Thursday, October 12, 2006

 

STORIES OF THE DAY


“I’m telling you: None of it is going to Cameron (Parish), and I’m telling you none of it is going to north Louisiana... It’s all going to New Orleans tomorrow.” -PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSIONER FOSTER CAMPBELL

ADVOCATE

Politicians’ relatives on office payroll
By
MARSHA SHULER
Advocate Capitol News Bureau

Republican state Sen. Jay Dardenne will inherit the relatives of two politicians on his payroll when he takes over as Louisiana’s secretary of state.

The jobs of Darlene Fields, sister of state Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, Rick Wooley, brother of ex-Insurance Commissioner Robert Wooley, and four other political appointees got protection from firing in recent months by moving into Civil Service jobs.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/4380051.html?showAll=y&c=y

N.O. may get $200 million
Ratepayers in La. to pay for repairs
By
MARK BALLARD
Advocate Capitol News Bureau

The PSC had asked the LRA to divert some of the CDBG money to help pay storm recovery damages so that residences, businesses, industrial plants and other customers around the state would not have to pick up the tab.

“I’m telling you: None of it is going to Cameron (Parish), and I’m telling you none of it is going to north Louisiana,” Commissioner Foster Campbell of Bossier City told the four other PSC commissioners about the LRA’s resolution. “It’s all going to New Orleans tomorrow.”

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/business/4379846.html


TIMES PICAYUNE

Dardenne proposes election changes
He wants to improve turnout, add workers
By Robert Travis Scott


BATON ROUGE -- State Sen. Jay Dardenne, R-Baton Rouge, on Wednesday outlined some of his policy plans for when he takes office as Louisiana's secretary of state soon after the Nov. 7 election.

Speaking at his campaign headquarters in Baton Rouge, Dardenne said he will push to recruit more poll commissioners, improve voter turnout and provide for more early voting, including the possibility of voting in shopping malls.

Dardenne, a Republican, said it was possible that his ideas on early voting could encourage more Democrats to vote, but that his main goal is to increase turnout among all voters.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1160633538157220.xml&coll=1

Scandal threatens oil revenue plan
Legislation could direct billions of dollars to state
By Bill Walsh


WASHINGTON -- Recent political tremors in the ranks of House Republicans are complicating already shaky chances of passing legislation to boost offshore drilling and steer billions of dollars in oil and gas revenue to Louisiana, members of both parties say.

The scandal over messages sent by former Rep. Mark Foley to teenage pages threatens to upend the House GOP leadership, which had vowed to push the legislation in a lame-duck congressional session after the Nov. 7 midterm elections. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., along with other members of the leadership, have been under pressure for their handling of the Foley affair, and it remains to be seen whether they will still be in charge after the elections.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/washington/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1160641529246500.xml&coll=1

Democrats take a hit in post-K vote
Stephanie Grace


If this fall's statewide elections were the first test of Louisiana's post-Katrina political landscape, the Democrats clearly flunked.

The party, which monopolized statewide races up and down the ballot just three short years ago, couldn't find an insurance commissioner candidate to face two well-known Republicans after their own guy quit mid-term to become a lobbyist.

You'd think that would have signaled a focus on the other big race on the ballot, the special election for secretary of state, where the party did have a major contender. Yet state Sen. Francis Heitmeier, the lone Democrat in a seven-candidate field dominated by two big-name Republicans, bombed so badly in the Sept. 30 primary that, rather than face his GOP Senate colleague Jay Dardenne in a November runoff, he simply threw up his hands.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/grace/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1160633195157220.xml&coll=1


GANNETT NEWS

Alexander to testify on Foley
By Greg Hilburn
ghilburn@thenewsstar.com

Fifth District U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander will testify before the House Ethics Committee on Wednesday about his knowledge of the congressional page scandal that prompted Florida Rep. Mark Foley's resignation earlier this month.

"I wasn't subpoenaed; I just called and asked when they wanted me to come," said Alexander, R-Quitman.

Alexander sponsored a page from Monroe who received inappropriate, but not sexually explicit, e-mails from Foley. Alexander said he reported the e-mails to House Speaker Dennis Hastert's office in fall 2005 and to House Majority Leader John Boehner in the spring, which they confirmed.

http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061012/NEWS01/610120324

Commentary: For bright future, Louisiana needs political changes
Nick Bouterie
news@theadvertiser.com

Louisiana needs real leaders and people who are not career politicians, but rather, people who know how to manage money and assert honest leadership.

Anyone who would vote for a business tax increase needs to be sent home, and these politicians need to be able to run on their voting record, not hide from it.

Louisiana can succeed. We need to continue this renewed fight against Washington and its politicians to help our state receive its rightful share of offshore oil and gas royalties. Louisiana needs to rebuild, both physically along the coast and within the state government in Baton Rouge, and the good people need to draw a line in the sand and take a stand - one for Louisiana's future.

http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061012/OPINION02/610120332


<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?