U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu is playing hard ball with her own party to protest the drilling moratorium.
On Thursday the Democratic senator sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, saying she is blocking the nomination of Jack Lew as director of the White House Office of Budget and Management until the administration reverses or modifies its moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, The Advocate reported, noting:
Though placing holds on nominees occurs, it usually involves opposing parties blocking the appointment. Protesting a Democratic administration, Landrieu expressed exasperation with the drilling ban that was instituted on May 28 and is set to extend through Nov. 30.
“I cannot in good conscience allow this nomination to proceed until I receive a commitment from Mr. Lew, the President or another senior economic advisor to reverse these policies, which have been so detrimental to working families across the Gulf Coast,” Landrieu wrote in the letter.Read more here.
In response, OMB officials said Lew has received overwhelming, bipartisan support from senators that approved his appointment in committee.
MAY 22 This post was written the day after the second line shooting in NOLA, by Brentin Mock. Mock is a friend of Deb "Big Red" Cotton, a blogger who was shot in the back and was seriously injured. It is a raw, emotional piece of writing, something the writer obviously felt he needed to get off his chest. But it raises questions that can't be easily dismissed, and might give some insight into where the source of these events truly is.
MAY 22 In this Baton Rouge Business Report post, Rolfe McCollister considers the privatization of bus service in Baton Rouge. After decades of under-funding, it is a mess, and although a tax (partially) passed last year, improvement hasn't happened yet. McCollister apparently feels it is time to let private business get in on the transit business.
MAY 22 This post on Bayou Buzz by Jeff Crouere urges the defeat of a bill that would grant modest pay increases over the next several years to the state's judges and clerks of court. The state is in no position to fund pay hikes, Crouere argues, with the pay increases costing a total of $9 million over several years. It sends the wrong message to the (proverbial) hard-working people of Louisiana, he says.
MAY 22 The Advocate reports here that State Treasurer John Kennedy is complaining about a meeting of the corporation that oversees the state's tobacco settlement. The Governor wanted it restructured, and he has some support, but not a lot. The corporation agreed with his plan, but Kennedy didn't, and it appears that the meeting was noticed in a manner completely different than that of all previous meetings. Kennedy's given to hyperbole, but in this case the fish don't smell too fresh.
MAY 22 In this Advocate story, Carencro Police Chief Carlos Stout says the recent federal indictment of a strip club owner is all wrong. The indictment alleges that drugs and prostitution went on with impunity because club staff made arrangements with "local" police. Stout says it never happened, and while his cops do work security in the parking lot, they're not allowed inside.
MAY 22 This amusing post in DIG Baton Rouge recounts an ad that ran on Craig's List recently; the advertiser was seeking tenants for a Beauregard Town house. He knew his market, and wrote an ad that the most ironical hipster couldn't resist. Apparently, he really did know his market, because the ad worked like a charm.
MAY 22 In this post in The Lens, Mark Moseley comments on the rhetoric Gov. Jindal employed in trying to save his tax "reform" package. One interesting point concerns Jindal's use of his brother, Nikesh, in a little story. Nikesh left Louisiana because of his inability to get a decent job, the story goes, but the story won't hold water: Nikesh lives in DC, which has an income tax level comparable to Louisiana, Moseley says. If income taxes caused the dismal situation, it should exist in DC too. Right?
MAY 22 This post by columnist John Maginnis traces the trajectory of the bill that would fund construction at community and technical colleges -- and bypass the Board of Regents and traditional higher ed funding mechanisms. Sure, it will bust the legislature's self-imposed debt limit, but some leges feel that there's more need (because there is more growth) in the community and technical college area than in the university area, he says.
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During Katrina, this lady was following Bush around like a puppy dog even as Bush did nothing to help New Oeleans.
Now, especially since she knows that Louisiana is a red state, she decides to flex her muscle and hold back an Obama appointment to OMB, using these crazy assertions.
Obama did more for Louisiana, $20 billion from BP,than Mary Landrieu did in all of her miserable years as La. Senator.
Why isn't Landrieu raising hell over all of the fisherman and businessman who have lost their livelihood. Instead, she adopts "DA CRAZY" drill baby drill and damm the consequences.
Senator Landrieu, I will vote for any REPUBLICAN who runs against you if no credible DEMOCRAT rise up.
You can count on that lil miss wanna be republican!
GETOUTTAHERE!