When a New Orleans mayor does something that sparks memories of now-imprisoned former mayor Ray Nagin, it can’t be a good thing.
Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards loves to talk about Medicaid expansion — specifically about the more than 500,000 Louisianans who now receive coverage, at mostly federal rather than state expense, since he signed an executive order to adopt this …
On May 7, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell will mark the end of her first year in office. Depending on how things go between now and then, she could have quite a bit for show for it.
It probably got lost in the news of who else is going to Baltimore (we’ll miss you, Mark Ingram), but the path from New Orleans is starting to look pretty well-beaten.
When it comes to President Donald Trump, Republicans in Congress are finally starting to show a little spine.
These days, former politicians frequently reinvent themselves as pundits, and ex-Gov. Bobby Jindal is no exception. Just this week, he put in an appearance on the Fox Business Network with Neil Cavuto, where he took the entirely predictable tack t…
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Every now and then, I read something that stops me short. This week, that something was a blithe assessment of why Republican women are underrepresented in political office in Louisiana, and elsewhere.
Maybe all federal judges should start out as criminal defense attorneys. At least they understand how guilty defendants operate.
As former Vice President Joe Biden inched closer to declaring his candidacy for the Democrats’ 2020 presidential nomination last week, U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond went on record predicting that Biden would be the party’s best hope to defeat Presiden…
President Donald Trump’s proposed budget, like just about every budget submitted by every president, will not be passed by Congress. It will not even be taken all that seriously — and based on much of what’s in it, from money for the border wall t…
The Louisiana Democratic Party threw its official support behind Gov. John Bel Edwards’ reelection bid over the weekend, as everyone knew it would. The only real suspense as the race develops is whether any more Republicans will join the fight.
In an announcement that would probably shock nobody, Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy told the USA Today Network last week that he plans to seek a second term in Washington next year.
Stephanie Grace: In Manafort case, players from William Jefferson trial take on very different roles
Watching the ongoing Paul Manafort saga from afar, former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson might well be thinking that it’s a painfully small world.
It’s way to early for endorsements in the 2020 presidential contest, but it’s already clear that one likely Democratic candidate can count on some high-level support from Louisiana.
After a surprisingly quiet first term in Congress, U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins is finally having his 15 minutes of fame.
If it’s good to have a doctor in the House, it’s arguably better to have one in the Senate. Better still to have even more, if one of them is Rand Paul.
With the vocal support of Gov. John Bel Edwards, lawmakers are gearing up this spring to give Louisiana teachers a $1,000 pay raise. Assuming the measure passes, it would be the first statewide raise for teachers since 2013 and only the second sin…
The NFC championship game refereeing debacle left New Orleans with a lot of what-ifs.
U.S. Sens. John Kennedy and Amy Klobuchar don’t hail from the same party or represent the same part of the country, but they’ve got a few things in common. Both are lawyers and both are known for their one-liners, although unlike Kennedy, the shar…
Walter Reed, the longtime North Shore district attorney-turned-convicted criminal, says he’s ready to go to prison.
Most Republicans in Congress are going along with President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration, which he issued after lawmakers refused to give him as much money as he wanted for the border wall that he used to insist Mexico would pay for. Just …
Give Scott Angelle, the former public service commissioner and failed candidate for governor, this much: He’s never made a secret of his ties to big oil and gas.
Some people are calling the spending plan that Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration proposed last week an aspirational budget. That’s because it includes money that the Legislature, as of now, cannot officially spend.
Despite a campaign-season opposition research dump and a still anonymously filed criminal complaint over her public credit card spending, now-New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell eventually emerged looking pretty good.
In the Louisiana Republican Party’s ideal world, last week would have marked a show of strength by the two candidates who are trying to turn Democrat John Bel Edwards into a one-term governor. That’s when reports outlining how much money U.S. Rep.…
It’s fair to ask why New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell raised an impressive $461,000 in campaign funds in 2018, three years before she’ll face voters again.
By basically admitting that it’s just not feasible to rewind the clock and restart the debate over whether Entergy New Orleans should be able to build a new power plant, the New Orleans City Council has made it official. The crowd-pleasing part of…
Each Carnival season is different, but for those who traffic in the topical, there are a few evergreen subjects. They include the state of New Orleans’ streets, and drainage system, and police department, as well as the state of the nation — speci…
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, of Jefferson Parish, applauded President Donald Trump for signing the new funding bill that averts a second government shutdown in as many months.
When Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, her approval ratings hovered in the mid-60s, higher than either President Barack Obama’s or Vice President Joe Biden’s. By well into the slog of the 2016 presidential run, her polls numbers had dropped …
Just before Jefferson Parish Councilwoman Cynthia Lee-Sheng formally kicked off her campaign to lead the parish Tuesday night, former Parish President and current candidate John Young sent around a press release.
Mitch Landrieu said no, or probably not, anyway.
It would be tempting to say that the Louisiana Board of Ethics hasn’t kept up with the times, but that would be giving the panel too much credit. By banning a Baton Rouge legislative hopeful from using her campaign money to pay for child care expe…
New York Times opinion writer David Leonhardt floated an interesting proposal last week, based on two very current, very real-world examples: What if, as a condition of removing somebody from public office, that person’s replacement should come fr…
Nigeria is about to elect a new president. And believe it or not, there’s a local angle to the story.
Maybe it was all those State of the Union bingo cards that popped up on the Internet this week — you know, where people try to guess ahead of time whether President Donald Trump will mention the wall, or congratulate the (mostly Democratic) women …
Former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s all-but announcement that he’s not running for president next year doesn’t just deprive Louisiana of a native son in the race. It pretty much takes the region out of play.
With so many other Democrats moving forward while he’s hung back, it’s been looking for a while as if former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu is taking himself out of contention for the party’s 2020 presidential nomination. Or out-ish, anyway.
Whenever a president delivers a State of the Union address, there are always some topics of particular local interest mixed in with all the national issues. And sure enough, President Donald Trump reportedly plans to make a big splash at Tuesday n…
In anticipation of Tuesday night’s delayed State of the Union address, the nonprofit Pew Charitable Trusts is promoting a video of four American mayors delving into the connection between old, tired infrastructure and increased flooding. Appearing…
U.S. Sen. John Kennedy has landed a coveted speaking spot at next month’s satirical Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, and it’s no wonder. Kennedy’s constant quips, often in response to serious policy questions, may not exactly enlighten, but the…
Back in the day, way before he headed off to West Point, law school, the Louisiana Legislature and ultimately the Governor’s Mansion, John Bel Edwards was a pitcher for Amite High School’s baseball team.
The State of the Union doesn’t quite fall on Groundhog Day, but it might feel that way to former Gov. Bobby Jindal. Every year around this time, it seems, Jindal’s name gets dragged out of the dustbins of history and propped up as a cautionary tale.
House Speaker Taylor Barras owes his title to the fact that he’s not Cameron Henry, the Metairie state representative who once wanted the job.
Anyone who follows the great climate change debate nationally has surely picked up on a profound disconnect: Among the areas where politicians are the least likely to acknowledge the crisis and support action to confront it are those that are most…
The positioning ahead of next year’s Democratic presidential race is getting downright frenetic, but some things are starting to become clear.
Former U.S. Sen. David Vitter’s a smart guy, and I’m sure he’s pretty good at his new lobbying career. One would guess so, considering that his assignment as part of a high-powered, highly paid team out to end sanctions on companies associated wit…
That 35-day fiasco our country just endured? It’s squarely on President Donald Trump.
After the past couple of weeks, you’ve got to wonder whether anyone out there is still underestimating the power of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
In 2015, then-state Rep. John Bel Edwards stunned the Louisiana political world by walloping U.S. Sen. David Vitter, considered at the time to be Louisiana’s most strategically gifted Republican and a man who’d never before lost an election.