While the Trump administration in Washington lives in a seemingly permanent state of controversy, a positive outcome for policy should get more attention: The president and allies at the congressional and state level are working toward new version…
Friday, December 14, 2018
Thursday, December 13, 2018
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The voices are growing louder, as is the frustration, on a recurring theme that the City of New Orleans isn’t getting its fair share of tax dollars or losing out completely. Based on our significant infrastructure and public safety needs, I’m glad…
Thursday, December 13, 2018
The tale of former St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain just went from head-shaking to bone-chilling.
Steve Scalise, as partisan a Republican as you’re likely to find in Washington, would surely never contradict the stated but unsupported suspicion by many of his colleagues that online search engines such as Google introduce liberal political bias…
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
There is probably no large government in America that does not have a need for juvenile beds. But Louisiana, courtesy of a veto by House Speaker Taylor Barras, has managed to be the jurisdiction to build a juvenile facility and not pay the money t…
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
As I watched the funeral of George H.W. Bush, I reflected on how much society has changed from the time he was a young man until now. His generation was taught and respected the values this country was founded upon — the privilege of freedom we en…
When I read Ed Pratt’s Nov. 30 column, I wasn’t really surprised, based on his previously published left-wing opinions, by most of what he wrote. But I do confess to being amazed at some of his comments.
Dan Fagan's hypocrisy is grotesque. In criticizing Gov. John Bel Edwards' calling John Kennedy’s decision not to run for governor a means of “focusing the spotlight on himself,” Fagan ignores the entirety of his own 700-plus-word article criticizi…
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
On big national issues and more localized ones, Louisiana’s two senators tend to march in lockstep. That’s not a big surprise. Both are Republicans, and Washington’s a party line sort of place these days.
As an early and enthusiastic backer of a little-known state representative who ran for governor in 2015, John Bel Edwards, it's not surprising that former Gov. Kathleen Blanco approves of much of what her protégé has done in office.
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
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Tuesday, December 11, 2018
In a building where political landmines abound, many state legislators are cautious about where they stand, and none in the State Capitol was more so than Sharon Weston Broome. In the House and Senate, she was the despair of lobbyists, who often d…
Watching quite a bit of coverage on the death and funeral of President George H.W. Bush, two things stood out in the commentaries. First, all of the news anchors on all of the networks I watched talked about Bush’s character, honesty, dignity, int…
Access to housing and quality of life impact so many residents throughout the country every day. From vacancy and abandonment, access to healthy food, and well maintained recreational opportunities, a city’s investment in its neighborhoods is a ke…
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Morally and ethically, former president George H.W. Bush represents the high while current President Donald Trump represents the low on character qualities such as decency, honesty, loyalty, leadership, self-discipline, devotion to family, love of…
It's almost Christmas, and some politically themed presents might be just what's needed to fill the stockings.
Challenging an incumbent for reelection is not for the risk-averse. And as of this week, we can add Treasurer John Schroder to that category, along with Attorney General Jeff Landry.
We congratulate Kyle Ardoin on his election Saturday to be Louisiana’s secretary of state. Ardoin’s first job must be to repair the stature of the office. He has his work cut out for him.
Two of Baton Rouge’s big problems may be addressed with significant new initiatives approved by voters Saturday.
Monday, December 10, 2018
There aren't enough trees to produce the newsprint required to report on the good works that the faithful Catholic priests and deacons have performed over the same time frame that the sexual abuse by bad priests and deacons have done. It would beh…
On the day The Advocate had a front page report that explained the BR flood of 2016, Cal Thomas had a column where he agreed with another commentator that the 400-page report was "a pile of crap."
The answer to any and every thing persons find disturbing these days is to pray. A message to pray concerning the matter of abortion was painted on a sign that I saw when driving home from church today. Pray for survivors and those who were killed…
Kathleen Blanco isn’t remembered as one of the more compelling public speakers to serve as Louisiana governor, but a stranger dropping into the annual Council for a Better Louisiana meeting last week might have guessed otherwise.
It’s pretty complicated trying to keep track of all the Democrats who may or may not be running for president against Donald Trump in 2020. So here’s one handy tip: The Landrieu watch begins with the Biden watch.
Fair or not, a politician who builds things gets applause for it.
As it was formally announced during the Thanksgiving holiday season, perhaps some missed the huge investment by a Chinese company that is great news for its new home in St. James Parish and for the economy in southeastern Louisiana generally.
Sunday, December 09, 2018
Our U.S. senators, Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy, voted to confirm Kathy Kraninger, the president’s nominee for Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Given the razor-thin margin of the vote, the senators are responsible for install…
LSU graduate Max Faget deserves a statue in his honor at a prominent place on the LSU campus. At the dawn of the space age, Faget served as NASA's director of engineering and development at the Space Center in Houston. In that role, he was the chi…
Probably most of us like the fact that gas at the pump is cheaper this holiday season, and the president of the United States, always prone to capitalization, calls lower oil prices “a big Tax Cut for America and the World.”
Saturday, December 08, 2018
Announcing the selection of Ghassan Korban as director of the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board in July, Mayor LaToya Cantrell explained “what it boiled down to.”
Louisiana Senate President John Alario recalls a time when lawmakers huddled on the House floor to resolve budget debates by deciding the price of oil.
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There’s a big election on the ballot next year, for Louisiana governor.
Lauren Daigle was born in Lafayette, went to high school in Baton Rouge and is about as Louisiana as it gets. Her flamboyant personality, Cajun accent and raspy, deep, soulful singing voice has propelled her to the top of the Christian music recor…
It’s probably the first and only time Gov. John Bel Edwards will feel gratified that U.S. Sen. John Kennedy marches to the beat of his own drummer.
Friday, December 07, 2018
The climax of the state’s 2018 election cycle has finally been reached, with a runoff statewide for secretary of state and local offices also being settled in different parishes on the Dec. 8 ballot. We have taken a position on critical issues on …
Local economist Loren Scott recently painted a promising forecast for Louisiana, saying the state was poised to regain many of the jobs it lost during the recession. A big reason is a resurgence in the oil and gas sector and anticipated growth in …
Is the weather bad today? Do you have shopping to do? Are you weary and want to just relax around the house today?
The U.S. Senate recently voted 63-37 to debate a resolution ending American military involvement in Yemen. That’s a big change from March when the Senate tabled the motion 44-55. U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy was among the 14 Republicans voting for the r…
Jobs should be the goal. Thus we must quit taxing the money away from the job-creators (sometimes called the arrogant, filthy rich) and giving it to the temporaries in Washington. (Some are not so temporary).
Louisianans, it turns out, won’t get to vote on whether U.S. Sen. John Kennedy stays in Washington or returns to Baton Rouge as governor.
Thursday, December 06, 2018
Former President George Herbert Walker Bush, who died Saturday at 94, was the last World War II veteran to serve in the highest office in the land. Bush’s passing points to the Greatest Generation’s continuing exit from national life. We’re losing…
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Our community has been dealing too quietly for too long with a growing crisis. For years we have made cuts in mental health stabilization, and as a result, we have taken what should be a health issue and put it on the backs of law enforcement. Thi…
With a few exceptions, secretaries of state are so low-profile that most voters would be pressed to come up with their names. That was surely true of the last person elected to the post in Louisiana, Tom Schedler, at least until his sexual harassm…
We all hate traffic, and we all hate taxes. This completely natural combination can also serve at cross purposes, as addressing East Baton Rouge’s traffic congestion problems will require significant new revenue. We all know it, but sometimes we r…
For decades, candidates from north Louisiana dominated in races for the Governor’s Mansion, but since Edwin W. Edwards broke the string, and with the single exception of Buddy Roemer in a splintered field in 1987, a candidate north of the Intersta…
Give U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham this much: At least he knows how to be decisive.