LAFAYETTE  PUBLIC  POLICY -----------"Mais, C'est Politique, Cher" 
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Acadiana:
(S. W. LOUISIANA)
Some people are not fond of the term used to describe our special little corner of the world. The term leads many to think only decendants of the old Acadia (Canada) settled this region and built its cherished culture.
  A more complete picture shows that Acadians, Creoles, Africans,French, German, Irish, Italians, Lebanese, Native Americans, Spanish, and other Ethnicities, made this region like no other on the planet.  
                              Lafayette North Development Plan      Archive- - - 2008      2007  -  2006       Dictionary    LEDA PUBLIC DATA pUBLIC  - 


Federal Judge Takes On Wall Street
 --  Huffington Post - HOWARD S. FINEMAN   12/27/11

Jed S. Rakoff: Federal District Judge Of New York's Southern District (The Inspirationals)  
NEW YORK CITY -- With his neatly barbered white beard and his calm, careful demeanor, 68-year-old Judge Jed S. Rakoff seems too mild-mannered to be the fierce foe of corporate greed that his admirers see. And yet it is a measure of how timid our politics have become that this federal judge is widely viewed as the only man in government with the cojones to take on the banking corporations that nearly destroyed the American economy in 2008 and that seem, for the most part, unrepentant. Rakoff is a federal district judge for the Southern District of New York. He presides from a building on Pearl Street in Lower Manhattan named after the man who proposed him for the bench 16 years ago, the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Democrat of New York. The judge is no radical. He was drawn as a college student to the "cool rationality" of President Jack Kennedy, proposed for the federal bench by the famously centrist Moynihan, nominated by President Bill Clinton and overwhelmingly confirmed by a bipartisan Senate in 1996. He is a proceduralist, a former corporate lawyer and hardly a populist firebrand. But because he is fastidious about the law, knows the industry, has worked as a prosecutor and believes in rational regulation of business -- and because he presides over a jurisdiction that includes Wall Street and most Big Banks -- he may sometimes appear to be like the solitary protester in a Tiananmen of Profit. Time and again over the years, Rakoff has goaded federal regulators into taking a tougher line on the companies they regulate, though he does so in the measured tones of the "cool rationality" he admires. READ MORE


Growing wealth widens distance between lawmakers and constituents
 -- Peter Whoriskey -12-262011
BUTLER, Pa. — One day after his shift at the steel mill, Gary Myers drove home in his 10-year-old Pontiac and told his wife he was going to run for Congress. The odds were long. At 34, ­Myers was the shift foreman at the “hot mill” of the Armco plant here. He had no political experience and little or no money, and he was a Republican in a district that tilted Democratic. But standing in the dining room, still in his work clothes, he said he felt voters deserved a better choice.Three years later, he won. When Myers entered Congress, in 1975, it wasn’t nearly so unusual for a person with few assets besides a home to win and serve in Congress. Though lawmakers on Capitol Hill have long been more prosperous than other Americans, others of that time included a barber, a pipe fitter and a house painter. A handful had even organized into what was called the “Blue Collar Caucus.” But the financial gap between Americans and their representatives in Congress has widened considerably since then, according to an analysis of financial disclosures by The Washington Post. Between 1984 and 2009, the median net worth of a member of the House more than doubled, according to the analysis of financial disclosures, from $280,000 to $725,000 in inflation-adjusted 2009 dollars, excluding home ­equity. Over the same period, the wealth of an American family has declined slightly, with the comparable median figure sliding from $20,600 to $20,500, according to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics from the University of Michigan. READ MORE


SEC Charges Former Fannie, Freddie Executives With Fraud Over Risky Mortgages  --
The Huffington Post - Basil Katz, editing by Gerald E. McCormick and John Wallace - 12-15-2011

NEW YORK - U.S. securities regulators sued six former executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Friday, including ex-CEOs of both mortgage finance companies, saying they misled investors over exposure to risky home loans. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued three former executives at Fannie Mae and three at Freddie Mac. The civil charges were brought in two separate lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. The SEC accused former Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd, former Freddie Mac CEO Richard Syron and four other defendants of knowingly approving false statements to investors that drastically misrepresented the extent of the firms' exposure to toxic mortgages. Spokesmen for Mudd and Syron did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The SEC said both firms have agreed to cooperate with the agency and have agreed to admit responsibility for the alleged conduct, without agreeing or denying that they are liable. The firms have also entered into non-prosecution agreements with the agency, the SEC said. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have been propped up by $169 billion in federal aid since they were rescued by the government in 2008. The cases are SEC v. Daniel Mudd et al., No. 11-9202 and SEC v. Syron et. al No. 11-9201, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Reporting by 

Census: 1 in 2 people are poor  -- The Daily Advertiser - 12-14-2011
WASHINGTON — Squeezed by rising living costs, a record number of Americans — nearly 1 in 2 — have fallen into poverty or are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income. The latest census data depict a middle class that's shrinking as unemployment stays high and the government's safety net frays. The new numbers follow years of stagnating wages for the middle class that have hurt millions of workers and families. "Safety net programs such as food stamps and tax credits kept poverty from rising even higher in 2010, but for many low-income families with work-related and medical expenses, they are considered too 'rich' to qualify," said Sheldon Danziger, a University of Michigan public policy professor who specializes in poverty. "The reality is that prospects for the poor and the near poor are dismal," he said. "If Congress and the states make further cuts, we can expect the number of poor and low-income families to rise for the next several years." READ MORE

Former worker suing LHA for back wages  -- The Daily Advertiser - Claire Taylor - 12-14-2011
LAFAYETTE, LA. - Fired contract worker Beatrice Wilson — also known as Porsha Evans — is suing the Lafayette Housing Authority for back wages. Wilson argues in the lawsuit her contract as a Disaster Housing Assistance Program case manager required the LHA to provide a 30-day written notice before terminating her. On Aug. 13, 2010, the LHA terminated Wilson immediately and without a written notice, "a violation of the employment contract," the lawsuit states. The lawsuit seeks 90 days in back pay — a total of $26,640 — or full wages (at $37 an hour for eight hours a day) from the time Wilson made demand for payment until the LHA pays her, whichever is less. Patricia Campbell, regional public affairs officer for Region VI with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, declined comment Tuesday on Wilson's lawsuit, citing the pending litigation. HUD took over the LHA in March after months of legal maneuvers that followed the dismissal of the previous board by City-Parish President Joey Durel. He dismissed the board after a 2008-09 audit revealed mismanagement at the LHA, including DHAP. This is the fourth lawsuit filed against the LHA by former contract DHAP workers. Two of the lawsuits were settled by the LHA: Linda Jefferson was paid $10,000 and Myra Parker was paid $30,000. Still pending is a lawsuit by former Lafayette City-Parish Councilman Chris Williams for $20,000, which housing officials have said they do not intend to settle. Wilson, Williams, Jefferson, Parker and another case manager with the DHAP program were fired by the LHA board in August 2010 after an independent audit found some of their pay — in some cases $37 an hour — was excessive, they did not complete time cards and worked full-time jobs at the same time they were supposedly working for DHAP, assisting hurricane victims.


What it means to be a Democrat - A Call For true Believers.  --  Democratic Louisiana-  Mike Stagg - 12-12-2011
LAFAYETTE, LA. - Qualifying for state and local Democratic party positions opens today across Louisiana and the future of the party is riding on who among us will step forward to lead the effort to build this party. Build is right word because there has never really been a Democratic Party in Louisiana. There has been a Democratic banner under which candidates have run for office, but there has never been much of anything resembling an actual party organization. There have been factions and organizations built around personalities, but there has not been a party organization per sé.  READ MORE

Police appeal dismissals - Four Lafayette officers’ letters deny allegations  -- Jason Brown - The Advocate - December 10, 2011
LAFAYETTE — Among the four Lafayette Police officers appealing their terminations are an officer accused of having sex while on duty and another accused of, among other things, inciting panic during a bomb scare at the Mall of Acadiana, according to the officers’ appeal letters. Cpl. Oren Haydel, Cpl. Edward A. McLean, Officer Uletom F. Hewitt and Officer Zairrick Guillory have filed appeals with the Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board. READ MORE


Lafayette Police shooting investigated  -- Advocate staff report - December 11, 2011
LAFAYETTE, LA. — State Police are investigating a Friday night shooting involving a Lafayette Police Department officer who killed an armed robbery suspect. According to a State Police news release, the man “engaged officers and officers responded by firing shots, fatally wounding” him. The initial investigation shows that Lafayette police officers responded to an armed robbery at an apartment complex in the 200 block of Theatre Drive, the release says. When police arrived, they came across an armed man at the doorway to an apartment, the release says. The man was pronounced dead at the scene following the shooting, the release says. The victim’s name was not released pending notification of family members. The names of police officers involved were not made public by State Police. The shooting remains under investigation, the release says.


Will there finally be parking change?  --  The Daily Advertiser - 12-11-2011
LAFAYETTE, LA. - During the past eight years, more than $300,000 has disappeared from the UL parking and transit office at the hands of employees. The thefts have left a long trail of stains on a university with an otherwise exemplary reputation — two arrests, three firings, a suicide and an ongoing police investigation that threatens to extend the damage. According to our own investigation, The Daily Advertiser has found that the misdeeds in the troubled department were allowed to mushroom as a result of a series of blunders, including ignored warnings, lax security and accounting procedures, and a failure to enact appropriate safeguards even after it became clear things were severely wrong in a cash-heavy department that this year alone already has generated more than a half-million dollars in revenue. READ MORE

JoDu or JoDon’t?  -- The Independent - Heather Miller and Walter Pierce  - 11-30-2011-

LAFAYETTE, LA. - Was City-Parish President Joey Durel a factor in the District 44 House runoff? He certainly didn’t help Rep. Rickey Hardy, but there’s more to the story.  For a man whose name didn’t even appear on the Nov. 19 ballot in Lafayette Parish, City-Parish President Joey Durel somehow managed to score some pretty big election day losses.  With Durel handily winning his own re-election bid against Lafayette Democrat Mike Stagg, the month between the Oct. 22 primary and Nov. 19 runoff gave Durel ample time to try to drum up support for candidates of his choice — or rather opposition to the candidates he was against. READ MORE

Buddy Roemer says he will campaign for president on third-party ticket  -- The Boston Globe -Shira Schoenberg - 12-01-2011
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer today became the first candidate to announce that he will seek the nomination of Americans Elect, an advocacy group that is trying to put a third, split-party ticket on the presidential ballot.  Roemer, who has gained little support in his attempt to win the Republican presidential nomination, said he will continue his primary race and will run as a Republican in the Americans Elect contest. Voters registering with Americans Elect will choose their nominee via the Internet. If nominated, Roemer will have to choose a running mate from a different party.  Roemer said his decision stems from his frustration at being excluded from the Republican primary debates. “It shows you my naiveté. I just knew that as I got better known, as I became more established…I would be invited to a debate,” Roemer said in an interview at his national headquarters. “But we’re not going to be.” Roemer said he agrees with many tenets of the Republican Party. But he has been unable to call attention to his platform, which focuses on campaign finance reform, because he has not been included in polls or debates. “I’m not trying to form a third party,” Roemer said. “What I’m trying to do is contrast what a unity ticket can do compared to the two parties, and let’s make a decision as a nation. At the very least, we might reform one of the parties to embrace campaign reform.”  He is still looking at potential running mates, but said he would consider Democrats like Erskine Bowles, co-chair of President Obama’s deficit reduction commission, or Harvard University law professor Lawrence Lessig, a proponent of campaign finance reform. READ MORE


GOP gets ready to say 'yes'  -- Politico.com - Jake Sherman 12-01-2011
NATIONAL - The narrative over the past 11 months is that House Republicans are the party of no: “no” to President Barack Obama, “no” to congressional Democrats and “no” to their own leaders.  But an amazing thing is about to happen at the close of one of the most politically contentious years in recent history: Republican leadership is about to say yes to Democrats. Yes to unemployment benefits, yes to Obama’s payroll tax holiday and yes on passing an unwieldy pile of year-end spending bills. It’s surprising on several levels. Republicans have voiced measured opposition to the payroll tax holiday. Many conservatives don’t believe long-term unemployment benefits encourage people to go back to work and nearly all of them think the current system is broken. Republicans also came into office vowing not to fund the government using massive omnibus bills.  Yet, if House GOP leadership has its way, all these measures will land on the president’s desk before year’s end.  It’s a mix of happenstance and sheer political calculation that has Republicans — including Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) — supporting some slivers of Democrats’ priorities and perhaps looking for an escape hatch to end this brutal congressional session. READ MORE

U.S. Unemployment Rate Falls To Lowest Level In Nearly Three Years  -- The Huffington Piost - 12-02-2011
WASHINGTON — The U.S. unemployment rate fell last month to its lowest level in more than 2 1/2 years. More people out of work either found jobs or gave up looking and were no longer counted as unemployed. The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate dropped sharply to 8.6 percent, down from 9 percent in October. The rate hasn't been that low since March 2009, during the depths of the recession. READ MORE



David Duke Arrested In Germany, Ex-Klan Leader Faces Deportation  -- The Huffington Post - 11-30-2011
INTERNATIONAL - David Duke, the former Ku Klux Klan leader, white supremacist and Louisiana politician, was arrested and taken into custody in Cologne on Friday, prior to a planned speech to a right-wing extremist group, German police said Monday. The statement by the Cologne police department said that Duke, 61, is "obliged to leave German territory without delay." In a message on his website, Duke said he had been released from jail and requested financial assistance from his followers to fight the deportation. "To fight this case will cost a lot of money, time and effort," he wrote. The arrest appears to be tied to Duke's expulsion from the Czech Republic in 2009, following his detention there on suspicion of denying the Holocaust, a crime in many European countries, including Germany. The Cologne police statement said that Duke "was not entitled to stay in Germany" because of a travel ban against him in another, unspecified European country. READ MORE


C-P Councilman Castille named Carencro’s new city manager  -- The Independent - Leslie Turk - 11-29-2011
LAFAYETTE, LA. - Ten days of Lloyd Rochon’s departure from his job as Carencro city manager, Lafayette District 2 City-Parish Councilman Jay Castille was hired for the job. Rochon was making almost $64,000 a year when he left the post, Mayor Glenn Brasseaux confirms, and Castille was hired by a vote of the Carencro City Council at a salary of $50,000.  Brasseaux says Rochon notified him Oct. 26 that he would be leaving the job he had held since 2002; Rochon’s last day of work was Nov. 11. “Lloyd was the first city manager hired by the city,”
Brasseaux says. “He did an outstanding job for us.”  READ MORE


Best and Worst Run States in America — An Analysis Of All 50 States  -- 24/7wallst.com-Nov.-28-2011

LOUISIANA / NATIONAL - Louisiana remains in our bottom 10 again this year, although it has improved since last year, primarily because of decreases in unemployment and violent crime rate. In all, however, the state ranks poorly in most of the metrics we considered. Louisiana has the fifth-highest poverty rate in the country, the 10th-highest percentage of residents without health insurance coverage and the fifth lowest percentage of adults with a high school diploma.
READ MORE

OUT OF LINE  -- The Independent - Walter Pierce -11-20-2011
LAFAYETTE / BROUSSARD, LA. - Broussard is about to get a “substantial” bill from Lafayette Utilities System, and its wholesale contract with LUS could be in jeopardy.
A hearty guffaw bursts through the phone line. At the other end is Broussard Mayor Charlie Langlinais, who is in New York City at the time on a business trip. “If owe them money I don’t have a problem paying them now, up front or we can work it out over ... Joey Durel! [Langlinais laughs again] $800,000?!” (He laughs yet again.) Langlinais’ funny bone is being tickled from two directions: by the estimated bill Lafayette Utilities System says the city of Broussard owes for using LUS water for the last five years at a meter in Broussard that was bypassed, and by Langlinais’ longtime foil, City-Parish President Joey Durel, who has squabbled with Langlinais most recently over disputed annexations along Ambassador South. Animus between the mayors is well chronicled; the cities of Lafayette and Broussard have even swapped lawsuits over annexations. So while Langlinais was recently made aware of the water meter issue, he thinks the sizable bill estimated by LUS has Joey Durel written all over it." Durel is having none of it. “They’re going to have to pay the bill,” the city-parish president says. “But more importantly, that contract in my opinion ceases to exist. But we’ll have to wait and see about that. The contract doesn’t provide for anybody to take water for free. Anybody, based on any kind of common sense at all, would say this contract is breached, and I think it’ll open the door for a renegotiated contract.” READ MORE


Ricky Hardy --- X-State Representative  (LAFAYETTE, LA. )

Unapologetic, Unorthodox — and Unemployed
(The Independent)
.


Pierre unseats Hardy in State Rep. District 44 race



Republican Campaign Commercials Misquote Obama  -- TheNation.com - Ben Adleron November 23, 2011 - 5:10pm ET
NATIONAL - You might expect that in a Republican primary the candidates would be criticizing one another. They certainly would have plenty of material. But in keeping with Ronald Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment—thou shall not speak ill of a fellow Republican—the GOP presidential candidates are focusing their television commercials in the early primary states on President Obama. Unfortunately, the quotes they use from Obama are taken so far out of context that they go beyond misleading into outright falsehoods. READ MORE


Rick Perry's Texas gets plenty of money from the feds  -- Politico.com - KATE NOCERA | 11/25/2011
The first rule of asking for extra federal dollars in Texas is to never make it seem like you are asking for extra federal dollars. For Gov. Rick Perry, this is a tricky line to walk. Because as much as the Republican presidential candidate bashes the federal government in his campaign speeches, Texas gets a lot of money from the feds — and a lot of it is going to the health care system he insists Texas can handle on its own. Perry has repeatedly decried the spending culture of Washington, railing against both President Barack Obama’s health care law and the federal stimulus. But as it happens, Texas has taken a lot of money from both. More than $380 million in early grants and other aid from the federal health law have already gone to businesses and agencies in the Lone Star State, according to figures from the Department of Health and Human Services, and Texas ended up with $17 billion from the stimulus. Now, the state is waiting for final approval of a new waiver from federal Medicaid rules that could allow the state to draw down an additional $12 billion in funds from the federal government. And that’s before the main parts of the Affordable Care Act even kick in, bringing billions of dollars to Texas in extra Medicaid funds and subsidies to help people buy private coverage through a new health insurance exchange. If the law survives its upcoming review by the Supreme Court, its expansion of Medicaid alone could cost the federal government anywhere from $53 billion to $67 billion in aid to Texas by 2019, according to estimates from the nonpartisan Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. That’s more than any other state would get under that part of the law. The only other state that comes close is California, which would get between $45 billion and $55 billion in federal Medicaid funds. “The only word that can describe this is hypocrisy,” said Democratic state Rep. Garnet Coleman. “These days federal dollars might as well be counterfeit, they are so dirty — but Texas would not survive without them.” READ MORE

Louisiana doctors continue to work while under investigation  -- NOLA.COM - 11-23-2011
LOUISIANA, LA. - Four Louisiana physicians wrote hundreds of bogus prescriptions that powered multimillion-dollar health-care frauds in the Baton Rouge area, according to evidence amassed by the nearly two-year-old local Medicare Fraud Strike Force. Yet, all four physicians remain licensed to practice medicine, including two who pleaded guilty and a third convicted at a jury trial in August. The fourth doctor, who had previous probations of his license, is fighting the charges in his indictment. In a similar case that dates to before creation of the Strike Force, the Advocate reports a Louisiana physician in 2009 retained his medical license even though he was convicted of health-care fraud. READ MORE

LUS bills Broussard $825,000 for water  -- The Daily Advertiser - Nicholas Persac - 11-23-2011
LAFAYETTE, LA. - ayette Utilities System officials sent the City of Broussard a bill for more than $825,000 and argue the municipality breached its contract with the company for using a non-metered bypass line to consume, but not purchase, LUS water for several years.  LUS Customer and Support Services Manager Andrew Duhon sent the $825,587.01 bill to Broussard Mayor Charles Langlinais in letter dated Nov. 22. "Now that I've got their number, I'm kind of floored you could come up with that type of estimate," Langlinais said on Tuesday. Langlinais said he was "somewhat shocked" by the bill, but he wouldn't say what he thinks a more appropriate price tag may be. Instead of simply accepting the $825,000 bill, he said Broussard hired an outside consultant, specializing in utilities system engineering, to examine the data and calculate how much Broussard owes LUS. Langlinais said he has "no issue whatsoever paying what we owe," but he wants to verify the dollar amount in question. He said he will hold a news conference early next week "to correct misinformation" about the matter and to announce what amount the consultant believes Broussard should pay LUS. READ MORE


How dangerous is pepper spray?  --  The Guardian UK - Martin Robins - 11-22-2011
INTERNATIONAL -Studies suggest the use of pepper spray on peaceful protesters, such as the UC Davis students, is likely to make them more violent. The controversy of the policing of student protests at University of California, Davis, has highlighted one of the more sinister trends in recent protests: the liberal or even enthusiastic use of weapons like pepper spray to force protestors to bend to the will of the police, even in the absence of any obvious violence or threat. Deaths involving the police can result from a complex combination of causes. By 1995 the ACLU in Southern California had identified 26 deaths connected with pepper spray use in 30 months. READ MORE

Insurers 'terrified' of Supreme Court ruling on healthcare reform law  -- TheHill.com - Julian Pecquet - 11-22-2011
NATIONAL - The insurance industry is terrified that the Supreme Court will strike down the individual mandate to buy insurance next year while leaving the rest of the healthcare reform law intact. For insurers, the death of the mandate alone — one of many plausible outcomes in the blockbuster case — is the nightmare scenario, one Republican healthcare lobbyist told The Hill. “They’re terrified they’re going to be left holding the bag,” the lobbyist said. In arguing for the mandate, the insurance industry points to the experiences of eight states that tried and failed to reform their insurance markets without one in the 1990s. They say the law’s requirements are unworkable unless everyone in the country purchases insurance. But that argument might not sway the Supreme Court, which must decide the “severability” of the mandate from the law, along with a host of other legal and constitutional issues.  In an amicus brief filed last month with the high court, the insurance industry said keeping the law’s reforms in place without a mandate would create “widespread … instability in the insurance market and, over time, would substantially reduce access to affordable coverage.”“The difference between … a mandate-less [health law] with market reforms intact, and without some or many of those market reforms is night and day,” America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) said in the brief. Insurers’ best-case scenario, one insurance lobbyist said, would be for the court to uphold the mandate. Barring that, the industry would rather see the whole law crumble. “I’m not sure there’s a solution there that’s acceptable other than, it’s all or nothing,” the source said. READ MORE


Acadiana Democrats: Stayin’ Alive?  --The Independent - Heather Miller - 11-21-2011
ACADIANA - Acadiana lawmakers have been steadily flocking to the Republican Party as part of a statewide push for a supermajority, but this year’s legislative race circuit has shown a notable foothold for area Democrats who won four state representative seats in the Acadiana Delegation.  On Saturday, incumbent state Rep. Jack Montoucet of Crowley defeated Republican challenger Anthony Emmons in District 42, while Carencro home builder Stephen Ortego beat Republican St. Landry Parish President Don Menard in District 39. In District 44, Vince Pierre ousted incumbent Democratic state Rep. Rickey Hardy, who was targeted for his relationships with Lafayette Republicans like City-Parish President Joey Durel and supporting several initiatives of Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal. Terry Landry’s win in the newly created minority District 96 rounded out the fourth Democratic victory in Acadiana.  “Lafayette Democrats were active in these four legslative races,” says local attorney and Lafayette Parish Democratic Executive Committee member Lester Gauthier. “Hold off on the obituary. We’re not dead yet.” READ MORE
 

Fan group optimistic FCC will review National Football League blackout rule  -- TheHill.com - Gautham Nagesh - 11-20-2011
NATIONAL - A coalition representing sports fans is optimistic the Federal Communications Commission will review a decades-old rule that allows the National Football League to ban television providers from carrying home games locally. The Sports Fan Coalition filed a petition for Rulemaking with the FCC last week urging the agency to end its local sports blackout rule adopted in 1975 at the request of the sports leagues and broadcasters. The NFL's policy bans local broadcast stations within 75 miles of stadiums from showing games that aren't sold out. The FCC's rule prohibits cable, satellite, Internet and other providers in the same area from carrying the blacked-out games. Eight games had been blacked out this season as of last week, while the last two seasons saw 26 and 23 blackouts respectively. Sports Fan Coalition executive director Brian Frederick told Hillicon on Sunday the rule is unfair to fans in economically depressed areas that support publicly-financed stadiums through their tax dollars but are left unable to watch their home team. "It's completely unethical to not allow [fans] to see the games," Frederick said, pointing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the prime example. Four of the team's eight home games have been blacked out on local TV this year, despite playing in a $168.5 million stadium funded by taxpayers.  READ MORE

   See Local Candidates in the 2011 election                 
  
   Lafayette Chamber Of Commerce Endorsements      
                                                     
   
   League OF Women Voters Guide To Lafayette Elections



Landry wins in Dist. 96  -- The Daily Advertiser - Claire Taylor -11-20-2011
ACADIANA - Terry Landry, D-Lafayette, was chosen Saturday as the first state representative of the newly created House District 96, which includes parts of Lafayette Parish. A former Louisiana State Police superintendent, Landry defeated Eric Martin, I-St. Martinville, during a runoff Saturday. The two emerged from a field of six in the October primary to face off on Saturday. Landry has said that being retired gives him the time needed to be a full-time advocate for the people of District 96. "I think education is paramount and the centerpiece of everything facing us," Landry said Saturday evening. "We can't continue to balance our budget on the back of our children." State officials often implement cuts to education when they need to balance the state budget. That's in large part because many other areas of the budget are protected from cuts by the state Constitution. "If it requires a constitutional amendment, let's work towards that," Landry said. Martin congratulated Landry and wished him the best in Baton Rouge. "It was a good race. We gave it our all," he said. READ MORE

Pierre unseats Hardy in District 44  -- The Daily Advertiser - Claire Taylor - 11-20-2011
LAFAYETTE - The heated race for House District 44 ended in an upset Saturday with political newcomer Vincent Pierre defeating incumbent state Rep. Rickey Hardy. "I am humble tonight. The people of District 44 have spoken," Pierre said. "They want change. My job is to go to Baton Rouge to ensure change does happen." Pierre said he and his supporters worked hard to reach everyone in District 44 with his message. "We worked throughout the community, we worked with local churches, we worked with local organizations, explaining to them our message of education, of job development and uniting this community," he said. READ MORE


Guillory re-elected after bitter battle  -- The Daily Advertiser - Tina Marie Macias 11-20-2011
OPELOUSAS — After a season of bitter rhetoric and a decisively vicious campaign cycle, state Sen. Elbert Guillory, D-Opelousas, will return to the state Senate for a second term. He beat political rival and Opelousas Mayor Donald "Don" Cravins, D-Opelousas, by more than 10 percentage points in the hotly contested race for state Senate District 24. "I'm looking forward to Monday morning when I can get back to work and do the serious business of managing District 24," Guillory said Saturday. Guillory, a 67-year-old attorney, won re-election with 55.66 percent of the vote. Cravins, a 63-year-old independent insurance agent, took 44.34 percent, according to complete but unofficial results from the Louisiana Secretary of State. The race for the three-parish district was impassioned and often dirty. READ MORE

Naquin holds off Durel-backed Doise  --  The Daily Advertiser - Nicholas Persac -11-20-2011
LAFAYETTE - Conservative members of the Lafayette City-Parish Council will have a likely ally during the next four years, as tea-party endorsed Andy Naquin topped Jared Doise, who was favored by the incumbent in that seat and City-Parish President Joey Durel. "I haven't had a lot of big names behind me, that's for sure," Naquin said Saturday night after winning the election. Naquin and Doise, both political newcomers, unseated incumbent District 6 Councilman Sam Dore during the primary election. Because none of the three candidates earned a majority of the vote, Doise and Naquin faced in the runoff election Saturday. Naquin topped Doise by about 11 percent in the Oct. 22 primary election, making him the favorite in the runoff. On Saturday, he topped Doise by about 15 percent. "I was happy to make the runoff, and to actually come out on top is out of my wildest dreams," Naquin said. "It's not about Andy though. It's about the people who got me here and encouraged me to step up to the plate." Pearson Cross, chairman of UL's Political Science Department, said before Saturday's election that many people were "looking for strong conservatives with strong roots," giving Naquin the upper hand in the race. "Naquin certainly might join with other like-minded conservatives who have not been a fan of Joey Durel or the direction he's bringing LCG," Cross said. Naquin, in general, is more in line with those like-minded conservatives, Councilmen Jared Bellard, District 5, and William Theriot, District 9. His victory weakens the voting block that typically sides with Durel. In a likely reference to Bellard and Theriot, Durel asked his supporters in a letter aendorsing Doise to not "send me another person that is simply 'against.'" READ MORE

Big win: Stephen Ortego upsets Don Menard  --  The Independent - Heather Miller -  11-21-2011
CARENCRO. LA. - Saturday’s eye-popping victory in the House District 39 race, in which Carencro Democrat Stephen Ortego unexpectedly delivered a 10-point win over St. Landry Parish President Don Menard, has earned Ortego a shared spot on the political history bookshelf with some of the most influential Louisiana politicians of late.   At 27 years old, Ortego will be the youngest serving member of the state House when it convenes next year, as were U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu and former U.S. Reps. Chris John and Cleo Fields when they were each elected to the Louisiana Legislature.  Ortego secured 55 percent of the vote Saturday in what was arguably one of the biggest upsets in Acadiana legislative races. “We expected to win. We just didn’t expect to win by that much,” Ortego says. “We could feel it on the ground in the last week. People started really supporting the campaign.”  Menard held endorsements from key statewide industry groups, U.S. Rep. Jeff Landry, Gov. Bobby Jindal and U.S. Sen. David Vitter, as well as large-scale contributions from the latter two.  Ortego says the financial boost he received from the Louisiana Democratic Party was standard for a legislative race, but nowhere near the amount of money Menard received Jindal and Vitter.  “We knew we weren’t going to get that kind of money, so we had to be smart about the money we did receive,” Ortego explains. “I think getting out and talking to people really laid out a foundation.”  Ortego ran for the District 39 seat in 2007, losing to current state Rep. Bobby Badon by less than 30 votes in a runoff, This year, Ortego took 35 percent of the primary vote to face Menard in the runoff. Badon did not seek re-election.  Unlike Louisiana heavyweights Landrieu and John, whose fathers both held high public offices in Louisiana, Ortego’s only DNA ties to the Legislature stem from his great grandfather, a former state representative.  As for what’s to come, Ortego’s answer echoes from one of his biggest campaign platforms — preservation of French and Cajun culture.  “C’est pas fini,” he says.


Memo Reveals How Seriously Powerful Interests Take OWS  -- The Nation.com - George Zornickon - 11-20-2011
NATIONAL - This mont
rning, Up With Chris Hayes unveiled a major scoop: the show obtained a written pitch to the American Bankers Association from a promine Washington lobbying firm, proposing a $850,000 smear campaign against Occupy Wall Street.  The memo, issued by Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford, described the danger presented by the burgeoning movement, saying that if Democrats embraced Occupy, “This would mean more than just short-term political discomfort for Wall Street.… It has the potential to have very long-lasting political, policy and financial impacts on the companies in the center of the bullseye.” Furthermore, it notes that “the bigger concern…should be that Republicans will no longer defend Wall Street companies.” RAED MORE

Justices allow suit over N.P. Moss school problems  --  The Advocate -11-19-2011
LAFAYETTE, LA. - A recent Louisiana Supreme Court ruling has cleared the way for the Lafayette Parish School Board to move forward with a lawsuit against a local architecture firm accused of a faulty design of N.P. Moss Middle School. The court declined to hear an appeal by Corne-Lemaire, which had argued in court that the statute of limitations for claims had expired. The School Board filed suit in July 2008 against the company and N.P. Moss contractor Ratcliff Construction, alleging that faulty design and construction led to more than $2 million in repairs for water intrusion and water damage. Claims against the construction company were dismissed early on in the proceedings, said Dawn L. Morris, who represents the School Board. That judgment was final before Morris took over the case, which meant she could not appeal it. The trial court also dismissed claims against Corne-Lemaire based on a five-year window for claims specific to architecture firms. That ruling was appealed and eventually made it to the Supreme Court, which sent the case back to the trial court to allow the School Board to amend its petition last year. Afterward, a state district judge ruled that since the contract between the board and Corne-Lemare set the statute of limitations for claims at the date of substantial completion — July 1999 — the applicable law at that time that allowed a 10-year window for claims should be applied. The company appealed that decision, which was upheld by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal. “We’re very happy that we can proceed forward now,” Morris said.  No trial dates have been set in the case.


Joe Biden spoke at a secretive conference attended by about 150 rich liberals.  --  Politico.com - Kenneth P. Vogel 11/19/11
NATIONALS - Vice President Joe Biden spoke at a secretive conference attended by about 150 rich liberals deciding how to divvy up their cash in the run-up to the 2012 election.  A variety of liberal groups pitched the donors throughout the three-day conference, including a network of Democratic outside groups hoping to raise upwards of $120 million to fund a sort-of shadow party effort supporting the reelection campaign of Biden and President Barack Obama. The Obama campaign has said it will not raise money for these outside groups, though Biden gave his speech Thursday night only hours after the operatives running the shadow network wooed the same audience.  The setting was the annual winter meeting of the Democracy Alliance, a network of donors who are required to contribute a minimum of $100,000 to recommended liberal groups.  The alliance mostly has recommended groups that focus on policy and voter mobilization, rather than campaign advertising. But at this year’s conference, which wraps Saturday, big election spending groups got to make pitches, too. READ MORE

Balanced Budget Amendment Fails In House Vote  --  Huffington Post - 11-19-2011
WASHINGTON -- The latest Republican push for a balanced budget amendment that would force massive spending cuts to the country's social safety net died in the House of Representatives Friday, brought down by lawmakers who argued Congress can balance the budget on its own. Requiring a two-thirds majority to pass under the Constitution, the measure failed 261-165, with several Republicans voting with the majority of Democrats against the amendment. Analysts had warned that instituting the proposed balanced-budget requirements would likely force cuts of greater that 17 percent within seven years of the amendment's ratification. Such cuts could mean slashing Social Security by $1.2 trillion and Medicare by $750 billion by 2022, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The Friday vote was held as part of the compromise to hike the nation's debt limit this past summer -- a deal that also produced the deficit-cutting super committee that now seems deadlocked. With the nation's debt surpassing $15 trillion this week and exceeding $1 trillion annually for several years, conservatives thought they had a chance to pass the amendment, but even some Republicans opposed it -- most prominently, House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-Calif.), who said that Congress had proved it didn't need to change the Constitution to even the books when it balanced budgets during the Clinton administration. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) also voted against the amendment, arguing that it was not stringent enough. READ MORE

Occupy’ movement pops up in Lafayette  --  The Independent - Walter Pierce - 11-18-2011
LAFAYETTE, LA. - On a crisp, clear afternoon in downtown Lafayette Thursday, fewer than a dozen residents gathered at the edge of Parc Putnam on Lafayette Street across from the federal courthouse to show their solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement — a protest movement targeting corporate excess that erupted in New York City early this fall and has spread to dozens of cities across the country and the world.  Thursday’s action was organized via social media by Lafayette resident Molly Baumgartner, a local representative of the liberal activist group MoveOn. Group members ranged in age from junior high to senior citizen. The youngest member of the ‘protest,’ 12-year-old Jackson Schneider of Lafayette, is a recent transplant from New York who said he sympathizes with the message of OWS.  “It’s not fair that someone on minimum wage makes $16,000 a year while some CEOs make $16,000 an hour,” the precocious tween said in the shadow of his parents.  The “Occupy Lafayette” event was a low-key affair: No slogans were chanted or epithets hurled. In fact, it didn’t even arouse the curiousity of security officials at the courthouse.

District 6 council race heats up runoffs  -- The Advertiser.com - Nicholas Persac - 11-18-2011
LAFAYETTE, LA. - The race to represent the City-Parish Council's sixth district has heated up since the Oct. 22 primary election in large part because the outcome of the contest could change the council's dynamic, either tilting it farther to the right or giving the current LCG administration a stronghold on the council. Political newcomers Jared Doise and Andy Naquin unseated incumbent Sam Dore during the primary election, but neither earned a majority of the vote. Doise and Naquin will face in the runoff election Saturday. Doise and Dore, in general, are more in line with City-Parish President Joey Durel's administration, and Naquin is generally more in line with the conservative voting block on the council that has given Durel chronic heartburn during the past year. Both Durel and Dore have endorsed Doise. If Doise wins, the seat will be passed to him from Dore, keeping the current balance on the council. If Naquin wins, Councilmen Jared Bellard, District 5, and William Theriot, District 9, will likely find an ally in their conservative beliefs. Naquin topped Doise by about 11 percent in the Oct. 22 primary election, leaving Doise as the underdog in the runoff on Saturday. READ MORE


Rickey's Broken Record  -- DailyKingfish.com - Robert J. Wilson - 11-17-2011
LAFAYETTE, LA. - Louisiana State Rep. Rickey Hardy (D-Lafayette) loves to talk about his record. Following a failed stunt in collusion with The Independent Weekly to duck a debate hosted by Acadiana Progressive and Lafayette Democrats, Hardy first described his reasoning by stating that the debate was “a set-up”, but when both The Independent and the people at large discovered that the only set-up was on the part of Mr. Hardy, his tune quickly changed. "What is there to debate about? They have to sell theyself (sic)” and “I can stand behind a proven track record, a list of accomplishments” said Hardy to KATC’s Maddie Garrett. That was the moment when Rickey’s record became all he could talk about. In lieu of actually addressing his constituents in a forum hosted by either the aforementioned groups or the Lafayette Black Chamber, he implored constituents to “…look at [his] record.” Working under the assumption that no one would actually take him up on the offer, Rickey dug in with his mantra: “I have a again proven track record." Rickey was sorely mistaken. Let’s take a look at Rickey’s Record, starting with the basics. READ MORE

Gingrich’s Health Care Group Supports a Mandate  -- MotherJones.com - David Corn -11-17-2011
NATIONAL - In CNN's Republican presidential debate last month, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney tangled after the former Massachusetts governor declared that the idea behind Romneycare's individual health care mandate had come from Gingrich. "You did not get that from me," Gingrich thundered, before eventually conceding that in the early 1990s he and the conservative Heritage Foundation had backed the idea of a mandate compelling individuals to purchase health insurance. But, Gingrich contended, he had done so only in opposition to the health care proposal then being promoted by Hillary Clinton. What Gingrich didn't say during this dust-up was that the Gingrich Group, a consulting firm the former GOP House speaker founded in 1999, currently promotes a plan that includes an individual mandate.  The Gingrich Group's most prominent project is the Center for Health Transformation, a for-profit outfit Gingrich launched in 2003 that works with clients to "drive transformation" within the health care system. The center promotes numerous programs, including its "Insure All Americans" initiative, which is run by Vincent Frakes, who previously worked on behalf of pharmaceutical companies at the lobbying and PR firm Bonner & Associates. The program's website notes that the "uninsured crisis is an enormous anchor on [the] healthcare system, our economy, and our future." It adds, "[W]e must never forget that behind the statistics and headlines, there are individual Americans and their families who are struggling every day." The site asserts—in distinctly non-tea-party-like rhetoric—that "[c]overing the uninsured is, indeed, a moral imperative," and it details a proposal to expand coverage "to every American citizen within five years."  RAED MORE

Millionaires On Capitol Hill: Tax Us More  -- The Huffington Post - Laurie Kellman - 11-16-2011
WASHINGTON -- Lobbyists for a day, a band of millionaires stormed Capitol Hill on Wednesday to urge Congress to tax them more. They had a little trouble getting in. It turns out there are procedures, even for the really rich. But once inside, their message was embraced by liberals and tolerated by some conservatives – including the ideological leader of anti-tax lawmakers, who had some advice for them, too. "If you think the federal government can spend your money better than you can, then by all means" pay more in taxes than you owe, said Grover Norquist, of Americans for Tax Reform, a group that has gotten almost all congressional Republicans to pledge to vote against tax hikes. The IRS should have a little line on the form where people can donate money to the government, he suggested, "just like the tip line on a restaurant receipt." One of the millionaires suggested that if Norquist wanted low taxes and less government, "Renounce your American citizenship and move to Somalia where they don't collect any tax." RAED MORE


Council backs penalty for 5 bars in fee dispute  -- The Advocate -Richard Burgess - 1-16-2011
LAFAYETTE — The City-Parish Council upheld liquor-license suspensions Tuesday for five Jefferson Street bars that have refused to pay a fee to help fund a special weekend police detail in downtown Lafayette. Karma, Guamas, The Bed, Bootleggers and The Rabbit Hole each face a possible three-day liquor license suspension for past due fees that total about $50,000. The bars, which argue that the security fee is unconstitutional, appealed to the council to overturn the suspensions.  The council denied the appeals, setting the stage for a court battle over whether city-parish government can charge bars a fee to fund police patrols to keep Jefferson Street crowds in check. Attorney Daniel Stanford, who represents Karma, Guamas and the Rabbit Hole, told the council Tuesday that the security fee amounts to an illegal tax on downtown bars for a service that should be funded through taxes the businesses already pay. The fee “is essentially a tax for police security on the streets of downtown Lafayette,” Stanford said. The ordinance that created the downtown security fee relies on a state law that allows local governments to regulate alcohol sales, but Stanford said, the fee has no connection to the regulation of alcohol sales and is assessed solely to pay police for crowd control on public streets. READ MORE

Government Closes Internet Anti-Foreclosure Scams Tied To Google  -- The Huffington Post - Ichael Liedtke - 11-17-2011
SAN FRANCISCO -- The federal government has shut down dozens of Internet scam artists who had been paying Google to run ads making bogus promises to help desperate homeowners scrambling to avoid foreclosures. The crackdown announced Wednesday renews questions about the role that Google's massive advertising network plays in enabling online misconduct. It may also increase the pressure on the company to be more vigilant about screening the marketing pitches that appear alongside its Internet search results and other Web content. The criminal investigation into alleged mortgage swindlers comes three months after Google agreed to pay $500 million to avoid prosecution in Rhode Island for profiting from online ads from Canadian pharmacies that illegally sold drugs in the U.S. A spokesman for the U.S. Treasury Department division overseeing the probe into online mortgage scams declined to comment on its scope other to say it's still ongoing. Google Inc. also declined to comment Wednesday. READ MORE


Pelosi backs call for Supreme Court to televise healthcare case arguments  -- The Hill.com - Sam Baker - 11/16/2011
WASHINGTON - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that Supreme Court arguments over President Obama’s healthcare law should be televised. “When the Affordable Care Act is placed before the highest court in our country, all Americans will have a stake in the debate; therefore, all Americans should have access to it,” Pelosi said in a news release. Her statement follows C-SPAN’s request to broadcast the arguments, which are expected to begin in late March. The Supreme Court has never opened its proceedings to cameras. But the healthcare lawsuit is also the first time since the invention of video that the court has scheduled nearly six hours of oral arguments. The lengthy hearing raises the distinct possibility that a sitting president’s signature legislative achievement could be ruled unconstitutional in the midst of his reelection campaign. The court is expected to divide oral arguments over two days. One day will focus on the individual mandate and the Anti-Injunction Act, which could bar a ruling on the merits. The other would be set aside for the healthcare law’s Medicaid expansion and whether other parts of the law must also be struck down if the mandate is found unconstitutional. Pelosi said she’s confident the court will uphold the healthcare law. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) also backed C-SPAN’s request for a televised hearing. “The decision in this case has the potential to reach every American,” Grassley said in a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts. “The law is massive in size and scope. The effect of the law, and the Court’s decision, will reverberate throughout the American economy.”

Blue Dogs break with Dems on balanced-budget amendment  -- The Hill.com - Russell Berman - 11/16/11
WASHINGTON - The conservative Blue Dog Democrat coalition officially endorsed the House Republican balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution, breaking with Democratic Party leaders and the White House. The support from the 25-member bloc keeps GOP hopes alive that the measure, scheduled for a final vote Friday, could gain the two-thirds support necessary to pass. “We were advancing a balanced-budget amendment when balanced-budget amendments weren’t cool,” a co-chairman of the coalition, Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), told reporters on a conference call. Another Blue Dog leader, Rep. Jim Matheson (D-Utah), said he expected “a significant majority” of members to support the amendment, and sent a blunt warning to Blue Dogs who might oppose it. “If any Blue Dog does not vote for it, I’d have to question how much they’re a Blue Dog,” Matheson said.  READ MORE


“Connect to Compete” Offers 70% Discount on Broadband  -- Politics365.com - 11-15-2011
NATIONAL - Broadband is now a basic requirement to participate in our 21st century economy,” remarked Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski at a press conference held at Washington D.C.’s Langley Education Campus. The event highlighted developments in a recently announced public-private partnership promoting digital literacy and broadband Internet access to un-served groups of Americans.  The partnership, the Connect to Compete program, brings together the FCC and an array of corporations and non-profits.  According to Genachowski, members of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) have pledged to provide broadband Internet service to low income children and the homes they live in through the Connect to Compete partnership.  “Low income families with children eligible for the national school lunch program will be able to sign up for broadband Internet for $9.95 a month, with no installation fees, no activation fees,” and no modem rental fees, said Genachowski. “That’s roughly a 70 percent discount.”  “These commitments total up to $4 billion in value and can benefit millions of Americans,” Genachowski added. READ MORE

Education dominates discussion  -- The Advocate - Jason Brown - 11-15-2011      (See Debate Video)
LAFAYETTE — State Rep. Rickey Hardy and businessman Vincent Pierre took a few jabs at one another Monday during a standing-room only debate that saw talk of education outweigh all other issues for House District 44. The two candidates are vying in a Nov. 19 run-off election. Hardy said some of his accomplishments include: passing legislation that requires students to maintain a C average to participate in athletics; establishing a statewide uniform grading scale; ensuring that registered sex offenders put notifications in conspicuous places; and extending drug free zones from 1,000 feet to 2,000 feet. Pierre highlighted his experience as a businessman, his volunteer work with the women’s and children’s shelter and other nonprofit organizations, his 15 years of experience with the Louisiana Lottery Corporation and being selected as a representative of the Greater Chamber of Commerce for Lafayette. Hardy said the only way to create economic development is to identify corruption, and to establish the “trust factor and faith.” In the first of several exchanges, Pierre accused Hardy of having brought “absolutely nothing” to District 44 in terms of jobs and the economy during his four years in office. Pierre accused Hardy of voting with the current administration “72 percent of the time” and of having voted against businesses and industries. “Is that the individual you want to continue to represent you in Baton Rouge?” Pierre asked. Hardy said he only voted against items that were not in the district’s best interest. “He’s acting upon feelings and not facts,” Hardy said. READ MORE


Tom Coburn: $30 Billion In Millionaires Aid Is 'Sheer Washington Stupidity'  -- The Huffington Post - 11-15-2011
WASHINGTON -- Millionaires are receiving billions in taxpayer-funded support every year that helps them pay for everything from child care to bad debts to boats and vacation homes, according to a report released Monday by Sen. Tom Coburn. People who individually earned more than a million dollars in 2009 even managed to collect a total of nearly $21 million in unemployment insurance. "From tax write-offs for gambling losses, vacation homes, and luxury yachts to subsidies for their ranches and estates, the government is subsidizing the lifestyles of the rich and famous," wrote Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, in an accompanying letter. "Multimillionaires are even receiving government checks for not working. This welfare for the well-off -- costing billions of dollars a year -- is being paid for with the taxes of the less fortunate." Calling the giveaways "sheer Washington stupidity," Coburn detailed in the study more than $30 billion a year that comes out of the U.S. Treasury to aid people who make more than a million a year. READ MORE

With Friends Like These -- DailyKingfish.com - Lamar Parmentel -11- 14.2011
LAFAYETTE, LA. - Let's say I'm a Deocrat (you know, a real one, not some vestigial registration that voted for McCain), and someone wants to sell me on a candidate. Let's say that candidate had this record:
Authored Re-Apportionment plan devasting minority representation, first drafted by Louisiana Family Forum even, before census results were released
Authored bill opposing Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) on States' Rights argument to "negate Obamacare"Potentially Disbarred In Other States

100% Anti-Choice

6 civil rights-era murder cases remain unsolved in Louisiana  -- NOLA.COM - Chelsea Brasted - 11-12-2011
LOUISIANA -  half-dozen unsolved civil rights-era murder cases in Louisiana, nearly all more than 40 years old, remain open investigations with the FBI, according to a Department of Justice report recently submitted to Congress. The U.S. attorney general's office submitted for annual review in August its status list of the 111 cases representing 124 victims, all African-American, as prescribed under the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007. Many cases have gone cold and were moved to inactive status for various reasons, as detailed in the report.  Various legal roadblocks exist, including prosecutors' inability to retroactively enforce certain laws, such as a federal law preventing racially motivated homicide, according to the report. The five-year statute of limitations and the Fifth Amendment protection against double jeopardy also create legal hurdles and roadblocks for the FBI. Inherent problems with investigating cold cases, such as the deaths of subjects and witnesses, destroyed evidence or even "members of local law enforcement agencies (who) were either themselves members of the Ku Klux Klan or sympathized with Klan viewpoints" add to the problem, says the Justice Department. The report notes that prosecutors have closed 79 cases thus far, including one successful federal prosecution. In 67 of those closures all identified subjects were dead or there was insufficient evidence of a potential violation of a civil rights law.  The following unsolved Louisiana murder cases, almost all involving the Ku Klux Klan and its sympathizers in local law enforcement agencies, are the six remaining on the FBI's active investigation list: READ MORE


Thibodaux man becomes state's newest millionaire  -- The Daily Advertiser - 11-12-2011
BATON ROUGE — A 70-year-old Thibodaux man is the Louisiana Lottery's latest millionaire. Robert Thibodaux Sr. says he regularly buys $5 worth of tickets every Saturday — two Lotto tickets, two Powerball tickets and one Easy 5 ticket. For the Oct. 29 drawing, the store clerk accidentally added the Power Play option to both of his Powerball plays and rather than refuse the tickets, he paid the extra $2 to cover the difference. That option increases any non-jackpot prize up to five times. And what a difference it made. When his wife, Brenda, checked the winning numbers the next day, she found that he had matched all five white ball numbers. He thought he'd won about $20,000. But in fact, he hit $200,000 — five times — for the $1 million jackpot. After learning of his luck, Thibodaux says he "went to bed a nutria and woke up a mink!" Last week, Thibodaux arrived at Louisiana Lottery headquarters in Baton Rouge to claim his prize. He received $700,000 after federal and state taxes were withheld. Shop Rite 51 in Thibodaux, which sold the ticket, will get a bonus of $10,000 — 1 percent of the prize — for selling him the winning ticket. The winning lottery numbers were: 11, 16, 40, 51, 56 and Powerball 38. 


Sunbeam Saga  -- 
As the likelihood of a costly lawsuit against LCG over a now-blocked waste transfer facility ramps up, the story of how the deal was cut gets weirder. The Independent - Heather Miller - 11-09-2011  
LAFAYETTE - Sunbeam Lane residents have waged a legitimate and so-far successful battle over the construction of a trash facility in their north Lafayette neighborhood, but weeks after the City-Parish Council took action on the project and thanks in part to the pre-election day timing of the controversy  — the stink over Sunbeam Lane still permeates. With few zoning regulations in Lafayette Parish, it seemed in late September and early October that nothing could be done to block the transformation of Sunbeam Lane into a daily stopping point for truckloads of garbage being hauled from surrounding areas. Waste Facilities of Lafayette LLC followed all applicable guidelines when applying for a local permit to build a 16-acre waste transfer facility on a small island of unincorporated land surrounded by city plats. Just as the company received its final approval from Lafayette Consolidated Government’s Planning, Zoning and Codes Department, someone on Sunbeam Lane caught wind of the plans. Once faced with opposition, Waste Facilities of Lafayette developers said trash wouldn’t escape, the facility would be clean and deodorizers would ameliorate any odor problems the business may cause. Those assurances, however, meant little to Sunbeam Lane residents who were never notified by the project’s developers or anyone else with a hand in the project — including LCG’s permitting office — that a facility of this type was moving in. Regulations governing unincorporated Lafayette Parish do not require public hearings or notifications for projects of this type, though even LCG Chief Administrative Officer Dee Stanley ’fessed to The Daily Advertiser that informing residents of the imminent construction would have been the corporate neighborly thing to do." In neighboring Coteau in Iberia Parish, residents who live in the vicinity of a waste transfer station say there’s no deodorizer strong enough to combat the smell of garbage when a southeasterly wind blows during humid summer months. Gordon Doerle, owner of the waste transfer station in Coteau, has erected tall netted fences along the back of his property to quiet the farmers who said trash from the transfer station was constantly landing in their fields. RAED MORE


O’Reilly’s Lincoln Book Banned
 -- The Daily Beast - 11-13-2011
NATIONAL - According to Ford’s Theatre, the historic site that commemorates the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Bill O’Reilly’s new book about the 16th president, Killing Lincoln, is so factually flawed that it shouldn’t be sold at its bookstore. For instance, O’Reilly references the Oval Office, but that wasn’t built until 1909. He also goofs on the date that the theater burned down and inaccurately states that Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee met only once. The site’s deputy superintendent issued a four-page critique, concluding that the book shouldn’t be sold at the theater’s store.


The GOP's 'Uncertainty' Talking Point, Debunked  -- The Huffington Post - 11-13-2011
WASHINGTON -- With the economy in a slump for nearly four years, corporate executives and conservative politicians have repeatedly invoked "uncertainty" as a major barrier to American job-creation. The "uncertainty" jab is a go-to talking point for any congressional Republican looking to tag President Barack Obama as a tax-raising, regulation-obsessed foe of American businesses. But according to banking data compiled by economic research firm Moebs Services, the uncertainty plaguing the American economy has nothing to do with government regulations or taxes on millionaires. It's an uncertainty driven squarely by consumers and small-businesses who are worried about their short-term financial prospects. And it's been going on since well before Obama took up residence in the White House. Since the end of 2007, bank customers have pulled over $900 billion out of certificates of deposits at major U.S. banks, parking their money in checking accounts and money market deposit accounts. Banks pay customers interest to park their money in CDs, but pay out next-to-nothing for money market accounts, and still less -- usually nothing -- for checking accounts. "These are enormous shifts," Moebs Services founder and Chairman Mike Moebs told HuffPost. "We haven't seen stuff like this since the 1930s." READ MORE


NAACP to challenge voter ID laws nationwide  --  The GREO.Com - Benjamin Todd Jealous - 11/10/2011
NATIONAL - Our nation is in the midst of a 100-year flood of extremist attacks on voting rights. The goal: to block access to the polls for people of color, the elderly, and students -- the groups most likely to support civil and human rights, immigration reform, and environmental and labor protections. On this past election day, voters in Maine were able to close the floodgates in time and restore same-day voter registration. However, the simultaneous passage of voter photo ID restrictions Mississippi reminds us how strong these waves can be and why we must continue to fight so that many of our rights will not be swept away. For all these reasons -- because the situation is urgent, because the tide can be turned, and because our voting rights are our last line of defense against an assault on many other rights -- the NAACP, 1199SEIU, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), National Action Network, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), National Urban League, and a broad coalition of civil rights and labor groups are organizing a Stand for Freedom -- a national day of action in defense of the right to vote on Saturday, December 10th -- International Human Rights Day. The event will include a march from the NYC headquarters of leading voter suppression funders, The Koch brothers, to the United Nations. Though this modern flood of attacks on voting rights has been developing for years, the multifaceted assault began less than 12 months ago when coalitions of extremist state politicians across the country started passing legislation to suppress voter turnout of groups that cast ballots in favor of social justice and civil rights. In 2011 alone, 34 states have introduced voter suppression legislation, with laws passing in 14 of those states, and laws pending in 8. In states like Wisconsin, Mississippi, Kansas and Alabama, politicians are erecting barriers to the polls in the form of rigid photo ID requirements. Notwithstanding years of non-partisan studies indicating that an individual is more likely to be struck and killed by lightning than to impersonate another person at the polls, legislators in these states continue to espouse this myth.  READ MORE


Unions and Young People: A Winning Combination for 2012?  -- TheAtlantic.com - By Linda Killian - Nov 9 2011
NATIONAL - In the wake of a significant electoral victory in Ohio Tuesday, unions and their supporters are energized and eager to flex their newly honed political muscles. But the path to greater electoral clout in 2012 could lie in a partnership with young voters and followers of the Occupy movement. It may seem like an odd pairing: Grizzled and battle-scarred union members, many of whom have voted Republican in the past and are more socially conservative, and free-spirited Millennials more comfortable texting than organizing.  But the two groups have a lot in common, chiefly concerns about their own economic futures and income inequality in this country, which are also the central themes of the Occupy movement.  "The basic message that Occupy Wall Street has -- that people are fed up with the top one percent getting everything -- it resonates with union members and young people," says AFL-CIO Political Director, Mike Podhorzer, in an interview from Ohio on election night.  Both groups have been victims of globalization, outsourcing, downsizing and the recession and are reeling from the nation's tough economic conditions, as are millions of other Americans. READ MORE


India: The World's Secret Silicon Valley  -- The Atlantic.com - Nirmalya Kumar & Phanish Puranam - Nov 12 2011
INTERNATIONAL - For many firms, developing new products for consumers around the world is the most visible manifestation of innovation - the "real deal." But many people still see India as a place where other people's ideas are made or executed and not where innovation begins. (After all, you don't hear about an Indian equivalent to Google, iPod or Viagra.) Bu they're wrong. In more than 600 captive research and development (R&D) centers across India today, corporations are designing and building amazing new things. For example, GE's John F. Welch Technology Center has developed a string of technological marvels. A transparent roof spanning 300 meters without any central supports. Adevice to display integrated anatomical information from a CT scan with live functional information from a PET scan. A car bumper that self-destructs on impact (rather than destroying, say, the leg of an unlucky pedestrian). The markets for these wonder products are truly global, encompassing the United States, Europe, Asia and, of course, India itself. Similarly, Intel's R&D center in Bengaluru is its largest unit outside the United States, having recently overtaken the much older Israeli unit. Some of its work is truly "blue-sky" research. For example, the center delivered the world's first tera-scale experimental chip capable of one trillion operations per second.  READ MORE


Hardy, Pierre to debate Monday at UL  --  The Daily Advertiser.com - 11-11-2011

LAFAYETTE - State Rep. Rickey Hardy will debate his challenger, Vincent Pierre, in a debate on the University if Louisiana at Lafayette campus Monday afternoon. The debate will begin at 1 p.m. in Room 241 of Burke-Hawthorne Hall. A panel of local journalists will question the candidates. It is being co-sponsored by the UL chapter of Society of Professional Journalists and the UL Political Science Club. Hardy and Pierre are facing each other in the Nov. 19 runoff after neither obtained a majority in the Oct. 22 primary for the District 44 seat in the state House of Representatives. Hardy finished first with 43 percent to 40 percent for Pierre. A third candidate, Roshell Jones, received 17 percent of the 6,993 votes cast. Hardy, 52, is seeking his second term in the House. He served four terms on the Lafayette Parish School Board before being elected to the House in 2007. Pierre, 47, is a businessman and is the nephew of Hardy’s predecessor in the District 44 seat, Wilfred Pierre.

Trustee: Media frenzy forced board's hand  --  The Morning Call - Sam Kennedy and Andrew McGill - 10-11-2011
'Bottom line, Penn State is bigger than Joe Paterno. It's bigger than Graham Spanier,' trustee said.
NATIONAL - Barely 24 hours after the Penn State board of trustees pledged to launch "a full and complete investigation" into the child sex abuse scandal engulfing the university's fabled football team, the school's president and legendary coach were out. Why did the trustees rush to judgment? Intense media attention and public outrage compelled them to take immediate action against coach Joe Paterno and President Graham Spanier, according to a trustee who spoke to The Morning Call. The board feared any delay would only fuel the frenzy outside, said the trustee, who asked to remain anonymous. "Every day it was going to get worse and worse," he said. News of the scandal broke over the weekend. And if it was a big story from the get-go, it would soon become epic, drawing the attention of the national news media. READ MORE

Obama Health Care Reform Ruling: Appeals Court Upholds Law  -- The Huffington Post - Nedra Pickler 11-8-2011
WASHINGTON — A conservative-leaning appeals court panel on Tuesday upheld the constitutionality of President Barack Obama's health care law, as the Supreme Court prepares to consider this week whether to resolve conflicting rulings over the law's requirement that all Americans buy health care insurance. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued a split opinion upholding the lower court's ruling that found Congress did not overstep its authority in requiring people to have insurance or pay a penalty on their taxes, beginning in 2014. The requirement is the most controversial requirement of Obama's signature domestic legislative achievement and the focus of conflicting opinions from judges across the country. The Supreme Court could decide as early as Thursday during a closed meeting of the justices whether to accept appeals from some of those earlier rulings. The suit in Washington was brought by the American Center for Law and Justice, a legal group founded by evangelist Pat Robertson. It claimed that the insurance mandate is unconstitutional because it forces Americans to buy a product for the rest of their lives and that it violates the religious freedom of those who choose not to have insurance because they rely on God to protect them from harm. But the court ruled that Congress had the power to pass the requirement to ensure that all Americans can have health care coverage, even if it infringes on individual liberty. READ MORE

Cravins, Guillory sling mud  --  The Daily Advertiser - Tina Marie Macias - 11-08-2011
LAFAYETTE — The hostility between the two political moguls vying for state Senate District 24 was evident when incumbent state Sen. Elbert Guillory, 67, and Opelousas Mayor Don Cravins, 63, faced off during a debate Monday. Although the two claim to have run a clean race, both freely slung mud during the 90-minute forum at UL. Cravins called Guillory a do-nothing legislator and spent much of the debate poking holes in Guillory's arguments. Guillory accused Cravins of good ol' boy politics and, throughout the debate, held up legislative audits on the city of Opelousas and Opelousas Housing Authority that mention Cravins' leadership. "They have found a pattern of mismanagement, a pattern of giving contracts and money to cronies, to friends and family members. It's all there. Compare the records," Guillory said. "This is the record we're talking about right there. Honesty and integrity? None." Cravins read from a Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board ruling reprimanding Guillory and mentioned ethics violations Guillory received in Seattle in the 1980s. "He's always been dishonest, he's continues to be dishonest and he continues to not tell the truth," Cravins said. READ MORE

State Senate candidates square off  --  The Advocate - Richard Burgess - 11-08-2011
LAFAYETTE —State Sen. Elbert Guillory and Opelousas Mayor Don Cravins squared off in a contentious debate Monday, trading barbs as the two men enter the final campaign stretch for the Nov. 19 run-off for state Senate District 24. The upcoming election finds Guillory, a lawyer, defending his Senate seat from a man who held it for 15 years before his election as mayor of Opelousas. Their debate on Monday at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette was marked as much by acrimony as by the issues. Guillory repeatedly referenced a recent state audit of Opelousas that found questionable contracting practices, poor accounting of cash payments and possible double dipping by an employee. “They have found a pattern of mismanagement,” Guillory said of the state auditors. Cravins in turn characterized of Guillory as an ineffective legislator who is out of touch with his constituents. “He is notorious for not returning phone calls,” Cravins said. When asked during the debate whether the two candidates could envision working together after the election, Cravins responded that he would consider it but that he works only with ”honest” people. Guillory said he might work with Cravins if the mayor is not in prison as a result of an FBI investigation related to the recent city audit. There is no known federal investigation targeting Cravins, who said he would “withstand” any scrutiny of his actions as mayor. Between barbs, the candidates did hone in on some major issues facing the state and the region. READ MORE

Democrats: Tax on Rich In Play  -- Rollcall.com - Humberto Sanchez and Steven T. Dennis - 11-8-2011
NATIONAL - Senate Democrats appear to finally have found a formula for passing jobs bills — drop the tax increases. But beyond this week’s plan for the veterans’ jobs package, they aren’t swearing them off just yet.  On Monday, a deal appeared to be at hand to graft a bipartisan veterans’ package onto another bipartisan bill to repeal the 3 percent withholding requirement for government contractors. All of it would be paid for by cuts elsewhere in the budget instead of by the millionaire tax that has been the Democrats’ favorite offset to date.  That doesn’t mean they won’t return to the politically charged tax issue in future weeks as other pieces of the jobs package come up, including a payroll tax cut for the middle class and businesses, senior Senate and House Democratic aides said Monday.  “Americans support the wealthy paying their fair share, and Democrats won’t be backing off that,” one House aide said. READ MORE

Woman accuses Herman Cain of bold sexual advance  --  The Advocate (AP) - 11-08-2011
NEW YORK — Leaving little to the imagination, a Chicago-area woman on Monday accused Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain of making a crude sexual advance more than a decade ago when she was seeking his help finding a job. "Come clean," Sharon Bialek challenged Cain at a news conference in New York at which she described herself as "a face and a voice" to support other accusers who have so far remained anonymous. Cain's campaign swiftly denied Bialek's account. "All allegations of harassment against Mr. Cain are completely false," it said in a written statement. Even so, Bialek's nationally broadcast appearance on cable television marked a new and — for Cain — dangerous turn in a controversy that he has struggled for more than a week to shed. An upstart in the presidential race, Cain shot to the top of public opinion polls in recent weeks and emerged, however temporarily, as the main conservative challenger to Mitt Romney. Accompanied by her prominent lawyer, Gloria Allred, Bialek accused Cain of making a sexual advance one night in mid-July 1997, when she had traveled to Washington to have dinner with him in hopes he could help her find work. She said the two had finished dinner and were in a car for what she thought was a ride to an office building. "Instead of going into the offices he suddenly reached over and he put his hand on my leg, under my skirt toward my genitals," she said. "He also pushed my head toward his crotch," she added. Bialek said she told her boyfriend, an unidentified pediatrician, as well as a longtime male friend about the episode. None of Cain's other accusers has provided details as graphic as Bialek's account. But Joel Bennett, an attorney who represents one of them, said her details were "similar in nature" to what his client encountered. Allred, a prominent sex discrimination attorney with Democratic ties, moved preemptively to blunt any attacks on Bialek's motives. She described her client as a registered Republican, a single mother and a woman with a long and successful work history. READ MORE


Obama 2012: A Year Out, Obama Campaign Makes Volunteer Push  --  The Huffington OPost - 11-05-2011
 
Washington -- One year to go until Election Day and the Republican presidential field is deeply unsettled, leaving President Barack Obama only to guess who his opponent will be. But the race's contours are starting to come into view. It's virtually certain that the campaign will be a close, grinding affair, markedly different from the 2008 race. It will play out amid widespread economic anxiety and heightened public resentment of government and politicians. Americans who were drawn to the drama of Obama's barrier-breaking battle with Hillary Rodham Clinton, and the up-and-down fortunes of John McCain and Sarah Palin, are likely to see a more partisan contest this time, with Ohio and Florida playing crucial roles as they did in 2000 and 2004. Republicans have their script; they just need to pick the person to deliver it. It will portray Obama as a failed leader who backs away when challenged and who doesn't understand what it takes to create jobs and spur business investment. Obama will highlight his opponent's ties to the tea party and its priorities. He will say Republicans are obsessed with protecting millionaires' tax cuts while the federal debt soars and working people struggle. On several issues, voters will see a more distinct contrast between the nominees than in 2008. Even the most moderate Republican candidates have staked out more rigidly conservative views on immigration, taxes and spending than did Arizona Sen. McCain. Democrats say Obama has little control over the two biggest impediments to his re-election: unemployment and congressional gridlock. READ MORE


Senate Republicans Block Another Piece of Obama's Jobs Plan  -- They stay united in rejecting a $60-billion roads measure, even though some worry about their image on a key issue for voters.  --  LA.Times.com - Lisa Mascaro - Washington Bureau - 11-04-2011
Reporting from Washington— Republicans maintained their unified front against President Obama's jobs package, blocking $60 billion in funding for roads and other infrastructure projects despite indications they are sensitive about losing ground on a top issue for voters. The GOP has shown great discipline as it fights the president's $447-billion jobs plan, even as polls show Americans largely support its various elements. Senate Democrats thought that by peeling off such provisions — the highway measure was among the most popular — they could put pressure on Republicans to cross party lines. But Thursday's outcome was no different from past results. "Washington has become so dysfunctional," said Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.V.), who co-sponsored the bill but also supported a GOP alternative that died along party lines. The 51-49 vote in the Senate, as two Democrats joined all Republicans in opposition, comes as Republicans and Democrats are vying for the public's approval on the jobs front. READ MORE


St. Landry agrees to pay lawyer in lawsuit  -- The Advocate - Bobby Ardoin - 11-04-2011
OPELOUSAS  LA. — The St. Landry Parish School Board on Thursday agreed to pay $800,000 in attorney fees to an Opelousas lawyer who had requested a federal court award him $9.8 million for representing the plaintiffs in a federal desegregation lawsuit filed 47 years ago.  Board attorney Gerard Caswell told the board that a mediation agreement in federal court between attorney Marion Overton White and the school district calls for payments to White to be spread over a five-year period, beginning with a $75,000 payment due by Dec. 31.  Other payments will be made in between 2012 and 2016, Caswell told the board.  White was not at Thursday’s meeting.  Board member Scott Richard cast the only vote against the agreement. Richard did not give a reason for his vote.  Caswell told the board White and school district officials negotiated the agreement during a day-long appearance before court-appointed mediator Michael Hill. READ MORE

 
Over Third Of Millionaires Agree 'Occupy' Protesters Make 'Good And Valid' Point: Poll  -- Huffington Post - 11-03-2011
NATIONAL - A new poll indicates that a sizable minority of American millionaires support the Occupy Wall Street protests. According to the Spectrem Group, 35 percent of surveyed American millionaires -- those with investments of $1 million or more -- agree with the statement "protesters are making a good and valid point." The findings are based on an October survey of 843 investors. That percentage closely mirrors a Gallup poll conducted last month finding 37 percent of Americans back the protests. READ MORE

Report: Military Blew $1 Trillion on Weapons Since 9/11  --  MotherJones.com - Adam Weinstein - 11-03-2011

NATIONAL - A new study suggests that defense hawks are crying crocodile tears over planned cuts to Pentagon spending.
 Capitol Hill conservatives and Pentagon brass fighting cuts to defense spending have argued that the military is limping off the battlefield with decrepit hardware. It's quite the sob story: At a hearing last week, Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), the chair of the House armed services committee, cut his remarks short to literally cry for "these young men that are going outside the wire over in Afghanistan, every day on patrol." But a new report shows the US defense establishment is in much better shape than it claims: The DOD has blown roughly $1 trillion on shiny new tanks, ships, and jets since the 9/11 attacks—and it's often done so with dollars that were supposed to be spent on those troops on the battlefield in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Stimson Center study, "What We Bought: Defense Procurement From FY01 to FY10" (PDF), says the military is hardly in dire straits when it comes to funding its big-ticket items. "The services capitalized on funding to modernize their forces, especially the major weapons programs that constitute the heart of the services' capabilities," writes the report's author, Russell Rumbaugh—a retired Army officer and ex-CIA military analyst. The study shows there's one big reason the brass are concerned about budget-cutting discussions in Congress: They've been double dipping into the taxpayer's pocket to finance weapons purchases. Of the roughly $1 trillion spent on gadgetry since 9/11, 22 percent of it came from "supplemental" war funding—annual outlays that are voted on separately from the regular defense budget. Those bills are primarily intended to keep day-to-day operations running in Iraq and Afghanistan—meaning that if a member of Congress votes against a supplemental spending bill, she exposes herself to charges that she doesn't "support the troops" in harm's way. READ MORE


The Shameless Republican Race to Cut Rich People's Taxes  -- The Atlantic.com - 11-01-2011
NATIONAL - The tax plans from Rick Perry and Herman Cain would make millionaires vastly richer while raising taxes on the middle class. It's voodoo economics gift-wrapped for rich voters. Republican presidential candidates are falling over themselves promising to cut your taxes. Well, probably not your taxes. Somebody else's taxes. Somebody rich. First there was Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan, which would replace all of our current taxes with a 9 percent national sales tax, a 9 percent "business tax" and a 9 percent tax on income. Now Rick Perry says that his 20 percent "flat tax" is even better. Meanwhile, Michele Bachmann says Perry stole her idea. But let's be clear: These are massive tax cuts for the rich, not for most of us. The Cain 9-9-9 plan is breathtaking. The poorest Americans would see their effective tax rate increase from about 5 percent to 18 percent. The typical household would pay $4,000 more than today. But the top 0.1 percent would get an average tax cut of $1.4 million and would pay an effective tax rate of 18 percent--lower than any other income group. That a plan so insane could be proposed by a leading presidential candidate just shows how crazy our political system has become. Although Perry's flat tax preserves the tax code for most families, he offers a special tax cut for the rich. A retired couple making $700,000 would be $75,000 richer under his plan. (To see a very tall graphical representation of Perry and Cain's tax plans, see Derek Thompson's charts.) Poll after poll says that most Americans want to raise taxes on the rich. In one recent survey, more than two-thirds of respondents -- and even a majority of Republicans! -- favored higher taxes on households making more than $250,000 per year. Why are people who want to be elected president proposing the exact opposite of what the people want? The most charitable answer is that they think lower taxes are good for the country. Reducing taxes on the rich would make them work harder, save more, and promote economic growth. This is the theory George H.W. Bush once called "voodoo economics," and 30 years later, it's still voodoo. READ MORE


Jones accuses KJCB, Pierre of slander  -- The Independent - Leslie Turk - 11-1-2011
LAFAYETTE, La. - Roshell Jones, the third place finisher in the District 44 state rep race, claims KJCB radio has accused her of accepting bribes for her support of incumbent state Rep. Rickey Hardy. In a “cease and desist letter” sent via certified mail Oct. 31 and addressed to KJCB radio and its manager, J’Nelle Chargois, Jones, who is an attorney, writes:  Please be advised that the purpose of this letter is to demand that you and your radio station cease and desist from your slander of my name in regards to the political race involving incumbent Mr. Rickey Hardy and Vincent Pierre.  You have made several false and slanderous accusations live on your radio station, including accusations that I have accepted bribes from Governor Bobby Jindal and Joey Durel’s administration in exchange for an endorsement of Mr. Hardy.  Ms. Chargois this is absolutely false and I demand that you refrain from such a vicious and false attack on my character and integrity, otherwise I will be forced to take legal action against you and your radio station.  In a separate letter to Pierre, Jones makes a similar charge, claiming Pierre has accused her of accepting bribes in his campaign literature.  In each letter, Jones threatens legal action if the accusations don’t stop. READ MORE

Durel found in contempt --  The Advocate - Richard Burgess 11-01-2011
LAFAYETTE - A judge found City-Parish President Joey Durel in contempt of court Monday for removing three Lafayette Housing Authority members after the judge had reinstated them. Fifteenth Judicial District Judge Ed Rubin ordered Durel to pay a $258 fine and perform eight hours of community service speaking at local schools on the role of government, according to court minutes of the contempt hearing. The judge also gave Durel a 15-day suspended jail sentence, which the city-parish president would face only if he fails to pay the fine or perform the community service. Durel referred comment to City-Parish Attorney Michael Hebert.  “We are disappointed by today’s ruling, but recognize and respect that this is part of the judicial process,” Hebert said in a written statement. “We strongly disagree with this decision and are considering our available options to seek further judicial review.” The contempt ruling comes in a controversy over the Lafayette Housing Authority that has stretched for more than a year. READ MORE


And Congress’ Rich Get Richer - Net Worth of Lawmakers Up 25 Percent in Two Years, Analysis Demonstrates
Paul Singer and Jennifer Yachnin / Staff - Nov. 1, 2011
NATIONAL - Members of Congress had a collective net worth of more than $2 billion in 2010, a nearly 25 percent increase over the 2008 total, according to a Roll Call analysis of Membe' financial disclosure forms.  Nearly 90 percent of that increase is concentrated in the 50 richest Members of Congress.  Two years ago, Roll Call found that the minimum net worth of House Members was slightly more than $1 billion; Senators had a combined minimum worth of $651 million for a Congressional total of $1.65 billion. Roll Call calculates minimum net worth by adding the minimum values of all reported assets and subtracting the minimum values of all reported liabilities.  According to financial disclosure forms filed by Members of Congress this year, the minimum net worth in the House has jumped to $1.26 billion, and Senate net worth has climbed to at least $784 million, for a Congressional total of $2.04 billion.  These wealth totals vastly underestimate the actual net worth of Members of Congress because they are based on an accounting system that does not include homes and other non-income-generating property, which is likely to tally hundreds of millions of uncounted dollars. In addition, Roll Call's tally is based on the minimum values of assets reported by Members on their annual financial disclosure forms; the true values of those assets may be much higher. READ MORE


Herman Cain sexual harassment allegations: Damage-control marked by inconsistencies  --  Politico.com - Alexander Burns - 11-01-2011
NATIONAL - man Cain’s presidential campaign enters Tuesday facing a full-blown political crisis, now that the Republican White House hopeful has struggled for more than 24 hours to respond to allegations of sexual harassment dating to his time as president of the National Restaurant Association.  Since POLITICO published a story Sunday night revealing that the restaurant association had reached financial settlements with two women who accused Cain of inappropriate behavior, Cain and his spokesmen have offered a shifting and inconclusive series of responses.  The result is that a story that would have been damaging to Cain under any circumstances now threatens to derail his campaign permanently as the former trade association chief’s honesty comes into question.  Republican super-strategist Karl Rove declared on Fox News Monday night that Cain might only be able to right his campaign if the restaurant association shares additional facts to confirm his claim that any allegations of sexual harassment against him were dismissed as false. READ MORE


Scalise, Landry, Boustany join health overhaul law brief  -- Times-Picayune - Bruce Alpert 10-28-2011
WASHINGTON -- Three Louisiana House Republicans signed on Thursday to a conservative advocacy group's efforts to persuade the Supreme Court to invalidate President Barack Obama's health insurance overhaul legislation. The crux of the brief filed by the conservative Family Research Council, backed by 30 Republican House members including Reps. Steve Scalise of Jefferson, Jeff Landry of New Iberia and Charles Boustany of Lafayette, is that the Affordable Care Act adopted in 2010 is unconstitutional.  The brief says the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta erred when it decided that most provisions in the law could move forward as long as a provision mandating that Americans obtain health insurance is blocked. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio, upheld the law, including the individual mandate, while the 4th U.S. Circuit in Richmond, Va., declined to rule on the merits of the law.  The Supreme Court is expected to decide next month whether to consider challenges to the Affordable Care Act filed by 26 state attorneys general, including Louisiana's Buddy Caldwell and the National Federation of Independent Business. READ MORE

Emergency status gives leeway  -- Jordan Blum - The Advocate - 10-29-2011

Baton Rouge, La. - The Southern University Board of Supervisors declared a financial emergency on the main campus Friday after months of debating the issue.  The declaration of the emergency, called financial exigency, was made despite opposition from some faculty, students and alumni.  The decision gives university administrators more leeway to furlough and lay off faculty as well as terminate academic programs. In September, the Southern Board fell three votes shy of approving exigency, but four of the 16 Board members were absent at the time. Two members were absent for Friday's vote.  Southern Chancellor James Llorens and Southern University System President Ronald Mason Jr. made the exigency request again. They argued that staff layoffs did not save as much money as expected and that a voluntary faculty furlough plan ended up a mess.  "We all have a vision for a great Southern, building on the tradition of the past," Mason said. "The one step we have to take is a difficult step, but it's a necessary step." Mason said exigency is needed to address recurring money problems and more quickly reorganize the university for the future.  Exigency is historically considered a serious blemish that could scare away current and potential employees and students. No public Louisiana university had declared exigency since the University of New Orleans did so after Hurricane Katrina.  Llorens said exigency is a "dramatic" step. He argued it is a "small window of opportunity" to reorganize the academic and administrative structure of the university.  All Southern employees making more than $30,000 a year, including tenured faculty, will receive furloughs this academic year amounting to 10 percent of their time off without pay, Llorens said. READ MORE

Voter ID Laws Prompt Black Caucus Tour for Black Political Survival  --  Politics365.com - 10-28-2011
NATIONAL - With a triple play of reapportionment, redistricting and shady voter ID laws threatening to disenfranchise many minority voters in 2012, the Congressional Black Caucus has set out planning another tour of the nation: this time combating what they view as voter suppression efforts in numerous states. As we’ve been seeing, New Voter ID laws are popping up across the United States while others are still set for passage in the future.  CBC Chair Emanuel Cleaver confirmed to Politic365 that the tour is, indeed, in the works. Even House Members outside the CBC with constituents likely to be impacted by new Voter ID laws voiced enthusiastic support.  “That’s a great idea,” Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) told Politic365 recently following a series of votes in the House.  “We want to make sure the issue is widely known,” explained Cleaver. “The most important thing is to expose the American public to the dangers of trying to intentionally or unintentionally pushing people away from the ballot box.  Just as we were successful in obtaining a front row seat for urban joblessness during our tour this summer we think we can and will do the same thing regarding voter suppression.” READ MORE


Former candidate Jones endorses Hardy over Pierre in House District 44 race  --  The Daily Advertiser - Oct. 28, 2011
LAFAYETTE LA. - State Rep. Rickey Hardy picked up the endorsement of Roshell Jones, who he and candidate Vincent Pierre knocked out of the running for the House District 44 seat during the primary election this past weekend. Jones told The Daily Advertiser on Friday morning that she's decided to support Hardy's re-election bid rather than supporting Pierre's efforts to unseat the incumbent. "The reason I chose Rep. Hardy is because I feel he's in the best political position to get something done for the district," Jones said. Earlier this week, Jones said she wasn't sure who she would endorse in the Nov. 19 runoff. She said she talked with both Hardy and Pierre before deciding which candidate would have her blessing. Jones specifically cited Hardy's position on the powerful Appropriations Committee and his positive working relationship with Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration as reasons she believes he can accomplish more good for House District 44. "Those are two very important factors," Jones said. Hardy and Jones will hold a 3 p.m. press conference today at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center in the 300 block of Cora Street to formally announce the endorsement.  READ MORE

La. judges building their case for pay raise  --  The Independent  - Leslie Turk -10-28-2011
LOUISIANA - The Advocate reported that the Legislature could be asked to raise judicial salaries next year. According to the newspaper, the Judicial Compensation Commission has hired noted economist Loren Scott to update a report he did last year. In comparing how the state’s judges stack up against others in the region and nation, Scott found Louisiana’s judges make less (though the story did not indicate the extent of the gap). The newspaper noted that while the commission did not submit a recommendation to the Legislature last year because of the state budget woes, commission chairman Joe Toomy, a former state representative, said judges have received pay raises in eight of the last eleven years. Louisiana’s annual base pay is $136,544 for state district court judges, $142,447 for appeals court judges and $149,572 for Supreme Court justices, the newspaper reported. Read The Advocate story
here
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Ordinance blocking waste-transfer station will go into effect without Durel's signature  -- Nicholas Persac - The Advertiser - 10-28-2011
LAFAYETTE - City-Parish President Joey Durel won't sign the ordinance blocking the waste-transfer station on Sunbeam Lane from being built, but he won't veto it either. Instead, Durel sent the ordinance back to the council without his signature, meaning it will still take effect. "I have chosen not to veto this ordinance, even though my conscience tells me to do otherwise," Durel wrote in an internal memo attached to the ordinance he returned unsigned. The council unanimously approved the ordinance during its Oct. 18 meeting, and Durel remained tight lipped about how he would handle the ordinance until the final hour — tomorrow marked Durel's 10-day deadline to take action on the matter. "I knew that I could never sign this ordinance because I disagree with the council's decision," Durel wrote. "Since final adoption, I have held it to provide the most time possible for any council member to ask for reconsideration. No one has." READ MORE

The Ex Factor  --  The Independent - Leslie Turk and Heather Miller - 10-226-2011
LAFAYETTE, LA. - Former City-Parish Councilman and one-time House candidate Chris Williams has his hands all over four local races. He won one Saturday, and the competition is stiff in the other three. Can the ex-politician ride their coattails back into power? By Leslie Turk and Heather Miller. Chris Williams had a lot to celebrate Saturday night. His pal Brandon Shelvin, the most controversial city-parish councilman in the history of Lafayette Consolidated Government (next to Williams himself, of course) — easily won re-election to the District 3 seat. Shelvin defeated challenger Lloyd Rochon, garnering almost 60 percent of the vote.  Williams was there Saturday evening at Shelvin’s campaign headquarters at Patterson and Willow streets, high-fiving and celebrating, but there were three other races Williams was watching just as closely Saturday night. And if those go his way on Nov. 19, the embattled Williams could once again expand his influence in the local black community. READ MORE

Criminal Proceeds Amounted To Over $2 Trillion In 2009: UN Report  --  The Huffington Post - 10-28-2011
International - Criminals are making out like bandits with a sizable chunk of the world's economy. Criminal proceeds amounted to 3.6 percent of global gross domestic product in 2009, according to a recent UN report -- a sum totaling more than $2 trillion. More than 2.5 percent of global GDP was likely laundered through the financial system, the report finds. Crime proceeds are higher in developing countries as measured by a proportion of gross domestic product, the report found. And despite efforts worldwide to counter money laundering, authorities are coming up short; less than 1 percent of money laundered through the financial system is ever seized and frozen. READ MORE

Keith Olbermann To Oakland Mayor Jean Quan: 'Resign' (VIDEO)  -- Huffington Post - 10/27/11
OAKLAND CA. - After a violent, nationally televised clash between police and Occupy Oakland protesters on Tuesday, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan is facing a growing list of heated voices recommending -- or demanding -- that she step down. Now, she can add political commentator Keith Olbermann to that list. On Wednesday, Olbermann used the popular Special Comment section of his show, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, to slam Quan's handling of the protests and police reaction. "Mayor Quan is left with two choices," said Olbermann. "She can dismiss the acting police chief, Howard Jordan, and use her mayoral powers to authorize Occupy Oakland to protest again without harassment. Or, having betrayed everything she supported and all those who have supported her, she must resign." READ MORE

Judge rules in Reggie Tatum's favor  --  The Daily Advertiser - 10-26-2011
OPELOUSAS, LA. - Alderman Reggie Tatum was reinstated as Opelousas' mayor pro tempore for the third time in four months Wednesday after a 27th Judicial District judge ruled that he was removed illegally. Judge Ellis Daigle invalidated a Board of Aldermen vote taken in July in which three aldermen voted for Tatum's removal, three abstained and Mayor Don Cravins made the deciding vote. The mayor can break a tie when an equal division occurs, but that was not the case, Daigle said, ruling that an abstention is not considered a "no" vote, but rather the absence of a vote. Aldermen are not required to say why they want to abstain from a vote. For example, an alderman might abstain from a vote awarding a contract to his brother to avoid a conflict of interest. "That would not be a no vote, because if he were allowed to vote, it would be in favor of his brother," Daigle said. Daigle also ordered the city to pay all court costs. "The judge's decision is what it is," said attorney Frank Trosclair, who represented the city. "The judge makes the final decision and we'll decide if we want to bring it up to a higher court." READ MORE

Downtown bar-patrol fees eyed  -- The Advocate - Richard Burgess - 10-27-2011
LAFAYETTE — City-Parish Council members are poised to revisit the contentious issue of funding the police detail that patrols downtown to keep the weekend bar crowds in check.  The council on Tuesday voted unanimously against a proposal that would have raised the monthly fees that downtown bars pay to help fund the special police detail, which costs about $544,000 a year.  The increase that the council voted down would have raised the total annual amount assessed to downtown bars from $264,188 to $271,942 — fees meant to cover about half of the cost of the downtown detail.  Several council members said the vote signals a desire to bring more scrutiny to the downtown issue, although opinions are mixed on how much bars should pay for the heightened police presence and what obligations the Lafayette Police Department has downtown.  Councilman Brandon Shelvin, who represents the downtown area, said he will seek to repeal the security fees charged to downtown bar owners or to replace the current fee system with a $2,500-per-year flat fee.  Sixteen downtown establishments are now assessed fees ranging from $183 a month up to $4,870 a month, depending on capacity. READ MORE

North Lafayette precincts drive Shelvin’s reelection win  -- The Independent - Heather Miller - 10-24-2011
LAFAYETTE - As predicted, poll numbers backing incumbent District 3 City-Parish Councilman Brandon Shelvin’s election victory Saturday point to north Lafayette’s poorest precincts. Shelvin, who ran for office in 2007 despite not having met the residency requirements to run for the seat, took 59.8 percent of the 3,388 votes cast in his district, a 15-precinct area that includes downtown, the Saint streets, several north Lafayette precincts and one polling place in Carencro. Shelvin prevailed in 10 out of 15 precincts, with his most significant wins coming from voters who poll at Alice Boucher Elementary (80 percent in favor of Shelvin), the Sheriff’s Office Training Center on St. Antoine Street (77 percent for Shelvin) and N.P. Moss Annex on Mudd Avenue (68 percent). Support for challenger Lloyd Rochon, who captured 40.2 percent of the vote, was confined to five precincts with predictably more white voters. His biggest victories came from Johnston Street Fire Station No. 5 (74 percent), Central Fire Station on Vermilion Street (66 percent) and the Lafayette Consolidated Government building on University Avenue (62 percent). READ MORE


Post decon vote, Boudreaux ready to move on charter  -- The Independent - Walter Pierce - 24 October 2011
LAFAYETTE - After an overwhelming rejection of deconsolidation at the ballot box Saturday, the general consensus among both supporters and opponents that something needs to be done to ensure the city of Lafayette controls its own affairs is gaining new footing. Even former charter commission member Don Bacque, who led the charge to oppose Saturday’s parishwide proposition, acknowledged throughout the process that autonomy for the city of Lafayette is important, although he believed that repealing the charter and returning to separate governments for the city and the parish was too extreme a measure. Clearly voters agreed Saturday, shooting down deconsolidation by a 63-37 percent margin. As The Daily Advertiser observed in a headline Monday, “Deconsolidation is off the table.” One of those supporters of repealing the charter, City-Parish Council Chairman Kenneth Boudreaux, says he’s ready to move quickly toward a process for amending the current charter to ensure the city’s autonomy in the future. READ MORE


LOUISIANA ACHIEVES HISTORIC GAIN IN FOUR-YEAR HIGH SCHOOL GRAD RATE   --  La. Dept Of Education - 10-17-2011
Increase from 2010 to 2011 Exceeds Last Three Years Combined.
BATON ROUGE, La. - An historic boost in the percentage of students who graduated from high school in four years has lifted Louisiana’s Cohort Graduation Rate to an all time high and above the 70 percent mark, according to figures released by the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) today. In fact, the 3.7 point boost from 2010 to 2011 is nearly three times the 1.3 point increase achieved during the previous three years combined, from 2007 to 2010. Governor Jindal said, "These new graduation and dropout rates are no coincidence and show that our reforms are working. By eliminating ineffective programs and investing in programs that get results for students, we are making historic gains and moving in the right direction. Our kids only grow up once and the more we improve our education system, the better chance our children and grandchildren will have to succeed in the 21st century workforce and pursue their dreams right here at home. With more Louisiana kids than ever graduating high school, we’re continuing to turn our state around, but our work is not done yet - and we will not rest until Louisiana is the best place in the world to get a great education, start a career and raise a family." The record increase to 70.9 percent, which represents the graduation rate for students who started high school as freshmen in 2007, also advances Louisiana’s goal to raise its Cohort Graduation Rate to 80 percent by 2014 - an aim officially adopted by lawmakers in 2009. More importantly, education leaders said, the 3.7 percentage point increase in the ratio of students graduating in the Class of 2011 equates to approximately 1,800 more students. "Today’s news marks a significant achievement for Louisiana. It means that proportionally, more of our high school students are advancing each year with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed at the next grade level," Acting State Superintendent of Education Ollie Tyler said. "At the same time, these outcomes mean that we are within reach of our goal to achieve an 80 percent graduation rate by 2014 and that our focused initiatives are working. We congratulate our local district and school leaders, teachers, communities, students and families who have demonstrated that we can significantly increase our graduation rates - and in a very short time period." READ MORE


Pierre asks Hardy to agree to debates  -- The Daily Advertiser - Nicholas Persac - 10-26-2011
LAFAYETTE - State Rep. Rickey Hardy will face challenger Vincent Pierre in a Nov. 19 runoff election, but Pierre doesn't want to wait that long to face the incumbent — he's challenged Hardy to a series of debates. Pierre's campaign is formally challenging Hardy "to a series of debates to discuss education, economic development and his record on the issues facing the citizens of District 44," according to a news release. Hardy, who said he wasn't open to participating in debates before the primary election Saturday, changed his tone Tuesday, saying he has "no problem with a debate" since the "gloves are off" during the next month. "I am open to a debate, particularly with someone who is going to be neutral and not biased," Hardy said. Pierre wants various community organizations to sponsor the debates and said Hardy's campaign should have input about who moderates the debates and when they are held to ensure Hardy will be able to participate. "Rickey Hardy speaks of his record, and I think we need to discuss that record," Pierre said. "If he has an interest in the needs and concerns of District 44, then he should be in attendance for any debate scheduled for our district." A spokeswoman for Pierre's campaign said KPEL-FM has already expressed interest in hosting a debate between the two candidates and is working to finalize when such a debate could happen. Pierre said he's open to as many debates as community organizations want to sponsor. "I am not afraid to debate anyone," Pierre said. Hardy said he'd work with any reputable organization sponsoring a debate, but noted that examining the credentials of such an organization is important. Hardy said he would now accept an invitation to a debate because he wants to "dispel the rumors going around," particularly that he tried to close SUNO. "I only wanted to merge it to make it stronger and better," Hardy said. READ MORE

Door-to-door survey taking place in Freetown Saturday  --  The Advocate.com - Amanda McElfresh - 10-26-2011
LAFAYETTE - Approximately 225 UL students will conduct door-to-door surveys from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday in the Freetown-Port Rico neighborhood as part of a Community Connector project. This project is a collaboration among the United Way of Acadiana, UL faculty and representatives from the Freetown-Port Rico Coterie. The project will allow the organizations to better understand the aspirations of the neighborhood and its concerns. Findings collected from the surveys will identify priority needs and what kinds of actions would be meaningful for residents.
For more information, contact Angela Morrison at 706-1202.

Local protests at Lafayette law firm --  The Daily Advertiser - 10-26-2011
LAFAYETTE - Khadijah Rashad, a community activist, along with family and friends of Brenda Cormier protested quietly in front of the law offices of Durio, McGoffin, Stagg and Ackerman located on Heymann Blvd. on Monday, allowing the posters they held to do all of the talking. The protest was on behalf of Cormier, an employee of Gardes Energy Service for the past 21 years, who claims that she was hurt on the job while cleaning around and underneath a washer and dryer. The firm is representing Gardes in her worker’s compensation case. “I was cleaning under and behind the washer and dryer and it fell on top of my foot,” the 56-year-old Cormier said. “I suffered permanent nerve damage in my foot and I can’t work again. I worked there for almost 22 years and they are tying to say that I did this on purpose to try and get money. I’m not that type of person.” Buzz Durio, one of the lawyers in the office building, came outside yelling at media members to get off of his property before law enforcement informed him the protesters as well as the media were standing on public property.

SUN SETS ON A DICTATOR  -- Gaddafi Buried: Burial Of Gaddafi, Muatassim And Abu Bakr Younis In Secret Location
Karin Laub and Rami Al-Shaheibi 
MISRATA, Libya -- Longtime Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, his son Muatassim and a top aide were buried in an Islamic ceremony at dawn Tuesday in a secret location, with a few relatives and officials in attendance, officials said. The burial closed the book on Gadhafi's nearly 42-year rule and the 8-month civil war to oust him, but did not silence international calls for an investigation into whether the widely despised tyrant was executed by his captors. READ MORE

'NO' TO DECONSOLIDATION  -- The Daily Advertiser Oct-22-2011
Lafayette voters overwhelmingly favored keeping Lafayette's consolidated government intact, rejecting the plan to deconsolidate with about 63 percent of voters opposing the split and nearly 37 percent supporting it. "I am very happy and grateful for the margin of victory because it does say with a loud voice that Lafayette needs to continue consolidated government," said Odon Bacque, a charter commission member who led the pro-consolidation charge. That rejection is little surprise since residents outside the city of Lafayette had few incentives to favor splitting the government in two. Mayors of local municipalities overwhelmingly opposed the split, as did nearly all of the candidates running for the City-Parish Council and several influential civic and political organizations. "I really think the majority of the citizens of Lafayette Parish could see this wasn't a well-structured referendum or choice," said Broussard Mayor Charles Langlinais. Opponents of deconsolidation argued two governments would be a burdensome cost to taxpayers and such a split would create animosity between the different communities within the parish. For people favoring deconsolidation, the issue boiled down to giving the city of Lafayette control of its own destiny and taking away the ability of representatives from the parish to control issues exclusive to city. "The biggest obstacle we had to overcome was a lack of understanding by the general public about what was in place today and how it negatively impacted the City of Lafayette," said Bruce Conque, a charter commission member who led the pro-deconsolidation charge. "Certainly I'm disappointed, but there is a positive with this — we have raised awareness about giving Lafayette autonomy."  READ MORE

Cravins, Guillory set for Nov. 19 runoff  --  Daily Advertiser - 1023-2011
OPELOUSAS LA. — State Sen. Elbert Lee Guillory and Opelousas Mayor Donald Cravins Sr., both Opelousas Democrats, will spend the next month battling for a state Senate seat. The winner will be decided in a Nov. 19 runoff election. The two heavyweights went up against each other in a three-way bid for state Senate District 24. The third candidate, Kelly J. Scott, an Opelousas Democrat, won 12.9 percent of Saturday's vote, according to complete but unofficial results from the Louisiana Secretary of State. Guillory took 46.38 percent — or 12,768 votes — while Cravins took 40.72 percent — 11,210 votes. READ MORE

SCHOOL TAX DEFEATED  -- The Daily Advertiser - Amanda McElfresh - Oct. 23, 2011
LAFAYETTE - By a substantial margin, Lafayette Parish voters did not approve two millages, totaling 25 mills, that would have funded major improvements to public school facilities in Lafayette Parish.  "I think there's a real lack of trust," said Carol Ross of the Tea Party of Lafayette, which opposed the measure. "Contrary to what some people said, it is a construction plan." Pearson Cross, chairman of UL's political science department, said the tax was "too much, too soon." "The argument for a tax increase going to schools was not laid out in a very effective fashion over a long enough period of time for people to have an understanding of what the money was for and why it was needed," Cross said. "If you're going to get people to spend money, you have to give them good, clear reasons to do it, and you have to campaign for it." Saturday's vote, which was highlighted by this measure and a proposal to deconsolidate parish government, drew a turnout of 34.8 percent in the parish, according to Clerk of Court Louis Perret. READ MORE


Pierre takes Hardy to runoff  -- The Daily Advertiser - Claire Taylor -10-23-2011
LAFAYETTE - On Nov. 19, voters in House District 44 will choose between incumbent Rickey Hardy, the outspoken former Lafayette Parish School Board member, and Vincent Pierre, the nephew of former state Rep. Wilfred Pierre, the man Hardy replaced four years ago. Only 151 votes separated the two men in Saturday's election, according to complete but unofficial returns. Neither Hardy nor Pierre received more than 50 percent of the votes in the three-person race Saturday, sending them to a runoff. Political newcomer Roshell Jones, was eliminated from the race. Hardy, D-Lafayette, said he was surprised at how many people in the district voted, but was not surprised to find himself in a runoff with Pierre. Four years ago, Hardy emerged from a crowded field of candidates to make a runoff in which he prevailed. Hardy said he'll do it again. Hardy said he is the only candidate in the Nov. 19 runoff with public service experience, serving on the School Board 13 years and in the state Legislature four years. "I'm the only candidate in the race with experience, with a proven track record, with competency, honesty and experience," he said. Pierre, also a Democrat from Lafayette, said he was a little surprised that 151 votes separated him and the incumbent when the voting was over Saturday. But he, too, feels he will prevail on Nov. 19. "We're going to focus on the things we've been talking about in the race: economic development, education and commitment to a united community," he said. While he's never held political office, Pierre said his community and civic involvement have prepared him for the job. Wilfred Pierre, who held the seat for many years, wasn't able to seek re-election four years ago because of term limits. He threw his support behind former City-Parish Councilman Chris Williams. Hardy, who was backed by City-Parish President Joey Durel, defeated Williams to win the District 44 seat. READ MORE

Durel swings into third term  --  The Daily Advertiser - Brandon Kane 10-23-2011
LAFAYETTE - Incumbent Lafayette City-Parish President Joey Durel was elected to his third and final term in office Saturday, defeating political activist Mike Stagg by a margin of 12,131 votes. Durel was first elected to what he said was "the only office (he) has ever run for" in 2003, when he defeated Glenn Weber with 52 percent of the vote. Durel received 34,806 votes that year, as compared to the 28,794 votes he received in his defeat of Stagg. READ MORE

2012 is an election year for 1/3 of the U S Senate and 1/2 of the house of representatives.  It would be nice if congress got the message; the voting taxpayers are in charge now. (OPINION)
Social Security LET US SHOW OUR LEADERS  IN WASHINGTON "PEOPLE POWER" AND THE POWER OF THE INTERNET.  PLEASE  FORWARD TO ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS. IT DOESN'T MATTER IF  YOU ARE  REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT! SOCIAL SECURITY: (This is worth reading. It is short and to the point.)   Perhaps we  are asking the wrong questions during election years. Our Senators and  Congresswomen do not pay into Social  Security  and, of course, they do not collect  from it.  You  see, Social Security benefits were not suitable  for persons of their rare elevation in society. They  felt they should have a special plan for themselves. So, many years ago they voted in  their own benefit  plan. In more recent years, no congress person  has felt the need to change it. After all, it is  a great plan. For  all practical purposes their plan works like  this: READ MORE

Licenses revoked at 3 child care centers  -- The Daily Advertiser - Amanda McElfresh 10-21-2011
LAFAYETTE - Altered and uncompleted background checks, falsifying documents, and failure to provide direct supervision are among the reasons the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services has revoked the licenses of two child care centers in Lafayette and one in New Iberia. The facilities are Adventures in Learning Preschool at 208 S. Sterling St. in Lafayette, Kingz Kidz Learning Center at 200 N. Orange St. in Lafayette and Ursula's Heavenly Angels Daycare and Learning Center at 404 W. Admiral Doyle Drive in New Iberia.  READ MORE

Redflex flap opens floodgate of contract renewals  --  The Daily Advertiser - 10-21-2011
LAFAYETTE - In September, Lafayette City-Parish President Joey Durel faced off against District 9 Councilman William Theriot, saying that Theriot's desire to see a Redflex traffic camera system contract the administration renewed was election season grandstanding. A month later, Durel's chief administrative officer has pledged to submit every government contract, regardless of size, to the council for approval. "As I said at the council meeting Tuesday night, and as the mayor has said publicly, it is difficult — if not impossible — to determine what's a controversial or hot button issue," said Dee Stanley, Lafayette Consolidated Government's chief administrative officer. "The mayor has vowed to not be wrapped up in this type of fiasco again." And now, with the Durel administration's bluff played, it is up to the City-Parish Council to figure out a way to filter the hundreds of contracts that pass through the government each year without creating a bottleneck for the parish. The council unanimously approved Theriot's ordinance requiring all future contract renewals with Redflex Traffic Systems to come before the council for approval. Stanley, on behalf of Durel and his administration, urged the council to approve the ordinance, explaining that the administration changed its contract renewal process to require council approval for any and all contracts. READ MORE


Longtime dictator of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, has been killed following the capture of his hometown of Sirte.  --  Huffington Post - 10-21-2011

LIBYA - There were confusing reports of Gaddafi's capture and death, and questions remained over exactly how he was killed. Arab broadcasters showed graphic images of the balding, goateed Gaddafi – wounded, with a bloodied face and shirt – but alive. Later video showed fighters rolling Gaddafi's lifeless body over on the pavement, stripped to the waist and a pool of blood under his head. While he was still alive, the fighters drove him around lying on the hood of a truck, perhaps to parade him in public. One fighter held him down, pressing on his thigh with a pair of shoes in a show of contempt. Standing upright, he is shoved along a Sirte road by fighters who chanted "God is great." Gaddafi appears to struggle against them, stumbling and shouting as the fighters push him onto the hood of a pickup truck. "We want him alive. We want him alive," one man shouted before Gaddafi is dragged away, some fighters pulling his hair, toward an ambulance. Most accounts agreed Gaddafi had been holed up with heavily armed supporters in the last few buildings held by regime loyalists in the Mediterranean coastal town, furiously battling revolutionary fighters. The battle for Sirte has been raging for more than a month. READ MORE


Gaddafi's Son Mutassim Killed  -- The Daily Beast.com - Alex Wong / Getty Images
NATIONAL - The Libyan interim government has confirmed that Muammar Gaddafi’s fifth son and the former national-security adviser Mutassim Gaddafi has been killed. There are reports that another of his sons, Saif al-Islam, who was often seen as the heir apparent to his father, is also dead. It's increasingly clear that Thursday was a bloody day for Gaddafi loyalists. Reports indicate that many of Gaddafi’s top officials were killed, including Abu Bakr Yunis, the former defense minister. Gaddafi’s spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, and senior Libyan intelligence chief Abd Allah al-Sanusi were also captured.

Obama Jobs Bill: Senate Scuttles Legislation Aimed At Helping Teachers And First Responders -- Politico.comJIM VANDEHEI & MIKE ALLEN  10/20/11
NATIONAL - It’s hard to dispute that Rick Perry’s he-hired-an-illegal-immigrant attack on Mitt Romney was a cheap shot.   It’s even harder to dispute that it worked beautifully. Put aside the fact that Perry’s broadside was recycled, and barely relevant to the debate. Just focus on the raw politics of it.  The Perry campaign went into the debate well aware that it needed to accomplish a number of objectives, including rattling Romney, displaying toughness and turning the coverage away from scrutiny of Perry’s stumbling — sometimes bumbling — debate performances.  Mission accomplished. READ MORE

Illegal immigrant attack on Mitt Romney persists  --  Politico.com - Jim Vandehei & Mike Allen - 10-20-2011
NATIONAL - It’s hard to dispute that Rick Perry’s he-hired-an-illegal-immigrant attack on Mitt Romney was a cheap shot.   It’s even harder to dispute that it worked beautifully. Put aside the fact that Perry’s broadside was recycled, and barely relevant to the debate. Just focus on the raw politics of it.  The Perry campaign went into the debate well aware that it needed to accomplish a number of objectives, including rattling Romney, displaying toughness and turning the coverage away from scrutiny of Perry’s stumbling — sometimes bumbling — debate performances. Mission accomplished. It wasn’t pretty, but by taking a health care question and spinning it into a surprise attack on whether Romney knowingly employed illegal immigrants for lawn work, Perry achieved all three objectives. Just look at the numbers. READ MORE


Libyan prime minister confirms Gaddafi killed as Sirte is overrun -- The Washington Post.com - Mary Beth Sheridan and Michael Birnbaum, 10-20-2011
TRIPOLI, Libya — Former Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi was killed Thursday when revolutionary fighters overran his last loyalist stronghold, setting off raucous celebrations of victory in an eight-month war backed by NATO. Gaddafi, 69, a long-entrenched autocrat who was driven from power in Tripoli two months ago, died as the revolutionaries ended loyalist resistance in Sirte, his home town and tribal power base, the new government announced.  “We have been waiting for this moment for a long time,” Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril told a news conference here. “Moammar Gaddafi has been killed.” In Washington, President Obama said Gaddafi’s death “marks the end of a long and painful chapter for the people of Libya, who now have the opportunity to determine their own destiny in a new and democratic Libya.” He told the Libyan people: “You have won your revolution.” READ MORE

LOUISIANA ACHIEVES HISTORIC GAIN IN FOUR-YEAR HIGH SCHOOL GRAD RATE - Increase from 2010 to 2011 Exceeds Last Three Years Combined  --  LOUISIANA DEPT. OF EDUCATION
BATON ROUGE, La. - An historic boost in the percentage of students who graduated from high school in four years has lifted Louisiana’s Cohort Graduation Rate to an all time high and above the 70 percent mark, according to figures released by the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) today. In fact, the 3.7 point boost from 2010 to 2011 is nearly three times the 1.3 point increase achieved during the previous three years combined, from 2007 to 2010. READ MORE


State will not seek federal education grant funds  --  The Daily Advertiser - 10-19-2011
LOUISIANA - The state has decided it will not apply for a multi-million dollar education grant from the Obama Administration aimed at increasing access to quality early learning programs for low-income and disadvantaged children. Ruth Johnson, secretary of the state Department of Children and Family Services, said Tuesday that the state has decided to skip the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grant process because the state needs to streamline its early childhood education programs. Johnson says the state's current system is uncoordinated, has separate funding streams, different quality standards and no clear governance structure. Acting State Superintendent of Education Ollie Tyler says adding more money to an inefficient system already mired in red tape "will not effectively address the needs of our children." States could seek up to $100 million.

Council blocks waste facility  -- The Dailu Advertiser - 10-19-2011
LAFAYETTE - Daniel Guilliot only needed two words in a text message he eagerly sent his friends Tuesday night after the City-Parish Council meeting. "We won," Guilliot typed on his phone. He was among the scores of people packing the council auditorium to express heated opposition to a proposed waste transfer station on Sunbeam Lane. The council ultimately backed with a unanimous vote an ordinance prohibiting the facility from being built despite warnings that doing so sets up Lafayette Consolidated Government for costly lawsuits. When all nine council members cast votes to stop the controversial facility from being built, the auditorium erupted into applause and cheers. "The people came out, voiced their concerns and spoke from the bottom of their souls to convey the message," District 3 Councilman Brandon Shelvin, who sponsored the ordinance, said after the vote. "All nine of us were able to listen to the hearts of the people." READ MORE

Rick Perry vs. Mitt Romney: Now it's personal  --  Politico.com -Jonathan Maqrtin& Ben Smith - 10-19-2011
LAS VEGAS – After months of diversions — sideshow candidates, Hamlet acts and straw polls — Tuesday night’s sizzling Republican presidential showdown boiled the nomination fight down to its essentials: a deeply personal, ideological and smashmouth contest between two rivals with almost nothing in common.  It was clear from the clash here between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, and the comments of the candidates’ top surrogates afterward, that the race had passed into a new phase, stripped of any remaining niceties. Romney may well be the GOP standard-bearer next year, but Perry and the conservative wing will be damned if it’s going to let him coast to coronation in Tampa. While he wasn’t the only one of the six candidates on stage to take aim at Romney, it was the Texas governor who personalized the fight. The intensely competitive Perry, frustrated with his decline in the polls, sought to mount a comeback the only way he knows: by punching harder. He was jarringly more alive than in his recent debate performances, and his criticism of Romney’s record became an attack on his rival’s character. With a point-blank attack on Romney’s “hypocrisy” for hiring illegal immigrants, the Texan sent an unmistakable message that he won’t go away with a whimper. READ MORE


Herman Cain And Mitt Romney Used Campaign Funds To Enrich Themselves And Their Associates  --  Huffington Post - 10-18-2011
WASHINGTON -- Over the past several months, businessman Herman Cain has spent tens of thousands of dollars in campaign cash on his own books and pamphlets, multiple outlets reported on Tuesday. The money -- which went to Cain's company T.H.E New Voice -- represented a significant percentage of the total funds raised by his campaign. Cain's use of his presidential campaign as a means of personal enrichment has already attracted the attention of watchdog groups, which find his behavior troubling. David Donnelly, national campaigns director of the Public Campaign Action Fund, argued that it could represent an Federal Election Commission violation, since Cain would personally profit by driving his book up the bestseller list. READ MORE

Republicans Will Pay Price for Opposing Tax Cuts in Jobs Plan, Durbin Says --- Bloomburg.com - James Rowley  10-17-2011
NATIONAL - Republicans will “pay a price” if they don’t support tax breaks they previously embraced that President Barack Obama included in his $447 billion jobs plan, Senator Dick Durbin said. “If the Republicans take the current position and hold it, that they’ll do nothing, I think they’ll pay a price for it,”Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, said in an interview airing this weekend on Bloomberg Television’s“Political Capital With Al Hunt.”The president’s plan would provide local aid to keep teachers, police and firefighters on the job and would provide tax incentives Republicans have supported before, including a payroll tax cut for working families.Durbin said Republicans may not support saving local government jobs because “many of them are union members.” Yet the tax breaks should attract Republican votes because “that’s their mantra,” he said.For Obama, seeking re-election at a time of high unemployment, the plan offers voters a choice between his plans“to move our economy forward” or returning to former Republican policies that led to 9.1 percent joblessness, the senator said. Obama can replicate Harry Truman’s 1948 come-from-behind victory “if the choice is returning to the old Republican ways of President Bush that drove us into deeper deficits and higher unemployment,” Durbin said. He suggested Obama must persuade voters to ask the Republican nominee, “Why should we repeat this movie when we already know the sad ending?” READ MORE

Why Cornel West Was Arrested in Memory of MLK, in Support of the Occupy Movement  --  John Nicholson - 10-17-2011
NATIONAL - On the day that President Obama and others celebrated the memory of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the dedication of Washington's King memorial, Dr. Cornel West was a few blocks away—celebrating King with activism on behalf of economic justice and the "Occupy" movement.  After attending the dedication of the King memorial, West joined a "Stop the Machine! Create a New World!" protest march.  On the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, with fellow activists, he called out the high court for making decisions that allow corporations to dominate the economic life and the politics of the nation.  "We want to bear witness today that we know the relation between corporate greed and what goes on too often in the Supreme Court decisions," West declared. "We want to send a lesson to ourselves, to our loved ones, our families, our communities, our nation and the world, that out of deep love for working and poor people that we are willing to put whatever it takes (on the line)—even if we get arrested today—and say we will not allow this day of Martin Luther King Jr's memorial to go by without somebody going to jail. Because Martin King would be here right with us, willing to throw down out of deep love."  Then, the author of "Race Matters," "Democracy Matters" and other groundbreaking books written in the King tradition sat down on the steps of the court with at least 18 protesters.  "We are here to bear witness, in solidarity with the Occupy movement all around the world because we love poor people, we love working people, and we want Martin Luther King Jr. to smile from the grave that we haven't forgotten," said West.  Moments later, West was cuffed by the police and led into the court building as a crowd chanted: "We're with you, Dr. West!" and "We won't forget!"

Martin Luther King Jr.'s crusade for poor honored  --  Politico.com  10-16-2011
WASHINGTON - Slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. would recognize many of the travails the nation is confronting nearly 50 years after his “I Have A Dream” speech, President Barack Obama said Sunday, declaring that “our work, Dr. King’s work, is not yet complete.”  His voice soaring, Obama drew parallels between the challenges of King’s time and the nation’s contemporary struggles, including poverty, economic disparity, protests and cynicism. “As tough as times may be, I know we will overcome,” Obama said at a rousing dedication ceremony for a new memorial to King on the National Mall. READ MORE

Pizza Magnate Herman Cain Has Extensive Ties To Powerful Koch Group  --  Huffington Post - 10-16-2011
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain has cast himself as the outsider, the pizza magnate with real-world experience who will bring fresh ideas to the nation's capital. But Cain's economic ideas, support and organization have close ties to two billionaire brothers who bankroll right-leaning causes through their group Americans for Prosperity. Cain's campaign manager and a number of aides have worked for Americans for Prosperity, or AFP, the advocacy group founded with support from billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, which lobbies for lower taxes and less government regulation and spending. Cain credits a businessman who served on an AFP advisory board with helping devise his "9-9-9" plan to rewrite the nation's tax code. And his years of speaking at AFP events have given the businessman and radio host a network of loyal grassroots fans. The once little-known businessman's political activities are getting fresh scrutiny these days since he soared to the top of some national polls. His links to the Koch brothers could undercut his outsider, non-political image among people who detest politics as usual and candidates connected with the party machine. AFP tapped Cain as the public face of its "Prosperity Expansion Project," and he traveled the country in 2005 and 2006 speaking to activists who were starting state-based AFP chapters from Wisconsin to Virginia. Through his AFP work he met Mark Block, a longtime Wisconsin Republican operative hired to lead that state's AFP chapter in 2005 as he rebounded from an earlier campaign scandal that derailed his career. Block and Cain sometimes traveled together as they built up AFP: Cain was the charismatic speaker preaching the ills of big government; Block was the operative helping with nuts and bolts. READ MORE


Occupy Wall Street Protests Spread To Europe, Asia  --  ALESSANDRA RIZZO and MEERA SELVA - 10-16-2011

ROME -- Italian riot police fired tear gas and water cannons Saturday in Rome as violent protesters hijacked a peaceful demonstration against corporate greed, smashing bank windows, torching cars and hurling bottles. Elsewhere, hundreds of thousands nicknamed "the indignant" marched without incident in cities across Europe, as the "Occupy Wall Street" protests linked up with long-running demonstrations against European governments' austerity measures. Heavy smoke billowed in downtown Rome as a small group broke away and wreaked havoc in streets close to the Colosseum and elsewhere in the city. Clad in black with their faces covered, protesters threw rocks, bottles and incendiary devices at banks and Rome police in riot gear. With clubs and hammers, they destroyed bank ATMs, set trash bins on fire and assaulted at least two news crews from Sky Italia. Riot police charged the protesters repeatedly, firing water cannons and tear gas. Around 70 people were injured, according to news reports, including one man who tried to stop the protesters from throwing bottles. TV footage showed one young woman with blood covering her face, while the ANSA news agency said a man had lost two fingers when a firecracker exploded. In the city's St. John in Lateran square, police vans came under attack, with protesters hurling rocks and cobblestones and smashing the vehicles. Fleeing the violence, peaceful protesters stormed up the steps outside the Basilica, one of the oldest in Rome. "People of Europe: Rise Up!" read one banner in Rome. Some activists turned against the violent group, trying to stop them and shouting "Enough!" and "Shame!" Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno blamed the violence on "a few thousand thugs from all over Italy, and possibly from all over Europe, who infiltrated the demonstration." Some Rome museums were forced to close down and at least one theater canceled a show.  READ MORE

Brokers charged in fraud probe  -- Jason Brown- Advocate Acadiana bureau - 10-15-2011
LAFAYETTE — The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Friday the unsealing of a 28-count federal indictment charging the former owners of a Lafayette investment firm in a conspiracy scheme that caused more than 100 of their clients to lose more than $8 million. Richard J. Buswell, 43, and Herbert S. Fouke, 52, owners of Bowman Investment Group, are accused in an indictment alleging conspiracy, securities fraud, investment advisor fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud. The scheme occurred between 2007 and 2009, according to the indictment, which was handed up in August. During that time, Fouke, who was previously a general contractor, recruited his business associates and friends to become clients of Bowman Investment Group, the indictment alleges. Buswell would hire people to perform various duties at the company and would then induce them and their friends and family members to be clients of the company, according to the indictments. During investor meetings, Buswell and Fouke allegedly made claims that included: That Buswell would not charge any commissions until accounts were profitable; that he had never lost money for a client; that he had generated up to $150,000 per month on his own personal investments; and that he had ownership interests in skyscrapers, shopping malls and other projects in New York City, according to the indictment. READ MORE

Tax Cuts For Wealthy Americans Cost Treasury $11.6 Million Every Hour: Report  -- Huffington Post - Jillian Berman - 10-15-2011
NATIONAL - Tax cuts for America’s top earners are costing everyone, every hour of every day, a new report from the National Priorities Project finds. Tax cuts for the wealthiest five percent of Americans cost the U.S. Treasury $11.6 million every hour, according to the National Priority Foundation. America’s top earners will get an average tax cut of $66,384 in 2011, while the bottom 20 percent will get an average cut of $107. The report comes as party leaders wrangle over the best way to curb the nation’s budget deficit, protesters around the world demonstrate against income inequality and corporate greed and Republican presidential candidates offer their economic plans to voters. Former pizza company CEO and Republican presidential candidate, Herman Cain, has been getting lots of attention in recent weeks for “999 Plan” which would cap the corporate, income and sales tax rates at 9 percent. President Barack Obama unveiled his deficit reduction plan last month, which aims to curb the national debt through a combination of tax cuts and increased spending. The plan includes a proposal to increase taxes on millionaires -- the so-called Buffett rule, name for famed billionaire investor Warren Buffett. In an August op-ed in The New York Times, Buffett argued that lawmakers should put an end to tax breaks for the “super-rich.” After Obama announced the proposal Republican leaders criticized the Buffett rule calling it “class warfare.”  READ MORE


Nancy Pelosi: Protect Life Act Would Let Pregnant Women 'Die On The Floor'  -- Huffington Post - Laura Bassett 10-14-2011
NATIONAL - Ahead of Thursday's House vote on the so-called "Protect Life Act," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Cali.) called the bill a "savage" attack on women's health. If passed, H.R. 358 would free anti-abortion hospitals from the legal responsibility of providing a life-saving abortion procedure to a pregnant woman who is dying. "When the Republicans vote for this bill today, they will be voting to say that women can die on the floor, and health care providers do not have to intervene," Pelosi said at a press conference. "It's just appalling. This is a health issue, and it falls right in there with a lot of other initiatives that they had coming up on the floor about clean air, clean water, mercury -- you name it." In addition to allowing hospitals to opt out of providing life-saving abortions, H.R. 358, sponsored by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.), denies federal funding to all health insurance plans that cover abortion. It would be the first law to restrict what kind of coverage women with private health insurance plans can purchase. Supporters of the bill say its purpose is to free taxpayers from having to pay for abortions and to free hospitals from having to provide them against their will. But the Hyde amendment, which has been in place for 30 years, already prohibits the flow of taxpayer dollars to any kind of abortion service. "I can't even describe to you the logic of what it is that they are doing," Pelosi said. "I just know that you'll see a large number of women on the floor today fighting for women's health issues as well as to point out how savage this is about withholding care for a woman because of this legislation."

Senator Ben Nelson Opens the Secret Money Door Wider  --  TheNation.com - George Zornickon 10-13-2011
NATIONAL - The New York Times reports this morning on an interesting series of advertisements running in Nebraska this month: Senator Ben Nelson, a conservative Democrat, tells voters about his stance on Social Security, debt and various other issues. This normally wouldn’t be notable, except that the Democratic party of Nebraska, not his own campaign, made the ads. In other words, Nelson is directly coordinating with an outside group to help him get elected—and this could change campaign finance dramatically for the upcoming elections and beyond.  When the Supreme Court issued the Citizens United ruling, which allowed outside groups to collect vast sums of money to spend on federal elections, it was generally accepted that such groups still couldn’t coordinate directly with candidates—instead, groups like Karl Rove’s American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS could only produce “issue ads” that, while clearly carrying a political message, didn’t advocate for a specific candidate. Outside groups also couldn’t communicate directly and openly with a political campaign about strategy. Nelson has gone ahead and decided to just do that anyway—his campaign argues that there are various exceptions in FEC rules that allow it to do so. That’s being contested by the Republican party in Nebraska, but really, it doesn’t matter much. In what so many experts refer to the current “wild west” of campaign finance—where the Federal Elections Commission doesn’t enforce much of anything—when a candidate does something, and the FEC fails to sanction it, it becomes the new norm.  As electoral law expert Richard Hasen told the Times, “Nelson does this, and if he’s successful, then you’ll see others going this route. People push the envelope, and no one pushes back.” RAED MORE

Obama, Aretha to headline MLK monument dedication  --  TheGrio.com - 10-13-2011
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama will deliver the keynote address and Aretha Franklin will headline the entertainers at this weekend's dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall. The dedication was postponed from late August because of Hurricane Irene. Journalist Roland Martin will be the emcee. Besides Obama, speakers will include civil rights leaders Julian Bond, Rep. John Lewis, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and members of the King family. Journalist Dan Rather will also speak. A ceremonial dedication will be held at 11 a.m. on the grounds of the memorial, where the queen of soul will perform. The towering 30-foot monument is the first dedicated to a black leader on the National Mall. King stands with his arms crossed, carved from a stone and looking toward the horizon.  

Jobs plan from Senate Republicans unveiled  --  Politrico.com  10-13-2011
NATIONAL   - President Barack Obama had his American Jobs Act. Now, Senate Republicans may have their Real American Jobs Act.  After more than two years in which the GOP political strategy to Obama’s policies has revolved around the word “no,” Republicans, who are growing increasingly confident they will win back the Senate in next year’s elections, want to give voters a sense of how they’d attempt to turn around the struggling economy if they were in power. So they’re planning to roll out a jobs plan that amounts to a conservative’s dream agenda: targeting labor and environmental regulations, enacting a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution, lowering corporate and individual tax rates, encouraging energy production and expanding free trade, according to a draft obtained by POLITICO. READ MORE

D.I.V.O.R.C.E.  --  The Independent - 10-12-2011
LAFAYETTE - In 10 days Lafayette Parish will make a monumental decision about the governance that will have long-term implications for the city and the unincorporated parish. Is this union worth maintaining? How do we govern ourselves? It’s the most fundamental question of humans living together. On Oct. 22, voters in Lafayette Parish will head to the polls and decide whether the 15-year marriage between the city of Lafayette and unincorporated Lafayette Parish — roughly 52 and 27 percent, respectively, of the overall parish population — is worth salvaging. It’s fair to say the marriage hit the rocks over the last few years as city residents, realizing their share of the parish population is declining, envisioned a future in which the city is a minority on the City-Parish Council. Many city residents have also long chaffed at the fact that council members who don’t live in the city limits, who pay no city property taxes and who are elected by a majority of people living outside the city, have a vote in matters pertaining to the city of Lafayette. Ironically, it was city of Lafayette voters who in 1992 overwhelmingly voted in favor of consolidation. So in just more than a week we’ll decide whether to divorce. READ MORE

Why 'Occupy Wall Street' Protests? America's High Rates of Poverty & Income Inequality  -- Huffington Post - Michael Shank 10-11-11
NATIONAL - On the heels of the US government's announcement that personal income of Americans has dropped for the first time in two years, Britain's Richard Wilkinson -- co-author with Kate Pickett of the book Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone -- came to Washington this month to talk with Congress about income inequality and its deleterious impacts on society. Whether any of this will be news to an American audience is doubtful, as no one is under the illusion that the US is doing well economically. In fact, last month Americans learned they have the highest poverty rate since the second world war (one in six Americans living below the poverty line) and the highest youth poverty rate (one in five young people, with Hispanic youth suffering most). Last month also concluded multiple "Made in America" tours by the congressional black and progressive caucuses who were responding to the cry of the unemployed, which is only getting louder and more desperate. More recently, the Warren Buffett-inspired tax debate, regarding whether millionaires should pay at least the same tax rate as the common worker, has surfaced fractiously, pitting President Obama and Democrats against most Republicans. Underlying these recent trends, the US still maintains one the highest income inequality rates among all wealthy countries. READ MORE

Southern UniversityCivil Rights Symposium to Commemorate Former Student Activists, November 10-11/-2011 -
BATON ROUGE - Elsie L. Scott, president and chief executive officer of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and Dave Dennis, a 1961 Freedom Rider, will be keynote speakers at the 2011 Southern University Civil Rights Commemoration Symposium to be held November 10-11, 2011 at the Southern University Law Center. During the late 1950s through the early 1970s, students, faculty, and administrators on the campuses of Southern University played an integral role in the social and political gains made during the Civil Rights Movement. Anniversary dates of many of their strategic efforts, such as sit-ins, Freedom Rides, and lawsuits, provide the ideal opportunity to highlight these individuals and their historic involvement in the planned commemoration.
READ MORE

Six candidates seek Acadiana House District 96 seat  --  The Advocate - Jason Brown - 10-11-2011
LAFAYETTE - The newly created House District 96 seat has drawn a former mayor, two school board members, a retired State Police superintendent, a veteran law-enforcement officer and an insurance agent into the field.  The race pits Democrats Terry Landry, Raymond “Shoe-Do” Lewis, Richard Potier and Nary Smith Sr. against independents Vincent Alexander and Eric Martin. READ MORE

LAE endorses Hollis  --  The Independent - Walter Pierce - 10-11-2011
LOUISIANA - The Louisiana Association of Educators’ political action committee has endorsed north Louisiana special-education teacher Tara Hollis’ David-v-Goliath bid for Louisiana governor. A self-described conservative Democrat, Hollis was the first person to announce her candidacy against incumbent Republican Bobby Jindal late last spring. Since then, a bevy of candidates — Democrats, a Libertarian and party-unaffiliated — have joined the field. The LAE Fund for Children & Public Education screened the candidates and decided that Hollis’ “extensive knowledge and experience as a public school educator placed her ahead during the candidate screening process.” READ MORE

What you need to know before casting your vote on deconsolidation in Lafayette  
--- Daily Advertiser - 10-09-2011
LOUISIANA - The issue at its core
Whether Lafayette needs its own
separate government, preventing people from outside the city having any control on issues that affect only the city. Why it matters LUS Fiber is one example: It is city-owned, and its entire customer base is within city lines. However, its future could one day be decided by council members from outside Lafayette. READ MORE

Democrats Look To Inflict Political Pain On GOP For Blocking Obama's Jobs Bill  --  The Huffington Post - 10-07-2011
WASHINGTON -- If the White House is to win the debate over President Barack Obama's jobs bill, its victory won't be measured in congressional vote tallies, but rather in terms of the political discomfort inflicted on the opposition.  No one expects the American Jobs Act to pass the Senate when it comes up for a vote next week. Even if the bill miraculously receives the 60 votes needed to overcome a Republican-led filibuster, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has said he won't bring it to the floor of the House of Representatives. And so, the White House and Democratic-allied groups have begun setting their sights on the next phase of the fight over jobs: what happens once the bill fails.  "I'll tell you, if the Republicans take the current position and hold it, that they'll do nothing, I think they'll pay a price for it," Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told Bloomberg News Friday.  Democrats have been dropping similar hints for days now, with even the president tipping his hand. In a press conference on Thursday, Obama conspicuously noted, "in Maine, there is a bridge that is in such bad shape that pieces of it were literally falling off the other day." Maine doesn't frequently make its way into the president's talking points, but with two of the Senate's most moderate Republicans hailing from there, it takes on additional import. READ MORE

Keith Olbermann: Occupy Wall Street Confusing 'Corrupt' And 'Dense' Media  --  Huffinhton Post - 10-06-2011
National - Keith Olbermann lambasted what he saw as the blinkered view of the media towards the Occupy Wall Street movement, and he read out what he said was the first official statement from the protesters -- or, as Olbermann put it on his Wednesday show, the group's Special Comment. Before reading the statement, Olbermann -- who has focused nearly all of his show to the movement for weeks -- tore into the media, which he said was "too corrupt or too dense to understand anything more complicated than whether the blonde is missing or the verdict is guilty." He criticized what has become a kind of mantra in some quarters of the media: the desire to know what it is the protesters "want." Luckily, Olbermann had an answer for those people, in the form of a declaration from Occupy Wall Street. He said that, since it did not list any specific laws the protesters wanted to change, it might "confuse the precocious ninth graders now passing for TV anchor newsmen these days."  Watch Olbermann read the statement, and see the full text of the declaration below.  READ MORE

Nearly Half of Louisiana Public Schools Failing  --  WAFB 9NEWS -10-05-2011

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB)44- percent of Louisiana schools received a failing grade in the newest school performance scores, a source tells WAFB 9NEWS.The scores will be made public during a news conference in New Orleans scheduled to begin at 12:30pm. The state switched the ways schools are graded late last year. Rather than a numerical score, schools now get a grade of "A", "B", "C", "D", or F. 44 percent of schools received a "D" or "F" this year, a source familiar with the scores told 9NEWS. Governor Bobby Jindal has been briefed on the scores, the source says, and is said to be very disappointed. Jindal is expected to hold a news conference this afternoon to address the matter and call for reform. Louisiana's public school system is currently without a permanent leader. Former Louisiana School Superintendent Paul Pastorek resigned earlier this year. A permanent replacement for Pastorek has not yet been named
. Click here to look up your school's results.

Stagg, residents voice concerns over waste transfer facility  --  The Daily Advertiser - 10-05-2011
LAFAYETTE - Candidate for City-Parish President Mike Stagg joined a growing group of people opposing the new waste transfer facility on Sunbeam Lane Monday, saying during a press conference the site was not only harmful to area residents but also the result of questionable ethics. Specifically Stagg called into question the ethics of City-Parish President Joey Durel, saying his opponent in the upcoming election played by his own set of rules. “The sudden awarding of permits to operate a garbage transfer facility on Sunbeam Lane without any advance notice to area residents drives home the point that Lafayette Consolidated Government operates under two sets of rules,” Stagg said. “One set for Joey Durel and his friends, and another set for the rest of us.” READ MORE

Senate Democrats want millionaire tax to pay for Obama jobs plan  --  L.A.Times.com - Lisa Mascaro - 10-05-2011
NATIONAL - Senate Democratic leaders are proposing a 5% surtax on those earning $1 million a year as a new way pay for President Obama's jobs plan, turning to an issue with populist appeal as they line up support for a vote, possibly next week. The shift is an acknowledgement that the president does not have support among his Democratic allies for taxing those earning less than $1 million. Obama's proposal had relied on tax hikes for households earning beyond $200,000, or $250,000 for couples. "We're going to move to have the richest of the rich pay a little bit more," Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the majority leader, said Wednesday. A vote is expected "within the next few days," Reid said. READ MORE


Sen. Sanders on raising Medicare age to cut deficit: 'Ain't gonna happen'  --  TheHill.Com - Mike Lillis - 10-04-2011
NATIONAL - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) had a terse warning Tuesday for those hoping to rein in deficit spending by hiking Medicare's eligibility age: "Ain't gonna happen." "Forty-five thousand people are dying in America this year because they don't have access to healthcare, and we'll be damned if we're going to allow more people to die by raising the eligibility age from 65 to 67," Sanders told a liberal crowd gathered in Washington for the Take Back the American Dream conference. "Ain't gonna happen." The Vermont liberal sounded a similar warning regarding proposals to scale back Social Security benefits. "In the middle of the worst recession since the Great Depression, you know what you don't do?" Sanders asked. "You don't cut Social Security – that's what you don't do. And anybody who tells you that Social Security is part of the deficit problem is lying to you." READ MORE

President Obama goes on the attack, to Democrats’ delight  --  Washington Post - David Nakamura and Paul Kane - 10-04-2011
NATIONAL - There is a noticeably more aggressive, confrontational President Obama roaming the country these days, selling his jobs plan and attacking Republicans for standing in the way of progress by standing up only for the rich. In Texas on Tuesday, the president went after a leading Republican by name: “Yesterday the Republican majority leader in Congress, Eric Cantor, said that right now he won’t even let this jobs bill have a vote in the House of Representatives,” Obama said. “I would like Mr. Cantor to come here to Dallas and explain what exactly in this jobs bill does he not believe in, what exactly he is opposed to. Does he not believe in rebuilding America’s roads and bridges? Does he not believe in tax breaks for small businesses or efforts to help our veterans?” The emergence of this more pugnacious Obama has heartened Democrats, especially the most liberal ones, who spent the past few months dejected by what they saw as the president’s unwillingness to engage his opponents in political combat. “We don’t see it as confrontation; we see it as leadership,” said Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union. “We see the president exerting strong leadership to make the case to the country that everything we had to listen to during the debt debate was wrong.” READ MORE


Ban sought on station - Proposal to block waste transfer site  -- The Advocate - Richard Burgess 10-04-2011