La La Land

Wednesday’s Blogs from the Bog

LEAVE BOBBY ALONE!

Bobby Bashers

Hate is a pretty strong word, but The Hayride says The Advocate hates Bobby Jindal and references Tyler Bridges' piece about his future plans as evidence. The next day, The Advocate was back again it again with this piece by Stephanie Grace. Here's the thing: the media probably doesn't hate Jindal. But, you gotta call him out. Are we overdoing it on that job? Maybe. There's plenty of times I have skipped posting a piece about what he has done, figuring it beating a dead horse (like this piece of Bobby bashing in The Week). Nevertheless, Jindal is owed as much. At the same time, the dislike is compounded with the expectations and potential to which he didn’t live up. Even Grace calls him smart and notes he has a future, but also a past. And that’s the thing. Jindal can’t be allowed to skate on this us. We owe you that much.

Sausage Factory

Bayou Buzz interviews Tyler Bridges about the secret deal involving Senate President John Alario and House Speaker Taylor Barras and business lobbyists. This is how your government is made, folks!

Red vs Blue? Not so Much!

Remember how the world seemed to turn upside down when Democrat John Bel Edwards defeated Republican David Vitter? According to the 2016 Louisiana Survey by LSU’s Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs, it wasn’t such a big deal as there’s really not much difference between the Left and the Right in Louisiana. The survey says we agree on things like Common Core, minimum wage, TOPS and same-sex marriage. That’s the first good thing to come out of Common Core. How about we keep it around? Nah.

Crash Test Dummies

Louisiana ranks 14th in terms of expense of operating a vehicle in the United States. The only surprise here is that we are not higher - have you seen that pothole behind Chick-Fil-A?

We're Number One ... at Something

Uhm, this a mixed bag to say the least, but here's a compilation of things at which Louisiana is number one. There are some throwaways like crawfish production, but bright spots are included such as ACT gains. Too bad we couldn’t fill the whole list with things like that and, instead, had to turn to things like most bars per capita.

Education Cuts Back Again

With the budget not where it should be, public education is again in jeopardy of being hit with cuts. The $44 million in cuts we once thought schools escaped is looming again. This time, the Minimum Foundation Program is in danger. What is Minimum Foundation Program? Under this program, school districts get funding as a block grant. It is connected to how many students are enrolled and the cost of education each student - some $4 thousand a year. Cutting this is bad news. This isn't the same as when the $44 million would put standardized testing in a pinch. Speculation is that it will be teachers' salaries. This is money we can't afford to lose.

So Much Money, We Don't Even Know Where it Doesn't Come From

We don't have a spending problem, we have an exempting problem. The Revenue & Fiscal Affairs Committee will look at some 400 or so tax exemptions for ones that need to be killed. The lede says it all: "Louisiana gives away nearly $1 billion a year from dozens of sales tax exemptions without state officials knowing the cost for each one."