There are forces influencing the powerful in government that like things the way they are. This is why obvious, common-sense answers to our problems are often ignored by politicians. Many are more loyal to their deep-pocketed donors than their con…
A state judge has thrown out a case from a New Orleans attorney suing the Louisiana Bar Association for forcing him to pay dues. Randy Boudreaux argued in a lawsuit filed last year that mandatory bar membership violates his constitutional rights o…
Every politician faces an internal struggle between the desire for power and remaining faithful to the agenda voters elected them to carry out. Gonzales Republican Clay Schexnayder seems to have fallen prey to the tempting delicacy of power. He is…
Retired New Orleans educator Merle T. Harris wrote a letter to this paper requesting I answer some questions regarding my recent column about Louisiana’s population. I wrote about the U.S. Census Bureau report showing that between July 2018 and Ju…
In today’s Democratic Party you can’t be too woke. The least little blemish on your wokeness résumé, and you’re out — declared unwoke-worthy. The woke movement has morphed into the cancel culture among Democrats as leftists try to outwoke each oth…
If Louisiana were a boat, she’d be leaking. New population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau show our state as one of only four with a net population drop of five figures or more between July 2018 and July 2019. The Census Bureau report…
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What if Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, surprised everyone and worked to ease the heavy burden for Louisianans who pay an average of $2,200 a year for auto insurance? In some places, like New Orleans and Baton Rouge, the average rates are more …
When the often braggadocious Donald J. Trump campaigned for president, he promised Americans, if elected, we’d win so much we’d eventually get tired of it. When it comes to the economy, Trump may have undersold himself. The Republican cut taxes an…
Dan Fagan: Mike Yenni has only himself to blame for his political mess as Jefferson Parish president
It’s been a rough go of it for Mike Yenni, a Republican who leaves office January 8 after serving only one term as Jefferson Parish president. Yenni’s political future seemed bright four years ago after he was sworn into the same office his grandf…
Lionel Rainey III is a well-known and connected political operative who runs in conservative circles in the state. As a guest on the Lafayette-based Moon Griffon radio show recently, Rainey predicted what the Louisiana political landscape will loo…
Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, of Benton, exposed Democrats for what he described as a fraudulent impeachment process during a nationally televised congressional hearing Wednesday. Johnson called out Democrats for attempting to oust a duly ele…
George Pikes, 25, was shot to death in the 6300 block of Cyrus Avenue in Baton Rouge on Nov. 10. The night before, Steven Dixon, 25, was found shot to death in the 6200 block of Blueberry Street, also in Baton Rouge. That same Saturday, Bobby Holl…
The state of Louisiana will potentially play a pivotal role in the efforts to protect the lives of the unborn. The U.S. Supreme Court has set March 4 of next year as the date justices will hear oral arguments involving a Louisiana law requiring ab…
Louisiana voters have spoken. They’ve rejected the tax and spend ways of the Democratic Party. Republicans now control 66% of the Legislature, unprecedented in modern history. In the state Senate, there are well more than double the number of Repu…
I was shocked to see the results unfold election night in the governor’s race. After incumbent John Bel Edwards got less than 47% of the vote in the primary, I didn’t see a path to victory for the Democrat — especially considering that Edwards’ Re…
There are some questionable media outlets out there. The Wall Street Journal is not one of them. Few publications hold more credibility in corporate board rooms than the Journal. Those who decide where to invest billions in capital often take note…
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards seems unabashedly pro-life. On this issue, his record as governor and legislator is unblemished. But he’s a part of a Democratic Party that champions abortion rights. That’s a big contradiction for Louisiana voters …
It’s heartbreaking when the politically motivated intentionally stir up racial tensions and fears to advance a candidate. A number of radio ads supporting Democratic incumbent Gov. John Bel Edwards do just that. A New Orleans-based political actio…
Most voters who pay attention to the issues have already made up their minds in Louisiana’s governor’s race. There’s incumbent John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, friend of labor unions, plaintiff attorneys and government-centric types. And there’s busi…
A reporter for the left-leaning website Politico wrote this week that Donald Trump is “all in” and will campaign to defeat incumbent Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards. Reporter Alex Isenstadt writes the president is doing so to “help him regain his…
Louisiana voters could end up decimating an entire industry if they make the wrong choice next month between incumbent Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, and businessman Eddie Rispone, a Republican. That’s if you take Baton Rouge-based personal in…
All the pollsters had Gov. John Bel Edwards outpolling his two opponents, U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham and businessman Eddie Rispone, even when adding together the Republicans' totals. They were wrong, every last one of them.
New Orleans native Ellen DeGeneres did her hometown proud this week. The daytime television talk show host got clobbered by the social media mob after she was pictured at a Dallas Cowboys football game sitting next to former Republican President G…
Election day is Saturday, and it looks like Gov. John Bel Edwards will get a second term. But he probably won’t win it all this weekend and should end up going head to head with one of his two Republican challengers, U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham or bus…
There are two prevalent schools of thought on our current president, Donald J. Trump. Some view him as a boastful, racist, deceitful man colluding with foreign governments in an attempt to destroy his political enemies. They demand he be impeached.
It seems odd the problems swirling around Medicaid expansion, one of Gov. John Bel Edwards’ self-proclaimed signature achievements, haven't been more of a campaign issue. On his second day on the job, Edwards signed an executive order expanding Me…
A lot people seem to view government, not the private sector or the free market, as the arbiter and genesis of all things good.
Negative political campaigns can work whether they’re true or not. Just ask businessman Eddie Rispone. Rispone’s ads personally attacking fellow Republican candidate Ralph Abraham have caused him to leap past the congressman in at least one poll. …
We recently learned the state of Louisiana for the third year in a row produced a budget surplus. Good thing, right? Wrong. It’s borderline scandalous.
Louisiana gubernatorial candidate Eddie Rispone told us a lot about himself this week. The wealthy businessman began running a television campaign ad targeting U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, a fellow Republican. Rispone, Abraham, and incumbent John Bel …
Eleven years ago, seven million Californians, a majority of ballot initiate voters, approved banning same-sex marriage. Liberal California, not Alabama.
Two Louisiana leaders find themselves in the center of the debate over what to do about our nation’s all-too-common mass shootings. Both Republican U.S. Sen. John Kennedy and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise are often featured in national media i…
Six years ago, former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, a Democrat, convinced those that matter that New Orleans needed a new airport. Landrieu said the project would cost $650 million and be completed by May 2018. The timing was perfect. The dead…
Republican U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, who’s challenging incumbent Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, has riled up some in the media with a recent campaign ad.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is once again revealing just how far out of the mainstream her politics are. The California-born Democrat signaled on Monday her support for the four hard-left leaning congresswomen known as “The Squad.”
A new report out this month should end the debate over whether Louisiana’s economy has fallen behind the rest of the nation's under the leadership of Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat. Even the most talented of politicos would have a difficult tim…
Even John Bel Edward’s harshest critics have to admit the first-term Democratic governor is good at running budget surpluses. We recently learned that, for the third year in a row, Louisiana will have a budget surplus. The first three budgets Edwa…
As deeply divided as Americans are on most issues, most do not support infanticide. Why would they? Why would anyone? A poll conducted earlier this year by a pro-life group, the Susan B. Anthony List, found 77% support legislation ensuring doctors…
Gubernatorial candidate and Republican businessman Eddie Rispone wants to make sure you know he really, really, really likes Donald Trump.
Good news for those still steaming over the indefensible no-call that kept the Saints from this year’s Super Bowl. Orleans Parish Civil District Court Judge Nicole Sheppard on Monday said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and three referees will have…
The Trump economy has been good for America. Since Republican President Donald Trump took office, total non-farm employment has grown by 5.6 million jobs. America currently has more than 7 million jobs open, according to the U.S. Department of Lab…
Envy is ugly. Some folks just don’t like it when others have nice stuff. Envy says, “Why should you have nice things when I don’t?” Nothing awakens the envious more than opulence.
Republican State Sen. Conrad Appel of Metairie seems to have stirred up a hornet nest, politically speaking, with a recent Facebook post.
It’s always interesting when the national media weighs in on Louisiana politics. The New York Times ran a Sunday story headlined, “In Louisiana, messaging during storms carries political weight.”
Lawyers often get a bad wrap as less-than-honest leeches looking to sue deep-pocketed companies in hopes of buying a third vacation home. Some of them do indeed suck the life out of the economy, raising the costs of just about everything for the r…
Jeremy Mardis had a short life. He was gunned down by two Marksville police officers on Nov. 3, 2015. He was 6 years old. Mardis was also autistic.
Eighteen-year-old Theron Glover has been a busy young man as of late. Police have already arrested him several times this year, and he currently faces 160 pending charges in New Orleans Criminal District Court. Last week, police arrested Glover ag…
Someone describing himself as a conservative Republican recently told me he voted for John Bel Edwards because he simply didn’t like David Vitter personally. The voter wondered, "How much damage could a liberal Democrat like Edwards do with a Repu…
In Louisiana you can’t trim trees, install alarms, arrange flowers, or even braid hair without a license. But apparently you can practice law in Orleans Parish without a license. Ashley Crawford represented more than 100 criminal defendants in cou…
Are you like me when you heard about a poll showing Republican President Donald J. Trump’s numbers plunging in Louisiana? You probably thought that can’t be right.
A witness caught on cellphone this past week video of a man, shirtless and wearing sagging pants, walking the streets of the French Quarter searching for someone, anyone, to punch in the face. It was tough to watch.