LFRW Day At The Legislature: Change of Plans

Previously announced luncheon plans for members/guests attending DATL have been changed. A buffet lunch will be available at the Capitol on Thursday, May 10, from 11a.m. til 1 p.m. in the Members' Lounge at a cost of $8 per person.

Members are asked to sign up and pay for lunch upon arrival at the Capitol on the morning of the event and for late arrivals, you may pay upon arriving at lunch.

Please share this information with all members and guests who plan to attend. Please wear RED and come to Baton Rouge in support of our Republican delegation members and all who work with them!!

Jindal Alert!

Mark your Calendar!
Friday, May 4, 2007

Please Join …
Bobby Jindal
For a meet and Greet

5:30-6:30 PM, Friday, May 4, 2007
BALL TOWN HALL
BALL, LOUISIANA

Hope to see you there!
Blake

_____________________
Blake Cooper
Friends of Bobby Jindal
Central Louisiana Field Director
blake@bobbyjindal.com

$$$!!!

While driving around town, today, I listened to the Governor deliver her SOTS speech. The vision of dollar signs so blocked my view I nearly hit a telephone pole.

If you have the stomach for it, read the whole thing.

Hat tip: The Dead Pelican

Royal's press release.

Alexander to Run for Attorney General

Alexander Launches Campaign for Louisiana’s Top Law Enforcement Position

Shreveport-Shreveport native and attorney Royal Alexander officially announced his candidacy today for the Louisiana Attorney General position currently held by Democrat Charles Foti of New Orleans. Alexander, a forty year old Republican, has most recently served as Chief of Staff to United States Congressman Rodney Alexander.

“In this critical time, Louisiana needs an Attorney General who is interested in enforcing the law, not playing politics,” said Alexander. “I believe now is the time for Louisiana to chart a new course, a course away from the ‘good old boy’ politics of the past and towards fresh energetic leadership rooted in sound legal principle,” added Alexander.

Alexander will focus his first term on re-inventing the Attorney General’s office after years of missteps and mistakes in its efforts.

“Poor planning and poor administration by the Attorney General’s office are the hallmarks of the Foti regime, not to mention the politics-based decision making process that seems to turn up at every corner. We have all seen the numerous blunders that have taken place the last four years, and truthfully, we can’t afford another four years of ‘Keystone Cops’ style leadership from our top law enforcement official,” stated Alexander. “At a time when Louisiana needed him most, this Attorney General has failed us in the worst way,” concluded Alexander.

Royal Alexander is a native of Shreveport. Prior to his position as Chief of Staff to Congressman Rodney Alexander, he served as an Administrative Law Judge for the Division of Administrative Law, State of Louisiana. Alexander has also served as attorney, of counsel, with the law firm of Smith and John in Shreveport, Campaign Consultant and Congressional Aide to former Congressman Clyde C. Holloway, as attorney with the law firm of Jeansonne and Remondet with offices in Shreveport, Lafayette, New Orleans, and Houston, and as a law clerk for the Honorable Rebecca F. Doherty, U.S. District Judge, Western District of Louisiana. Alexander received his J.D. from Oklahoma City University School of Law, where he served on Law Review and Moot Court Board and has a B.A. from Louisiana State University-Shreveport.

Contact: Daniel Cherry 504-460-1335

Take the GOP Straw Poll

Go here. Fred Thompson is included.

If you are sitting down to read this, buckle up first.

Apparently, it wasn’t just Red China that got a technology jump-start.

From Clarice Feldman, at American Thinker.

April 29, 2007
Merlin and his Apprentices: The Real "Slam Dunk"

It's a familiar scene: A Clinton holdover writes a book attacking the Bush administration and is paraded around through the network newsrooms for partisan fun and his own profit. I'm talking about George Tenet's soon-to-be released book attacking Cheney and Rice, absolving himself of all error and making a puzzling claim about what he meant when he said the Iraqi WMD program was a "slam dunk" basis for justifying war on Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

The details of some of his claims have been attacked by those who know better.From Victor Davis Hanson to Ed Morrissey and Michael Scheuer. Investors Business Daily has gone right to the heart of Tenet's "slam dunk" claim:


While conceding the CIA believed that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction before the 2003 U.S. invasion, Tenet says that wasn't what he was referring to by "slam dunk." No, he was talking about putting "a better case together for a public case," he writes.Despite the media fuss, what he really meant isn't important.

Congress didn't endorse the Iraq War and America today is not trying to win it because of a cute phrase from someone at an Oval Office meeting, or because of "16 words" about Saddam seeking uranium from Africa in a State of the Union speech.

In its resolution authorizing action against Iraq in October, 2002, Congress named lots of other reasons, including that:
· "Iraq had large stockpiles of chemical weapons and a large-scale biological weapons program . . ."
· "Iraq's continuing weapons of mass destruction programs threatened vital United States interests and international peace and security . . . "
· Iraq was continuing its "supporting and harboring (of) terrorist organizations."
· "Iraq persists in violating resolutions of the United Nations Security Council by continuing to engage in brutal repression of its civilian population . . ."
· Saddam had already used "weapons of mass destruction against other nations and its own people" - such as chemical weapons against Iraqi Kurds.
· The Iraq regime had shown a "willingness to attack" the U.S. "including by attempting in 1993 to assassinate former President Bush . . ."
· Al-Qaida members "are known to be in Iraq."

Lost in all this is the truly bizarre behavior of the CIA's WMD operation under Tenet.

I remind you of the fantastically moronic and preposterously named Operation Merlin:

Mark Levin shocked many listeners when he reported that President Bill Clinton gave nuclear technology to the Iranians in a harebrained scheme.

He said that the transfer of classified data to Iran was personally approved by then-President Clinton and that the CIA deliberately gave Iranian physicists blueprints for part of a nuclear bomb that likely helped Tehran advance its nuclear weapons development program.

The CIA, using a double-agent Russian scientist, handed a blueprint for a nuclear bomb to Iran, according to a new book "State of War" by James Risen, the New York Times reporter, who exposed the Bush administration's controversial NSA spying operation, claims the plans contained fatal flaws designed to derail Tehran's nuclear drive.

But the deliberate errors were so rudimentary they would have been easily fixed by sophisticated Russian nuclear scientists, the book said.

The operation, which took place during the Clinton administration in early 2000, was code named Operation Merlin and "may have been one of the most reckless operations in the modern history of the CIA," according to Risen."

In any event, a just released report will certainly warrant further scrutiny of the Agency's operations under Tenet, an agency which missed the AQ Khan network, perhaps because it was satisfied to use Plame's fabulist, big-mouthed tea-drinking husband as its fact checker:

The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) has published the new document titled "Nuclear black markets: Pakistan, A Q Khan and the rise of proliferation networks: A new assessment".

According to the paper, the arrest and public confession of Khan in 2004 confirmed the existence of a global proliferation network which had, over almost two decades, provided nuclear technology, expertise and designs to Iran, North Korea, Libya and possibly other countries.

The IISS has now claimed that Khan was not the only nuclear arms merchant and Pakistan was not the only country implicated in his shadowy network. It spanned three continents and eluded both national and international systems of export controls that had been designed to prevent illicit trade.


This highlighted concerns that nuclear technology was no longer the monopoly of the industrially advanced countries, but possibly can be purchased off-the-shelf by both states and terrorist groups. (Emphasis Supplied.)

In sum, under Tenet the CIA gave Iran the means to jumpstart its nuclear weapons program and missed utterly an extensive worldwide nuclear armament operation. And that fact is a "slam dunk".

ETHICS SHOWDOWN LOOMS IN UPCOMING LEGISLATIVE SESSION

**Exclusive** from Chad E. Rogers, at The Dead Pelican

APRIL 29, 2007 XXXX 20:39:31 PM CDT

For those longing for good government in Louisiana, the upcoming legislative session could be one of the most important in Louisiana history. One of the toughest battles will involve good government and ethics reform proposals put out by the new group called LA ETHICS 1 (see web site HERE.)

The good-government group has proposed TEN NEW BILLS (six in the house, and four in the senate) which, if passed, will make Louisiana's ethics laws #1 in the country, according to a person affiliated with the group. (For an overview of the LA ETHICS 1 reform package for the legislative session 2007, go here.)

Stephen Moret of the Baton Rouge area chamber tells THE DEAD PELICAN that no legislator will want to go on record voting against any of these "good government" measures.

In order to ensure that they won't have to go on record as voting against good government, Moret predicts that there may be a concerted effort to KILL THESE GOOD GOVERNMENT BILLS in committee! Stephen Moret tells THE DEAD PELICAN that at the time of this writing, the fate of much needed ethics reform lies in the hands of the following committees and legislators:

Senate & Governmental Affairs Committee:

Senator Charles D. "C.D." Jones, Chairman-- websen@legis.state.la.us

Senator Reggie P. Dupre, Jr. , Vice Chairman-- lasen20@legis.state.la.us

Senator Noble E. Ellington-- ellingtn@legis.state.la.us

Senator Cleo Fields-- fieldsc@legis.state.la.us

Senator Robert "Rob" Marionneaux, Jr.-- lasen17@legis.state.la.us

Senator Derrick Shepherd-- websen@legis.state.la.us

Senator J. Chris Ullo-- websen@legis.state.la.us

House & Governmental Affairs Committee:

Lancaster, Jr., Charles D., Chairman-- larep080@legis.state.la.us

Representative Richard "Rick" Gallot, Jr. , Vice Chairman – larep011@legis.state.la.us

Rep. Jeffery "Jeff" J. Arnold -- larep102@legis.state.la.us

Rep. Jalila Jefferson-Bullock -- larep091@legis.state.la.us

Representative Juan A. LaFonta -- larep096@legis.state.la.us

Representative Charmaine L. Marchand-- larep099@legis.state.la.us

Representative Billy Wayne Montgomery-- larep009@legis.state.la.us

Representative M.J. "Mert" Smiley, Jr.-- larep088@legis.state.la.us

WHY ETHICS REFORM?

Moret tell [sic] THE DEAD PELICAN that when business leaders around the country are asked why they steer clear of Louisiana, they cite "corruption" as the #1 reason. And the corruption is due to Louisiana's lax ethics laws, a problem which LA ETHICS 1 is seeking to remedy, if their legislation is not killed in committee.

"Incremental change is not enough," says Moret. "We want to best ethics laws in the country, fast."

Moret notes that Louisiana has a dismal reputation nationally for its current ethics laws.

The non-partisan BGA (Better Government Association) currently ranks Louisiana near the bottom at #46.

The non-partisan CPI (Center for Public Integrity) ranks Louisiana near the bottom at #44.

The goal of the package proposed by LA ETHICS 1 is to make Louisiana's ethics laws "the best in the country," Moret told THE DEAD PELICAN Sunday.

Monday, May 09, 2007, will be the first day that these bills come up, Moret told THE DEAD PELICAN Sunday evening.

THE DEAD PELICAN will be tracking these proposals carefully, and keeping you informed of their progress.

DEVELOPING...

All hands on deck!

Bobby's HQ, in the Rayford Building (South Circle), is in need of volunteers to help staff it. At the moment, the plan is for the office to be open to the public Monday-Friday, from 10 am to 5 pm.

Please contact Blake Cooper to sign up. Any amount of time will be much appreciated.

The cat's out of the bag.

Lee Fletcher has breaking news: John Georges, supposed Republican candidate for governor, has a *long* history of supporting Dems. The list on the Town Hall Show site is rather telling.

I'm sure more research is due, but here are a few:

5/5/2002 $1,000 Cantwell, Maria

10/10/2002 $500 Strickland, Tom (pro-choice CO Dem)

12/31/2003 $5,000 Democratic Congressional Campaign Cmte

4/17/1996 $5,000 Democratic National Committee

5/23/2000 $5,000 Democratic Congressional Campaign Cmte

11/6/2006 $2,100 Sarbanes, John

4/29/2005 $2,000 Jefferson, William J

3/26/1996 $1,000 Kerry, John

5/25/1994 $1,000 Kennedy, Edward M

9/20/1994 $1,000 Jefferson, William J

10/28/1994 $1,000 Sasser, Jim (TN Dem in race against Frist)

9/9/2003 $1,000 Jefferson, William J

1/30/1995 $500 Moseley-Braun, Carol

6/24/1993 $500 Jefferson, William J

6/21/1996 $500 Jefferson, William J

10/13/1987 $750 Dukakis for President Cmte

9/1/1988 $1,650 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE

9/26/1988 $700 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE

6/4/1990 $300 Byron Georgiou for Congress (CA Dem)

9/27/2006 $1,000 Carter, Karen R

10/26/2006 $2,100 Space, Zachary T (Ohio Dem against Bob Ney)

"A Failure In Generalship"

This is a long, but important, read from Armed Forces Journal.

Make up your mind, Kat!

After shooting her first turkey, – I’ll resist the tug to be snarky – Queen Kathleen is straightening and polishing her slipped, tarnished crown and may re-enter the gubernatorial race. Good grief…

Hat tip: The Dead Pelican

Strain gets major endorsement.

Senator David Vitter has endorsed State Representative Michael G. Strain, DVM, who is the Republican candidate for Commissioner of Agriculture.

A number of us met with Dr. Strain at the GoPAC Townhall Meeting, at Bellino’s, last night. Good job, GoPAC!

Other candidates were at Bellino’s, as well: Royal Alexander, candidate for LA Attorney General; Chris Hazel, candidate for the LA House, District 27; Lance Maxwell, candidate for LA House, District 25. Did I miss anyone? ;->

Hat tip: The Dead Pelican

Same ol’, same ol’.

It’s official. Boasso is a Democrat… again. Looks comfy, doesn't he?

Hat tip: The Dead Pelican

Final tally on House vote for emergency supplemental appropriations bill Conference Report.

As we expected, it passed, but by a mere ten votes: 218-208. Look here for the vote breakdown.

Someone please tell me why uber war critic and presidential hopeful munchkin, Dennis Kicinich (D-OH), was one of the thirteen Dems, who voted *with* the Republicans. Cynic that I am, I know there is a reason for his vote, but, for the life of me, I can’t think of one.

The Senate, presently, is voting for US failure. Stay tuned.

Update: Senate passes Conference Report, 51-46. Defeat is now an exit strategy. Of course, Sen. Mary Landrieu voted *for* our defeat and *against* the host of military families she represents. Call her office and voice your extreme displeasure: 202/224-5824. You may e-mail her, as well: http://landrieu.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm .

“Mission Accomplished” redux. #$%^&*!!!

According to CBS National Affairs Correspondent Mark Noler, it looks like the US Senate will postpone sending the military spending bill to the President, for a sure veto, until May 1. Why? Because, May 1, 2007, is the fourth anniversary of the President’s famous visit to the USS Abraham Lincoln – a ship that sported the equally famous banner that read, “Mission Accomplished.”

Noler, firmly believing Americans have very short memories, commandingly reported, today, that when President Bush spoke aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, on May 1, 2003, the clear implication was that the mission, in Iraq, had been accomplished.

That’s not true, at all, Mr. Noler! (insert expletive)

Nevertheless, due to Noler’s brazen attempt to "confuzzle" and in light of yet another possible (probable?) slap at the President, I thought I might share a piece I wrote three years ago about the fabricated “Mission Accomplished” debacle.

From May 3, 2004:

Saturday, May 1, 2004, was the first anniversary of President George W. Bush’s dramatic landing on the aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln. In reviewing the news clips of the speech President Bush delivered that day in 2003, I noticed the camera panned to a banner with these words: Mission Accomplished. I also noticed the accompanying chatter, from the reviewing “talking heads,” criticizing the President’s speech of a year ago, by focusing solely on the theme of Mission Accomplished.

On May 1, 2003, was the mission of the USS Abraham Lincoln accomplished? If the mission, in conjunction with myriad others, was to topple Saddam Hussein and his regime in Iraq, then, indeed, the mission was accomplished. However, due to the success of the mission, was the Battle of Iraq triumphantly concluded, as well? No, it was not and is not, any more than the World War on Terrorism is finished. The World War, about which many of us may be in denial, promises to be a long haul. Consequently, it is folly to suggest the battles to win it – often viewed as wars in and of themselves - should last no longer than a television miniseries.

Increasingly, what I am reading and hearing, particularly in terms of the Battle of Iraq, is a politicized avoidance of accurate definitions and concomitant distinctions regarding the words “mission,” “battle” and “war.” A mission is defined as a military action or expedition. A battle is cited as a prolonged fight between armed forces. The definition of war is a sustained, specific instance or period of armed hostility or contention between people, groups and so forth. Parenthetically, military maneuvers of all sorts are tagged “operations,” therefore, a mission, a battle or even a war might bear the name Operation Such-and-Such. That being said, in today’s pundit parlance and newspeak, one would think “mission,” “battle” and “war” all mean the same thing. They do not.

Consider this: In 1991, Iraq signed an armistice to end what is called the Persian Gulf War. Saddam Hussein broke that armistice fifteen days from signature, causing American troops to remain in Saudi Arabia to enforce the No Fly Zone and to honor a protection pact with Saudia Arabia, signed in 1945 by King Abdulaziz bin Saud and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Supposedly, the Persian Gulf War ended, although tension and fighting with Saddam Hussein’s forces continued, at varying levels of intensity, for more than a decade. In fact, our continued military presence in Saudi Arabia was the reason Usama bin Laden gave for al-Qaeda’s attacks on the United States, September 11, 2001. Which prompts the questions: Was the Persian Gulf War, in hindsight, the first battle in the World War on Terrorism and, therefore, misnamed? Should Saddam Hussein’s recalcitrance be blamed, at least in part, for al-Qaeda’s attacks of September 11, 2001?

If my analysis is correct, then the answer to the second question is yes, and the Persian Gulf War should be renamed the Battle of the Persian Gulf, or referred to as Operation Desert Storm. Subsequent battles in the World War on Terrorism are the Battle of Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) and Battle of Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom). As with all wars, specific missions are carried out within each battle, ergo a series of missions geared to eject Saddam Hussein’s forces from Kuwait, to eliminate Taliban control of Afghanistan and to defang Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq certainly are missions that have been accomplished. Other missions within the Battles of Afghanistan and Iraq and, thus, the battles themselves, are ongoing. The War on Terrorism, actually begun in 1979, will end only in total worldwide victory… ours. Yes, our specific goal was achieved, swiftly, in Desert Storm and we are currently earning success, mission by mission, in Enduring Freedom and in Iraqi Freedom, but we have a long way to go. Where did I learn that? I listened to President Bush’s speech on May 1, 2003, for cryin’ out loud!

So let’s get the lingo right, in an effort to keep our perspectives clear and our priorities straight. Missions are components of battles; battles are components of war. Despite what is being said and written by the oft biased media and power hungry politicians, operations in Afghanistan and Iraq are not individual wars, separate and distinct. And, lest we forget, the mission of the USS Abraham Lincoln, one of many to rid Iraq of Saddam Hussein and his regime, was truly a Mission Accomplished.

Is Hunt hunting Foti?

Could be, according to Politics LA, anyway. Then again, Hunt could be hunting for someone else. Mitch? Who knows?

Things are getting *interesting*.

Note: It looks like State Rep. Gary Beard (R-Baton Rouge) is considering challenging Mitch.

Interesting read.

From: The Independent Weekly

The Lone Wolves Roar

There’s nothing the Democrats can do to quiet Foster Campbell, and the GOP may lose Walter Boasso altogether.
By Jeremy Alford 4/25/2007

They’re not U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal, the Kenner Republican dominating the race for governor — and both would jump through flaming hoops to prove it. Foster Campbell, with his country wit and liberal tax ideas, is the Democratic frontrunner by default who’s keeping the political establishment fearful that his numbers might actually take off. Meanwhile, Sen. Walter Boasso, a self-made millionaire and former Democrat running as a Republican, is thumbing his nose at GOP favorite Jindal and openly discussing a party switch back to his Democratic roots.

A few of the polls released to the public on the governor’s race have both men recording only a few percentage points, with Campbell leading slightly. It’s a far cry from the 40-or-so points Jindal is pulling, but the number of undecided voters remains high in all surveys — as it should roughly six months out from the primary. Campbell and Boasso are also far below the $5 million fund raising mark that Jindal surpassed this month. Campbell has about $1 million in the bank, while Boasso has put up $2 million of his own cash and is promising to spend twice that.

But what they both lack in green, they more than make up for in their convictions. Campbell, a member of the Public Service Commission and former state senator from Oak Grove, has a silver tongue that he uses to demonize corporate giants like ExxonMobil and Entergy; he’s a Louisiana populist if there ever were one. That may be attractive to an electorate fatigued over recovery issues, as was the case with former folksy Gov. Huey P. Long following the momentous 1927 floods.

The Louisiana Democratic Party, however, isn’t jumping to back Campbell. It’ll probably take a vote of the party’s state central committee or a runoff berth for that to happen, says Democratic spokeswoman Julie Vezinot. “Right now we’re helping all Democrats,” she says. “The field could become more packed if a Walter Boasso or someone else comes over into our fold, though.”

For now, Campbell is more than willing to carry his own water. He is about to be unleashed on the voting public, as he recently ordered up a large radio buy to promote his trademark issues: eliminating state income taxes and replacing them with an updated version of the 1921 severance tax on oil and gas, only this time on foreign oil processed in Louisiana. It’s a straightforward spot with a dramatic score, and Campbell’s camp says it will run statewide.

On his most recent campaign finance report, however, only two advertising expenditures are listed: $125 for KWCL in Oak Grove and $7,000 to WWL in New Orleans. More bills could come, however, as the report also reveals Campbell loaned the campaign $300,000 from his own pocket the day before the first-quarter reporting period ended April 13.

The media buy was timed to coincide with the federal tax deadline, but it will also introduce Campbell to Louisiana’s voters, some of whom already know about the man and his message. He has been pushing his populist tax agenda for more than a decade, this time promising that $3.1 billion in taxes will be returned to residents if he’s elected. But it’s the “small fee” he proposes on foreign oil that will garner Campbell the most attention.

Louisiana will gain $1.7 billion in new revenue each year, he says, and more than half of the cash will go to coastal restoration. That could help Campbell shore up support in south Louisiana, supplementing his northerly base, but he’ll have to fight the oil industry to gain any real ground. Larry Wall, a spokesman for the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, says he has been fielding interviews almost daily to counter Campbell’s claim. “The issue will never have the votes to pass, but just the talking about the issue is threatening to people who want to move businesses here,” Wall says.

The oil industry will enjoy a run of free media in coming weeks as Campbell’s ideas are questioned by reporters, but there isn’t much brewing in the way of organized opposition — yet. “If he starts polling higher or is close to a runoff, we’ll be pulling out all the stops,” says one industry lobbyist.

Having first been elected to the state Senate in 2003, Boasso hasn’t had much time to incur any real political enemies. When it comes to fund raising, he has one benefit Campbell doesn’t: personal wealth. He has amassed a fortune raising cattle and farming pine, but the bulk of his income is derived from Boasso America Corporation, a national network of tank-container facilities for rail, road and marine. (The company also dabbles in everything from bulk-liquid transportation to emergency-response tank-trucks.) Boasso can be extravagant; he has a ranch housing zebras and other exotic animals. He’s passionate and compassionate, too, spending countless dollars to help his neighbors recover. In fact, he hotwired a school bus in the desperate days following Hurricane Katrina to personally evacuate people from St. Bernard Parish.

More than any other candidate running, or thinking of running, Boasso has the most intriguing story to tell. The Louisiana Republican Party, however, has already endorsed Jindal, despite the fact that qualifying is months away. The decision infuriated Boasso, but it ultimately probably didn’t matter much. From the starting gate, Boasso has kept a sense of autonomy in his camp, and there were even rumors early on he would run as an independent. “Let’s demand we check party labels at the front door and do what’s right for the people,” Boasso says.

Roger F. Villere Jr., state GOP chairman, contends Boasso wasn’t overlooked but says the party wanted to be prepared to take over the mansion. “We took this action because we believe that we must send an immediate and unmistakable message to the voters,” he says. By making that call, Villere and Louisiana’s Republicans may lose a vibrant spokesman, as well as someone with deep pockets, because Boasso is openly flirting with every other party but the GOP.

The strategy might work well for Boasso, who has only released vague parts of his agenda thus far. It certainly worked for former Gov. Mike Foster, who switched from Democrat to Republican in the 1995 contest before taking the whole enchilada.

Whatever Boasso does, he better do it fast. The news of his potential jump might be exciting fodder for political junkies, but if it persists for too long, it could overshadow his entire message and hamper any chance he has of boosting his fall numbers, says Joshua Stockley, former president of Louisiana Political Science Association and professor of government at Nicholls State University.

“This may be a shrewd move to up his name recognition statewide, but if he keeps shopping around like this there is a real danger people will talk more about the switch than his agenda,” Stockley says. “Both he and Campbell are second-tier candidates, and they’re both looking for ways to increase their stock.”

State Rep. Steve Scalise puts the Stelly Plan in the bull’s eye.

From: New Orleans CityBusiness

METAIRIE - There’s a $1.2-billion surplus sitting in state coffers, and that doesn’t sit well with state Rep. Steve Scalise.

The Metairie Republican hopes to give the surplus back to taxpayers after the regular session of the Legislature begins Monday.

He and other lawmakers want to repeal aspects of the Stelly Plan.

Lawmakers approved the tax swap in 2002 and voters OK’d a constitutional amendment to permanently exempt purchases of food and prescriptions and home utility bills from state sales taxes. To make up for the lost revenue, the plan increased state personal income tax collections.

Louisiana residents now cannot deduct charitable contributions, home mortgage interest or insurance deductibles on state income tax returns.
Scalise wants to allow those deductions again.

“We’ve been losing the middle class,” Scalise said.

Greg Albrecht, chief economist for the Legislature, said Scalise’s bill would affect about 20 percent of tax filers.

In Louisiana, 80 percent of taxpayers do not have enough excess deductions to itemize, he said.

The federal government allows couples filing jointly about $10,300 as a standard deduction on their income tax return. If deductions total more than that amount, the taxpayer can itemize.

Mortgage interest payments are the main reason most taxpayers itemize but most homeowners don’t have more than $10,300 in annual mortgage interest, said Albrecht.

Just before the Stelly Plan passed, the state capped excess itemized deductions at 50 percent, Albrecht said.

For example, if a taxpayer claimed a federal deduction $500 above the standard amount, he could claim only $250 on his state return before the Stelly Plan was enacted.

Scalise’s bill would allow tax filers to receive 100 percent of excess itemized deductions.

“I think about two years before the Stelly Plan, excess itemized was at 100 percent,” Scalise said. “It wasn’t that long before Stelly that it was a full 100 percent. I’m not trying to do something that’s never been done before.

“The bottom line is we’ve got this large surplus and I’ve been trying to do as much as I can to give that money back to people.”

Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco said she is against any changes to the Stelly Plan.

“The Stelly Plan is operating as it was designed to do,” Blanco said. “While I recognize the political ease in granting tax cuts, I would urge fiscal restraint and a thoughtful review of this entire matter.”

The Louisiana Association of United Ways backs Scalise’s bill since it restores the tax exemption for charitable donations.

“We certainly saw this as opportunity for people to feel like it would be easier to make that investment,” said Charmaine Caccioppi, state United Way president.

It’s not the first time Scalise has tried to repeal aspects of the Stelly Plan. An opponent of former Rep. Vic Stelly’s tax reform from its conception, Scalise’s prior attempts have failed in legislative committees.

This time, if the bill stalls in committee, a lobbying war may be waged to bring the matter to the House floor, Scalise said.

“I think this year is the best chance we’ll have to get this bill passed,” he said.

Scalise’s bill does not affect other aspects of the Stelly Plan, such as changes to income tax brackets. The bill also would not change the Stelly Plan’s elimination of the state’s 4-cent sales tax on food for home consumption and on natural gas, electricity and water for residential use.

To lighten a dreary day. ;->

Europeans heighten threat levels

(Reuters: London, April 11, 2007, 0905 GMT) Author, anonymous

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have raised their security level from “Miffed” to “Peeved.” Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to “Irritated” or even “A Bit Cross.” Londoners have not been “A Bit Cross” since the blitz began in 1940 and tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from “Tiresome” to “A Bloody Nuisance.” The last time the British issued “A Bloody Nuisance” warning level was during the great fire of 1666.

Also, the French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from “Run” to “Hide.” The only two higher levels in France are “Collaborate” and “Surrender.” The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France’s white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country’s military capability.

It’s not only the English and French who are on a heightened level of alert.

Italy has increased the alert level from “Shout Loudly and Excitedly” to “Elaborate Military Posturing.” Two more levels remain: “Ineffective Combat Operations” and “Change Sides.”

The Germans also increased their alert state from “Disdainful Arrogance” to “Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs.” They also have two higher levels: “Invade a Neighbor” and “Lose.”

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual, and the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Boasso still dithering on party switch.

I’m with Lee Fletcher on this one: Months ago, I suggested to someone, “in the loop,” that Boasso, a successful businessman, should be persuaded to run for Lt. Governor. In all candor, I think Boasso could have given the current one a real headache, particularly if he hitched his wagon to Bobby’s star. I was told, flatly, “He’s too arrogant.” T’would seem so.

And, as if we didn’t know, John Georges has stuffed his own war chest to exceed the size of Bobby’s… that has been stuffed by a host of supporters. What does that say, Johnny Boy?

A Louisiana grassroots site for Fred Thompson.

Go here, if you're interested in drafting Fred to run for President.

Well, it’s about time, isn’t it???

“State GOP using heavy hand in fall statewide elections”

Ponderings on "Earph" Day

During her enviro-tour with Laurie David, rock ‘n’ roll specialist and fame hound, Sheryl Crow, has told us that when we go to the loo we must never use more than one square of toilet tissue per sitting. Um… Are public bidets next? Talk about a public health hazard. After that, will there be a government mandate that we all be surgically altered to accommodate a couple of ostomy bags? Gotta save dose trees, dontchaknow.

Yo, Sheryl, isn’t toilet paper more biodegradable than a CD? Just askin’…

Speaking of public health issues, have you heard that traffic accidents are the numero uno public health hazard? What do you suppose that will mean, eventually? Will private conveyances be limited, or downright outlawed, to protect the bottom line of public health all in the name of protecting us from ourselves? Protecting the environment is a factor, there, as well, but I digress. Will we be forced onto public transit systems to keep down the cost of public health? Will that mean we will be herded into population centers (read: blue voting zones)? Will those, who choose to stay in “fly-over country,” be relegated to peasant status, a là the old Soviet Union, while the public transit dependent, in population centers, become serfs to the free-ranging elites? I thought we did away with slavery. Guess not.

Re free-ranging elites: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) has admonished those who point to the hypocrisy of free-ranging, environmental elites prophets and all but demands we ignore their hypocrisy and listen to their message prophecy. They needn’t practice what they preach, especially the likes of Al Gore, the new messiah, but we *must* practice what they preach. Oops, for a minute, there, I forgot we’re nothing more than peasants and serfs. Got it, Arnold.

According to Sen. Hillary Clinton, if we elect her President, we will be able to control the climate. Cue The Twilight Zone theme. Some among us actually believe that and, as a result, will help her and other socialists of every stripe wreck the U.S. economy. Is Red China helping her get elected, too?

Again, according to the climate control diva, Sen. Clinton, should she be elected President her hubby, former President Slick, will become her “roaming ambassador.” LOL! Has her speechwriter been fired yet?

As an aside, former President Slick has mused that he’d move from “roaming ambassador,” to President Hill’s appointed UN Ambassador, ultimately to the supposedly elected position of UN Secretary-General. President Clinton and Secretary-General Clinton. Now that’s a *scary* thought.

Has anyone noticed we are transitioning away from farming to feed to farming to fuel? As well, no one seems to be paying attention to the cautions that ethanol is more damaging to the environment than gasoline. I guess corn smog is OK. What will we do for nutrition, soylent green? “Foodies” will hate that. Bye-bye, Food Network.

Where have all the bees gone? We know the bee population has been dwindling for decades and that bees avoid big power lines like the plague. Are the power lines a factor? As well, scientists are beginning to claim that the lack of crop diversity on farms is causing bees to die of malnutrition. Is the explosion of the use of wireless technology the straw that broke the camel’s bee’s back? Scientists are beginning to believe that just as power lines are disorienting agents for bees, wireless technology disorients, as well. The real problem with wireless technology is that it isn’t confined as power lines are – it’s *everywhere*. Are disorientation and malnutrition killing off our vital bees? If that’s the case, we’re next. Think about it.

Has politicizing environmental issues (junk science) caused us to ignore serious science, thereby hurtling us, headlong, into a Dark Age abyss? Rather than being so arrogant as to believe we can control what we can’t control, shouldn’t we be preparing to survive the effects of what we cannot control, like, say, tectonic shifts and solar activity? True, the debate is over, in terms of a chaotic climate, but the debate is not over as to the cause and what to do about it, if anything, save for preparing. Yes, human beings are part of the ecosystem, just as termites are, and should be good stewards. However, if the sun is the prime generator of climate chaos, what can we do to stop it? Nothing. While we can, we should go back to farming to feed and work to design creative, intelligent, low-tech, long-term methods to store nutrition basics for what could be a difficult future.

Why has no one invented a system whereby we can, as best as humanly possible, clean up our wastewater, inject it back into the natural filtration system that would complete the cleanup job and, thereby, replenish our depleted, freshwater aquifers? Surely, there’s a way to do that…

Why are enviro-prophets pushing mercury-laden collapsed fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs)? Granted, they do last longer than incandescent bulbs; but, if the cat knocks over a lamp sporting an incandescent bulb, a haz-mat crew doesn’t need to be called for haz-mat cleanup. Property values don’t plummet due to residual haz-mat contamination, either. When a CFL eventually dies, tossing it into the wastebasket – winding up in a landfill – is taboo, as well. If we’re bored with incandescent bulbs, why not go with LEDs? They last forever, are not poisonous, are extremely efficient and *never* break, busy cats, or no. Follow the money…

Socialism, whether it is fascism, Marxism or anything in-between, is the consolidation of resources, wealth and power in the hands of a few. Societal polarization, via fear-mongering and initial cordoning off of special interest groups, is key. Another key component is the dismissal of honor, integrity, self-discipline and ethics from the public and private spheres. Are we seeing a trend? A new religion? Is government replacing God and is environmentalism a handy sect?

Update: Sheryl Crow has a clothing line that includes what she calls a “dining sleeve.” Apparently, the “dining sleeve” is to be used in place of paper napkins. Happily, it’s detachable and can be laundered and/or replaced after use. I take it that Crow has never heard of cloth napkins. Uh-oh. Has she heard of handkerchiefs? Gad… The sane mind reels.

Louisiana Sheriffs Association endorses Bobby.

From Bobby:

Earlier today, I was incredibly honored to receive the official endorsement of the Louisiana Sheriffs Association. The Louisiana Sheriffs Association represents 65 sheriffs from all over the state, only eight of which are Republicans. The Louisiana law enforcement community, Republicans and Democrats alike, is clearly committed to energizing our government to create progress in the areas of economic development, education, and health care which have lacked much-needed advancement for too long.

In their endorsement press release, Louisiana Sheriffs Association President Hal Turner said quote, "Congressman Jindal has demonstrated an unerring and determined dedication to the higher good of law enforcement, antiterrorism, the criminal justice system and the people of Louisiana."

Their endorsement of my agenda to bring a fresh start to Louisiana adds an incredible jolt of energy to the building momentum for change in this state. I am humbled by the confidence and support of these leaders and look forward to their partnership.

This could be explosive. Literally.

If the following is true, Mr. President, please risk embarrassment. Western Civilization may depend upon it.

From The Spectator UK:

'I found Saddam's WMD bunkers'
by Melanie Phillips

It’s a fair bet that you have never heard of a guy called Dave Gaubatz. It’s also a fair bet that you think the hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has found absolutely nothing, nada, zilch; and that therefore there never were any WMD programmes in Saddam’s Iraq to justify the war ostensibly waged to protect the world from Saddam’s use of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.

Dave Gaubatz, however, says that you could not be more wrong. Saddam’s WMD did exist. He should know, because he found the sites where he is certain they were stored. And the reason you don’t know about this is that the American administration failed to act on his information, ‘lost’ his classified reports and is now doing everything it can to prevent disclosure of the terrible fact that, through its own incompetence, it allowed Saddam’s WMD to end up in the hands of the very terrorist states against whom it is so controversially at war.

You may be tempted to dismiss this as yet another dodgy claim from a warmongering lackey of the world Zionist neocon conspiracy giving credence to yet another crank pushing US propaganda. If so, perhaps you might pause before throwing this article at the cat. Mr Gaubatz is not some marginal figure. He’s pretty well as near to the horse’s mouth as you can get.

Having served for 12 years as an agent in the US Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations, Mr Gaubatz, a trained Arabic speaker, was hand-picked for postings in 2003, first in Saudi Arabia and then in Nasariyah in Iraq. His mission was to locate suspect WMD sites, discover threats against US forces in the area and find Saddam loyalists, and then send such intelligence to the Iraq Survey Group and other agencies.

Between March and July 2003, he says, he was taken to four sites in southern Iraq — two within Nasariyah, one 20 miles south and one near Basra — which, he was told by numerous Iraqi sources, contained biological and chemical weapons, material for a nuclear programme and UN-proscribed missiles. He was, he says, in no doubt whatever that this was true.

This was, in the first place, because of the massive size of these sites and the extreme lengths to which the Iraqis had gone to conceal them. Three of them were bunkers buried 20 to 30 feet beneath the Euphrates. They had been constructed through building dams which were removed after the huge subterranean vaults had been excavated so that these were concealed beneath the river bed. The bunker walls were made of reinforced concrete five feet thick.

‘There was no doubt, with so much effort having gone into hiding these constructions, that something very important was buried there’, says Mr Gaubatz. By speaking to a wide range of Iraqis, some of whom risked their lives by talking to him and whose accounts were provided in ignorance of each other, he built up a picture of the nuclear, chemical and biological materials they said were buried underground.

‘They explained in detail why WMDs were in these areas and asked the US to remove them,’ says Mr Gaubatz. ‘Much of this material had been buried in the concrete bunkers and in the sewage pipe system. There were also missile imprints in the area and signs of chemical activity — gas masks, decontamination kits, atropine needles. The Iraqis and my team had no doubt at all that WMDs were hidden there.’

There was yet another significant piece of circumstantial corroboration. The medical records of Mr Gaubatz and his team showed that at these sites they had been exposed to high levels of radiation.

Mr Gaubatz verbally told the Iraq Study Group (ISG) of his findings, and asked them to come with heavy equipment to breach the concrete of the bunkers and uncover their sealed contents. But to his consternation, the ISG told him they didn’t have the manpower or equipment to do it and that it would be ‘unsafe’ to try.

‘The problem was that the ISG were concentrating their efforts in looking for WMD in northern Iraq and this was in the south,’ says Mr Gaubatz. ‘They were just swept up by reports of WMD in so many different locations. But we told them that if they didn’t excavate these sites, others would.’

That, he says, is precisely what happened. He subsequently learnt from Iraqi, CIA and British intelligence that the WMD buried in the four sites were excavated by Iraqis and Syrians, with help from the Russians, and moved to Syria. The location in Syria of this material, he says, is also known to these intelligence agencies. The worst-case scenario has now come about. Saddam’s nuclear, biological and chemical material is in the hands of a rogue terrorist state — and one with close links to Iran.

When Mr Gaubatz returned to the US, he tried to bring all this to light. Two congressmen, Peter Hoekstra, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and Curt Weldon, were keen to follow up his account. To his horror, however, when they tried to access his classified intelligence reports, they were told that all 60 of them — which, in the routine way, he had sent in 2003 to the computer clearing-house at a US airbase in Saudi Arabia — had mysteriously gone missing. These written reports had never even been seen by the ISG.

One theory is that they were inadvertently destroyed when the computer’s database was accidentally erased in the subsequent US evacuation of the airbase. Mr Gaubatz, however, suspects dirty work at the crossroads. It is unlikely, he says, that no copies were made of his intelligence. And he says that all attempts by Messrs Hoekstra and Weldon to extract information from the Defence Department and CIA have been relentlessly stonewalled.

In 2005, the CIA held a belated inquiry into the disappearance of this intelligence. Only then did its agents visit the sites — to report that they had indeed been looted.

Mr Gaubatz’s claims remain largely unpublicised. Last year, the New York Times dismissed him as one of a group of WMD diehard obsessives. The New York Sun produced a more balanced report, but after that the coverage died. According to Mr Gaubatz, the reason is a concerted effort by the US intelligence and political world to stifle such an explosive revelation of their own lethal incompetence.

After he and an Iraqi colleague spoke at last month’s Florida meeting of the Intelligence Summit, an annual conference of the intelligence world, they were interviewed for two hours by a US TV show — only for the interview to be junked after the FBI repeatedly rang Mr Gaubatz and his colleague to say they would stop the interview from being broadcast.

The problem the US authorities have is that they can’t dismiss Mr Gaubatz as a rogue agent — because they have repeatedly decorated him for his work in the field. In 2003, he received awards for his ‘courage and resolve in saving lives and being critical for information flow’. In 2001, he was decorated for being the ‘lead agent in a classified investigation, arguably the most sensitive counter-intelligence investigation currently in the entire Department of Defence’ and because his ‘reports were such high quality, many were published in the Air Force’s daily threat product for senior USAF leaders or re-transmitted at the national level to all security agencies in US government’.

The organiser of the Intelligence Summit, John Loftus — himself a formidably well-informed former attorney to the intelligence world — has now sent a memorandum to Congress asking it to investigate Mr Gaubatz’s claims. He has also hit a brick wall. The reason is not hard to grasp.

The Republicans won’t touch this because it would reveal the incompetence of the Bush administration in failing to neutralise the danger of Iraqi WMD. The Democrats won’t touch it because it would show President Bush was right to invade Iraq in the first place. It is an axis of embarrassment.

Mr Loftus goes further. Saddam’s nuclear research, scientists and equipment, he says, have all been relocated to Syria, where US satellite intelligence confirms that uranium centrifuges are now operating — in a country which is not supposed to have any nuclear programme. There is now a nuclear axis, he says, between Iran, Syria and North Korea — with Russia and China helping to build an Islamic bomb against the West. And of course, with assistance from American negligence.

‘Apparently Saddam had the last laugh and donated his secret stockpile to benefit Iran’s nuclear weapons programme. With a little technical advice from Beijing, Syria is now enriching the uranium, Iran is making the missiles, North Korea is testing the warheads, and the White House is hiding its head in the sand.’

Of course, we don’t know whether any of this is true. But given Dave Gaubatz’s testimony, shouldn’t someone be trying to find out? Or will we still be intoning ‘there were no WMDs in Iraq’ when the Islamic bomb goes off?

Melanie Phillips is a Daily Mail columnist

Thoughts: This, if true, adds confirmation to my extreme discomfort regarding the sudden lack of resolve, on the part of the US and Israel, during the dust-up between Israel and Lebanon, last July. If Saddam’s WMD are, for the most part, under Syria’s control (and Iran’s?) – Haven’t many of us, at one point or another, suspected that they are? – is it too much of a stretch to believe that Hezbollah threatened to use them last summer? If nuclear arms are part of that cache, might the threat of use of nuclear weapons, tactical or otherwise, have caused the surprising stand-down? Mightn’t the same have held true with the threat of chemical and biological weapons?

Overall, I’m terribly suspicious and not a little alarmed.

A new term.

The face of Iraqnophobia - the fear and loathing of victory in Iraq.

Hat tip: Rush Limbaugh

Things are heating up!

According to Lee Fletcher, it would seem that Paul L. Hurd, Esq., of Moon Griffon fame, is “gunning” for Foti, as well.

You go, Royal.

It's official! Royal Alexander is running for Louisiana Attorney General. Look out, Foti. You've got some opposition.

Boasso the opportunist?

Obviously, Sen. Walter Boasso thinks he can trump PSC Foster Campbell. In that light, don’t expect John Georges to switch.

From Chad E. Rogers, at The Dead Pelican:

BOASSO TO MAKE PARTY SWITCH OFFICIAL THIS SATURDAY
APRIL 19, 2007 XXXX 12:07:15 AM CT

State Senator Walter Baosso intends to make his switch to the Democrat party official at a press conference this Saturday, sources tell THE DEAD PELICAN.

According to information on the Louisiana Secretary of State's office web site, this is not Baosso's first foray into the Democratic party.

SOS records show that in 1987, Boasso ran as a Democrat without opposition. The record shows that Baosso was a DPEC member in St. Bernard Parish who ran as a Democrat without opposition in 1987, and then ran for re-election as a Democrat in 1991.

He is currently serving as a Republican state senator for the St. Bernard Parish area, and is a Republican gubernatorial candidate for the '07 election.

Apparently this switch to the Democrat party is nothing new for Boasso, but a return to familiar territory.

Update: Boasso is still dithering. Can we say, “same ol’, same ol’?”

LFRW Notes

According to Jennifer Lawrence, Area Representative for presidential candidate, former Governor Mitt Romney, Ann Romney, Mitt’s lovely wife, will be at the LFRW Spring Board Meeting, this weekend.

Updated conference agenda:

Friday, April 20

5:00 p.m.- 7:00 p.m. - Conference Registration
Atrium, Holiday Inn Hwy. 190

7:00 p.m. - Welcome Reception for
Registered Attendees
Home of Maura & Jack Donahue
Directions in Reg. Packet
123 Maple Ridge Way
Covington, La
Saturday, April 21

10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Conference Registration
Atrium, Holiday Inn Hwy. 190

9:00 a.m. - Region Vice Presidents’ Workshop
Home of Linda Begue

10:30 a.m. - Executive Committee Meeting
Home of Linda Begue

10:30 a.m. - Workshop: Legislative Jam
Ballroom Holiday Inn

1:00 - 2:15 p.m. - Workshop: New Literacy Project (see invitation below)
Presented by Argiro Morgan
Ballroom Holiday Inn

2:30 - 4:30 p.m. - Workshop: “The True Colors of
Team Building & Leadership”
Guest Speaker: Kathy Hayward
Ballroom Holiday Inn

5:30 - 7:00 p.m. - Magnolia Club Reception
(Members & Invited Guests Only)
Home of Governor Dave Treen

7:30 p.m. - Conference Banquet
Featuring Entertainer Ronnie Kole
Pontchartrain Room Holiday Inn

Sunday, April 22

8:00 - 9:00 a.m. - Conference Registration
Atrium, Holiday Inn Hwy. 190

8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. - Prayer Service
Ballroom Holiday Inn

9:30 a.m. - Business Session
Ballroom Holiday Inn

Noon - Adjourn

Invitation

You are cordially invited to the unveiling of:

A NEW INITIATIVE
OF
THE
LFRW
UP WITH WORDS!
THE DICTIONARY PROJECT
Saturday, April 21, 2007
LFRW Spring Conference
1:30 PM

Learn:
What is “The Dictionary Project.”
Why has it been so successful nationally.
Why has it captured the imagination of your LFRW leaders.
How your club can participate.
For more information contact
Dr. Argiro Morgan at argiro@bellsouth.net

YOU WORRY ME!

By American Airlines Pilot - Captain John Maniscalco

I've been trying to say this since 9-11 but you worry me. I wish you didn't. I wish when I walked down the streets of this country that I love, that your color and culture still blended with the beautiful human landscape we enjoy in this country. But you don't blend in anymore. I notice you, and it worries me.

I notice you because I can't help it anymore. People from your homelands, professing to be Muslims, have been attacking and killing my fellow citizens and our friends for more than 20 years now. I don't fully understand their grievances and hate but I know that nothing can justify the inhumanity of their attacks.

On September 11, nineteen ARAB-MUSLIMS hijacked four jetliners in my country. They cut the throats of women in front of children and brutally stabbed to death others. They took control of those planes and crashed them into buildings killing thousands of proud fathers, loving sons, wise grandparents, elegant daughters, best friends, favorite coaches, fearless public servants, and children's mothers.

The Palestinians Celebrated, The Iraqis were overjoyed as was most of the Arab world. So I notice you now. I don't want to be worried. I don't want to be consumed by the same rage and hate and prejudice that has destroyed the soul of these terrorists. But I need your help. As a rational American, trying to protect my country and family in an irrational and unsafe world, I must know how to tell the difference between you, and the Arab/Muslim terrorist.

How do I differentiate between the true Arab/Muslim-Americans and the Arab/Muslims in our communities who are attending our schools, enjoying our parks, and living in OUR communities under the protection of OUR constitution, while they plot the next attack that will slaughter these same good neighbors and children? The events of September 11th changed the answer. It is not my responsibility to determine which of you embraces our great country, with ALL of its religions, with ALL of its different citizens, with all of its faults. It is time for every Arab/Muslim in this country to determine it for me.

I want to know, I demand to know, and I have a right to know whether or not you love America . Do you pledge allegiance to its flag? Do you proudly display it in front of your house, or on your car? Do you pray in your many daily prayers that Allah will bless this nation, that He will protect and prosper it? Or do you pray that Allah with destroy it in one of your "Jihads"? Are you thankful for the freedom that only this nation affords? A freedom that was paid for by the blood of hundreds of thousands of patriots who gave their lives for this country? Are you willing to preserve this freedom by paying the ultimate sacrifice? Do you love America ? If this is your commitment, then I need YOU to start letting ME know about it.

Your Muslim leaders in this nation should be flooding the media at this time with hard facts on your faith, and what hard actions you are taking as a community and as a religion to protect the United States of America Please, no more benign overtures of regret for the death of the innocent because I worry about who you regard as innocent. No more benign overtures of condemnation for the unprovoked attacks because I worry about what is unprovoked to you. I am not interested in any more sympathy. I am only interested in action. What will you do for America - our great country -- at this time of crisis, at this time of war?

I want to see Arab-Muslims waving the AMERICAN flag in the streets. I want to hear you chanting "Allah Bless America " I want to see young Arab/Muslim men enlisting in the military. I want to see a commitment of money, time, and emotion to the victims of this butchering and to this nation as a whole. The FBI has a list of over 400 people they want to talk to regarding the WTC attack. Many of these people live and socialize in Muslim communities. You know them. You know where they are. Hand them over to us, now! But I have seen little even approaching this sort of action. Instead I have seen an already closed and secretive community close even tighter. You have disappeared from the streets.

You have posted armed security guards at your facilities. You have threatened lawsuits. You have screamed for protection from reprisals.

The very few Arab/Muslim representatives that HAVE appeared in the media were defensive and equivocating. They seemed more concerned with making sure that the United States proves who was responsible before taking action. They seemed more concerned with protecting their fellow Muslims from violence directed towards them in the United States and abroad than they did with supporting our country and denouncing "leaders" like Khadafi, Hussein, Farrakhan, and Arafat.

If the true teachings of Islam proclaim tolerance and peace and love for all people then I want chapter and verse from the Koran and statements from popular Muslim leaders to back it up. What good is it if the teachings in the Koran are good and pure and true when your "leaders" are teaching fanatical interpretations, terrorism, and intolerance?

It matters little how good Islam SHOULD BE if large numbers of the world's Muslims interpret the teachings of Mohammed incorrectly and adhere to a degenerative form of the religion. A form that has been demonstrated to us over and over again. A form whose structure is built upon a foundation of violence, death, and suicide. A form whose members are recruited from the prisons around the world. A form whose members (some as young as five years old) are seen day after day, week in and week out, year after year, marching in the streets around the world, burning effigies of our presidents, burning the American flag, shooting weapons into the air. A form whose members convert from a peaceful religion, only to take up arms against the great United States of America, the country of their birth. A form whose rules are so twisted, that their traveling members refuse to show their faces at airport security checkpoints, in the name of Islam.

Do you and your fellow Muslims hate us because our women proudly show their faces in public rather than cover up like a shameful whore? Do you and your fellow Muslims hate us because we drink wine with dinner, or celebrate Christmas? Do you and you fellow Muslims hate us because we have befriended Israel , the ONLY FRIENDLY CIVILIZED SOCIETY in the Muslim/Arab area, that thinks and acts like most Americans.

And if you and your fellow Muslims hate us, then why in the world are you even here? Are you here to take our money? Are you here to undermine our peace and stability? Are you here to destroy us? If so, I want you to leave. I want you to go back to your desert sandpit where women are treated like rats and dogs. I want you to take your religion, your friends, and your family back to your Islamic extremists, and STAY THERE! We will NEVER give in to your influence, your retarded mentality, your twisted, violent, intolerant religion.

We will NEVER allow the attacks of September 11, or any others for that matter, to take away that which is so precious to us: Our rights under the greatest constitution in the world. I want to know where every Arab Muslim in this country stands and I think it is my right and the right of every true citizen of this country to demand it. A right paid for by the blood of thousands of my brothers and sisters who died protecting the very constitution that is protecting you and your family. I am pleading with you to let me know. I want you here as my brother , my neighbor, my friend, as a fellow American. But there can be no gray areas or ambivalence regarding your allegiance and it is up to YOU, to show ME, where YOU stand. Until then ... you worry me.

Neil Kavanagh's take...

Savior Breaux?

Mitch is showin' his smart side.

Lt. Governor won't throw his hat in ring for governor.

Louisiana native chairs a South Carolina county GOP.

Cool!

Hat tip: The Dead Pelican

Building Momentum

April 15, 2007

Building Momentum for a Fresh Start

Thanks to the hard work and generous support of thousands of Louisianians like you, last week my campaign announced that we have now raised more than $5.1 million! The message is clear.

It is time for a different direction and real results from government. We do not want to simply recover - we want to thrive.

The thirst for change in our state is massive. I constantly hear from people who say they are tired of Louisiana being at the bottom of the list when it comes to education, economic development and health care. They want change. The overwhelming commitment of Louisianians to bring our state to the top of the good lists is driving the building momentum behind my agenda for a fresh start.

You can make a contribution to the campaign online at any time, and encourage your friends and neighbors to contribute, by visiting this page.

Thanking our First Responders

I had the pleasure of spending this weekend thanking fire chiefs from all across the state for the heroic job that they and all first responders do on a daily basis. During times of disaster, these first responders run towards danger in order to protect us from tragedy. These first responders are usually only publicly recognized after large tragedies, such as 9/11 and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, but I wanted to take a special opportunity to thank them for their service. I would encourage you to take a minute when you see first responders in your neighborhood to thank them for their sacrifices for our communities.

Franklin Parish Catfish Festival

After the storms moved through on Saturday, I enjoyed the cooler weather by attending the Franklin Parish Catfish Festival in Winnsboro, the largest single-day festival in the State of Louisiana. This festival, and those like it around Louisiana, add to the great culture of our state and provide a great economic impact to these communities. Based on the great crowds that I saw on Saturday, I know that families, friends and neighbors enjoyed getting together to enjoy some delicious pond-raised catfish.

In the coming months we will be attending additional festivals across the state. This is a great opportunity to meet other volunteers by helping pass out bumper stickers and other campaign materials. To volunteer at an upcoming festival, sign up here.

Protecting the Bayou Region

A very serious issue emerged last week when the White House signaled their potential opposition to the Morganza to the Gulf project which is vital to the protection of the bayou region. This project will help guard Terrebonne Parish and portions of Lafourche Parish which are currently left largely unprotected from the threat of natural disasters.

The Army Corps of Engineers has spent 15 years developing the Morganza to the Gulf plan to help secure the bayou region area which is important to our domestic energy and fishery industries. The opposition from the White House shows that the Administration not only neglects to understand the seriousness of protecting and restoring our coasts, but fails to realize the vital role this region plays in our national oil supply.

I am urgently requesting that the President correct the misguided opposition of his administration to the Morganza to the Gulf project, and instead join the Louisiana delegation in supporting this bipartisan plan. I am working to help ensure the House approves legislation authorizing this important project this week.

Working to Provide Affordable Insurance

I am pleased to report that both the Senate Banking and the Senate Commerce committees held hearings this week on my companion legislation addressing the insurance crisis facing the Gulf Coast region. These hearings are another sign that Congress is starting to pay attention to our insurance crisis. I am currently a lead co-sponsor on two bills concerning insurance - the Multiple Peril Insurance Act (H.R. 920) to allow homeowners the option of buying wind coverage when they buy flood coverage, and the Insurance Industry Competition Act (H.R. 1081) to protect consumers against the threat of artificially inflated prices.

We must find concrete solutions to providing Gulf Coast residents with affordable insurance. It is inexcusable that so many Louisiana families are faced with a choice between paying for their expensive insurance coverage and putting food on the table. Many others cannot find coverage at all. With the help of my colleagues in Congress, I am working to provide real solutions to the insurance crisis plaguing the Gulf Coast and will continue to keep you informed as these two important bills make their way through Congress.

Combating Violent Crime

This past week the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing in New Orleans focused on combating violent crime. I introduced a statement into the record at the hearing concerning my legislation - The Violent Crime Reduction Act (H.R. 638) - aimed at reducing violent crime throughout Louisiana and the rest of the nation. Violent crime must be confronted and eliminated in order for citizens to thrive in other areas vital to their success. Economic and educational advancement largely depend on the safety and security of our neighborhoods.

I am committed to keeping the safety of our communities at the forefront of the Congressional agenda. The problem of crime is not a new one, nor is it a problem limited to major urban areas. The first five minutes of local newscasts - whether in Shreveport, Monroe, Lake Charles or anywhere in between - recap the violent crimes, robberies and drug arrests that have occurred in the last 24 hours.

We must better coordinate federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to fight violent crimes, as well as gang and drug activity. The Violent Crime Reduction Act I introduced will work to do this, and more specifically to:

- Establish joint task forces of federal, state and local law enforcement and prosecutors so they can share resources and intelligence to help target the most serious gangs and drug activity in a community.

- Create guidelines to designate High Intensity Gang Areas in these communities and authorize Federal funding to help combat gang and drug activity, as well as help states hire prosecutors and purchase technology, equipment and training for gang enforcement.

- Authorize the U.S. Department of Justice to award grants to state and local programs for the specific purpose of designing and establishing a statewide database to track criminals, arrests, prosecutions, and convictions. This database will help law enforcement officers have vital information they need when confronting a possible criminal. For example, if a sex offender is released through the Orleans Parish criminal justice system and is later pulled over blocks from an elementary school in Bossier City, this database will give law enforcement officers detailed information on the past arrests and crimes of the offender that was previously unavailable.

Looking Ahead

I have been humbled and honored by the overwhelming support of Louisianians from across the state who have joined me in my commitment to bringing real change to our state. This week we continued meeting thousands of people excited about our agenda to bring a fresh start to Louisiana. Some of the places I visited this past week include Natchitoches, Coushatta, Shreveport, Arcadia, Homer, Haynesville, Iowa, Hammond, Opelousas, Krotz Springs, New Roads, Lake Charles, Gonzales, Monroe, Winnsboro and Lafayette. While independent polls show us ahead, we will continue to work as if we are behind. The election is still more than six months away and we have a lot of work to do. I cannot do it without you.

As always, please feel free to contact my office if we can be of any assistance to you.

Bobby