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Pooyie 09.21.2011

C'est Bon
Hell hath frozen over and, verily, the swine are aflight. We’re football fans here at The Independent, and it’s a rare occurrence when our three favorite Bayou State teams clear the same weekend with wins. It happened last week, beginning Thursday with LSU’s convincing 19-6 victory in Starkville over the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The Tigers’ dominating defense put MSU’s nationally ranked running game on a leash and walked it around the block. On Saturday, the Ragin’ Cajuns were welcomed to Cajun Field for their home opener by a robust crowd of about 28,000, rewarding the faithful with a 38-21 win over the Nicholls State Colonels. And on Sunday, the Saints manhandled a Chicago Bears squad that the week before made those Dirty Birds look like a junior-varsity squad, notching a 30-13 victory over the Monsters of the Midway. Necessary roughness.

Pas Bon
Is it really a debate when the incumbent doesn’t show? Acadiana Progressive and the Lafayette Parish Democratic Executive Committee provided a service to voters in the Hub City last week by producing a series of debates that were cablecast live on Acadiana Open Channel. The problem was, it was a lot of contenders and few title holders. Opelousas Mayor Don Cravins and Opelousas chemist Kelly Scott showed up for the state Senate District 24 race, but incumbent Sen. Elbert Guillory was a no-show. So was state Rep. Rickey Hardy in the District 44 debate, although candidates Vince Pierre and Roshell Jones were there with bells on. Hardy has also vowed to ditch a forum hosted by the Black Chamber of Commerce scheduled for this evening, Wednesday, Sept. 21, telling us on Monday that neither of his opponents has ever held public office and that he is running on his record of accomplishments. “What are they going to talk about?” he asked. The issues facing the district, we presume. Kudos — don’t fall over y’all — to City-Parish Councilman Brandon Shelvin, who did face off with his opponent during one of the AOC debates.

Couillon
But for the grace of God U.S. Rep. John Fleming, R-La., is this close to the soup line! A physician by vocation and owner of a chain of Subway restaurants, the north Louisiana congressman underscored how detached from reality the well-heeled, affluent political class can be when on Monday he appeared on MSNBC and laid out his opposition to President Obama’s deficit-reduction plan, which includes tax increases on millionaires, by putting his $6 million in 2010 business profits into perspective: “[T]he amount that I have to reinvest in my business and feed my family is more like $600,000 of that $6.3 million, and so by the time I feed my family I have, maybe, $400,000 left over to invest in new locations, upgrade my locations, buy more equipment...” John Fleming’s family must eat a lot.

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written by Hope , September 21, 2011 - 12:50 pm

I am shaking in my boots that I'll have to pay more in property tax or parish sales tax, & it irritates me this very lucky guy has $200 thou to spend on food (and he owns restaurants!). I love me some Subway bargains & every once in a while, eat 2 days on a $5 footlong. I do not begrudge this man the money he earns - He earns it! He provides jobs & I believe with his expenses, he really believes $400K to live on isn't enormous. But I will take his $600K to live on any day & I'll work for it too! And I will support food banks & charities & give money for scholarships (not to imply that he doesn't - he may). But in my world, a salary of $600K is a lot to be thankful for. Maybe he doesn't understand a lot of us out here make under $36K for 40 + hrs. If I could only make his food budget!

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written by Cracklin Patin , September 22, 2011 - 06:26 pm

OK Walter, This is off the subject but I know you will find some way to put it under Pas Bon. I say blame it on Bush along with the satellite that's about to fall. Duck! Of course, who knows, maybe it's 9,758 Mexicans? Which is good, my roof needs replacement:-)
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BATON ROUGE - With the release of its American Community Survey (ACS) results for 2010 today, the U.S. Census reported that Louisiana recently experienced its fourth consecutive year in a row of net population in-migration (more people moving into Louisiana than moving out of Louisiana).

According to the ACS results from the U.S. Census, Louisiana experienced net population in-migration of approximately 9,758 people in 2010, which represented a nearly twenty-fold increase compared to the total in 2009 of 497. The results are consistent with Louisiana's recent economic performance, which has significantly exceeded that of the South and the U.S. since early 2008.

Governor Bobby Jindal said, "After more than two decades of more people moving out of Louisiana than moving into the state, we now have four consecutive years of more people moving into Louisiana than moving out. This is a huge turnaround and we're reversing Louisiana's old problem of out-migration.

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written by Cracklin Patin , September 22, 2011 - 07:17 pm

Got your negative interpretation out quick (see News). Congratulations! Must be some kind of journalism award for speed.

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