision by mistake, then introduce a bill to repeal that section of the passed law immediately and vote it straight up and down.
eaglewingz08 on May 20, 2009 at 8:46 AM
Eric, “sharp sharp decline” is just an outright lie. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you’re parroting someone else’s lie in simple ignorance. I’ve been in business circles here for some time – during the oil boom and after my family owned a business and except for brief stints to other states, I’ve been working here my entire adult life. But that’s only anecdotal. If we’re in such a decline, show me the stats.
As to City Business being a rag… think as you please, of course. But the facts are not in dispute if the best you can do is name calling.
Laura on May 20, 2009 at 8:48 AM
to clarify: working here in New Orleans, not in the former family business, my entire adult life
Laura on May 20, 2009 at 8:50 AM
One phrase always comes to mind when it comes to voting Republican or Democrat…Damned if you do, Damned if you don’t.
jeffn21 on May 20, 2009 at 9:00 AM
The biggest reason is to get away from my inlaws. I’ve also been working out of Baton Rouge for several months. There are jobs in New Orleans but there’s a shortfall in IT jobs as companies are moving their IT assets out of the city for disaster recovery and prevention.
I’m moving to Hammond, which is still close and considered part of the NOLA metro area in some way.
Lay-Z on May 20, 2009 at 9:40 AM
Lay-Z hit the nail on the head. What’s happened to NOLA didn’t just happen since Katrina. It’s been a slow demise since the 60’s. Crime and corruption were bad prior to Katrina.
Actually Katrina is a chance for NOLA to get a do-over. (not that I’d wish Katrina on any city).
Brain Dead Nagin has to go along with most of city hall and half of the city council. I feel for the good hard working people in NOLA because they don’t get the media attention. It’s mostly the whiners and the corrupt politicians that get the headlines.
roux on May 20, 2009 at 10:50 AM
As for what happens in the La. legislature the sneaking in of an amendment is small potatoes to what goes on behind the scenes.
roux on May 20, 2009 at 10:51 AM
Force the GOP tools to prove they wouldn’t have voted for it.
When this arrives at Jindal’s desk, he should VETO it. Force them to override his veto.
TechieNotTrekkie on May 20, 2009 at 12:18 PM
Louisiana politics:) The whole state needs a scouring.
Dr Evil on May 20, 2009 at 12:33 PM
He’s just a minor player, and not all that interesting.
AnninCA on May 20, 2009 at 4:12 PM
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