List of Senate Votes on Pay Raise Bill

The Senators who voted 'yea' to increase their base pay from $16,000 to over $50,000 per year believe that you will forget about this vote by the time they run for re-election.
When they are speaking in your area and stressing their great 'conservative' credentials, call them down on it.

SB 672 BY DUPLESSIS

LEGISLATORS

EG +$5,829,043 GF EX

FINAL PASSAGE

YEAS

Mr. President (Joel Chaisson)
Adley

Broome
Crowe
Dorsey
Duplessis
Dupre
Erdey
Gautreaux
Gray
Jackson
Kostelka
LaFleur
Martiny
Marionneaux

Michot

Murray

Nevers

Shepherd

Thompson

Total--20

NAYS

Alario
Amedee
Cassidy
Cheek

Cravins
Donahue
Gautreaux
Hebert
Heitmeier
McPherson
Morrish
Mount
Quinn

Riser

Shaw

Walsworth

Total--16

ABSENT

Long
Smith

Total--2

Louisiana Senate Votes Unconscionable Pay Raise

Senators (including my own Senator Robert Adley) took less than five minutes Tuesday to pass a pay raise for themselves and House members pegged at 30 percent of the pay of members of the U.S. Congress.
With no votes to spare, the Senate approved, 20-16, Senate Bill 672 by Sen. Ann Duplessis, D-New Orleans, sending it to the House for debate. House members cheered passage of the bill while watching the Senate proceedings on their desktop television monitors.
Duplessis told reporters after the vote that Gov. Bobby Jindal will not veto the measure, although he may allow her bill to become law without his signature. "He takes a position of no position and has agreed not to veto it," Duplessis said. "At a lunch today (Tuesday) he said he will not veto it. Those are the words from his mouth."
"I strongly disagree with this pay increase," Jindal said through spokeswoman Melissa Sellers. "They are a separate branch of government and must manage their own internal affairs." Sellers did not say whether Jindal would veto the bill if it passes. It would go into effect July 1 if passed.
Times-Picayune

A Musical Ode to the State Senate & State House of Representatives

Louisiana Conservative Blogger named to Republican State Central Committee

Deryl Bryant, known in the blogosphere as '4unionparish' has been appointed to an empty slot on the Republican State Central Committee. He reports on Louisiana Conservative today that John Kennedy spoke to the group on Saturday.

"John Kennedy is a TRUE CONSERVATIVE with TRADITIONAL VALUES. . . .

Mary Landrieu’s political views are EXACTLY the OPPOSITE."

He continues "The Landrieu “machine” is going to benefit greatly from the Barrack Hussein Obama Presidential campaign."

Barack Hussein Obama. Really, he wrote that. (Just don't dare call his man "Bobby" Jindal by his proper name - Piyush.)

He goes on "I believe we can expect a regular assault by Obama and Landrieu as they both seek political offices that neither is competent to hold, nor deserve to have."

Hate to tell you, Deryl - if they are elected to the office they deserve to hold it. Some may think that you are not competent nor deserve to have a seat on the Republican State Central Committee - but there you are!

Deryl ended his post with the following, and I completely agree:

"I gratefully accepted and I am now a member of the State Central Committee for the Republican Party of Louisiana.
May God protect us all."

Pay Legislators Minimum Wage

The Louisiana Republican Party went on record Saturday opposing any increase in state legislators’ pay during their current term of office.
The party’s governing body voted in favor of a resolution by member Mike Bayham of St. Bernard Parish. There were a handful of dissenters.
“We should just be like the (U.S.) Congress where it doesn’t take effect until the next election where voters could determine that legislators merit it or not,” Bayham said.
Bayham said he did not think it right for today’s legislators to vote themselves a pay raise when some are newcomers with less than six months in office and other term-limited legislators would be getting “a money grab” that boosts their pay in their final years in office.
The Louisiana Legislature is considering a bill by state Sen. Ann Duplessis, D-New Orleans, that would tie state legislators’ pay to a percentage of that of members of the U.S. Congress. The annual base pay of a legislator would increase from $16,800 to $50,700.
The Advocate

A part-time job that pays Fifty Grand a year? Sounds good to me. My suggestion to the legislature would be that since they are there to serve the people (I'm sure that each and every one of them has made this statement at some point), then they should be in step with the people they serve.
Their best argument for an obscene pay raise is that if they don't increase the money, then it will be difficult to get quality people to run for office.
New Flash: quality people don't run for office for the financial rewards, but to truly serve. Legislators currently get a base of over $16,000 per year. Perhaps if we set their pay at the minimum wage level, or better yet pay nothing but traveling expense and lodging then we would get people who truly do want to serve.
How about convening the legislature only every other year as Texas does? This would surely cut down on their financial hardships, and would certainly cut down on the hardships they inflict on the people they 'serve'. Of course, in the case of an emergency the governor could call them into session.
$50,000 + expenses - No!

Thou Shalt Not Lie (Unless it's for the Republican Party)

I'm getting emails from 'Christian' friends attacking Barack Obama. Now if you disagree with his political stands, that's fine. Get a blog, comment on blogs and articles where possible and talk to anyone who will listen to your differences. If you don't like the fact that a black man is running for president and you feel culturally threatened, then out with it. You have a right to your opinions. If you believe that he is a Muslim and you are angry at his Church of Christ pastor, then say so.
This post isn't an endorsement of Barack Obama. It is, however, an endorsement of intelligent and truthful discourse. It astounds me that in every election, year in and year out, and on every 'hot-button' issue, 'Christian Right' Republicans, who are oftentimes neither Christian nor right, send out dozens of untruthful, outrageous emails about the candidate or position they oppose.
I received two of these today. The first one states:
The last quotation is the one that is really scary!
(Last quotation) From Audacity of Hope: "I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.
"If you ever forwarded an e-mail, now is the time to do it again.

This is the quote directly from the book and in context:
"Of course, not all my conversations in immigrant communities follow this easy pattern. In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific reassurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."

The other email had this Obama 'quote':
'As I've said about the flag pin, I don't want to be perceived as taking sides,' Obama said. 'There are a lot of people in the world to whom the American flag is a symbol of oppression. And the anthem itself conveys a war-like message. You know, the bombs bursting in air and all. It should be swapped for something less parochial and less bellicose. I like the song'I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing.' If that were our anthem, then I might salute it.
The quote was one conservative writer's idea of a joke, which has been picked up and repeated as though it were true in a chain e-mail.
This is a ridiculous example of how false stories are started, spread and, in many cases, believed. It began with a column dated Oct. 27, 2007, on a Web site called the Arizona Conservative, which is written by John Semmens and clearly labeled as humor. His column, in fact, is called "Semi-News -- A Satirical Look at Recent News."Nevertheless, his column on Obama has been copied and sent around in e-mails, masquerading as true stories.
Thanks to Snopes.com for tracking down the source of this latest e-mail falsehood.

So to all those good 'Christians' who enjoy spreading falsehoods, you should contact your old bud Judge Moore in Alabama and get him to actually read those ten commandments to you.
They are, after all, more than just a block of stone to fight over.

Jindal Off VP List - Or Not

In answer to a direct question about the possibility of Jindal being his running mate, McCain said "I believe Gov. Jindal is the next generation of leadership, not just of the Republican Party but of America.
"What he's been able to accomplish in his 36 years on earth is remarkable," McCain said. But he quickly added "Gov. Jindal has a full schedule on a full agenda here."
The Times believes that this means Jindal is out of consideration. I'm not so sure. This could also be a ploy to throw off speculation which McCain doesn't want at this time.
If Barack Obama picks Hillary Clinton to be his running mate, then Jindal's appeal seems to increase.
What better foil than a VP candidate who is young, non-white and who appeals to the 'conservative' base of the party?
Obama may not pick Hillary. Anything could happen in the next month or two to change the dynamic, but just remember - it ain't over until it's over.

NY Times calls Jindal New (true) Champion of the Right

In an article today, The New York Times says that "Religion and fiscal stringency have a friendly home at the state Capitol here, with a conservative, Bobby Jindal, in the governor’s office, a host of straight-arrow novice legislators eager to please him and an honored spot for the Louisiana Family Forum in the old marble halls. . .

On the floor of the House this year, several legislators have invoked the position of the Louisiana Family Forum, a faith-oriented, anti-abortion group that is affiliated with conservatives like James C. Dobson of Focus on the Family and Tony Perkins, who helped found it. Its executive director, the Rev. Gene Mills, has become a frequent presence in the legislative halls. At the group’s modest offices here, Mr. Jindal is seen as practically one of the family. ."

Rev. Gene Mills (executive director of Louisiana Family Forum) says he counts several “close personal friends” on Mr. Jindal’s team of young activists and has known the family of the governor’s chief of staff, Timmy Teepell, for “years and years.” Mr. Teepell, a former deputy political director at the RNC whose family has been active in the home-school movement in Baton Rouge, has emerged as Mr. Jindal’s point man at the Louisiana Capitol, forcefully advocating for the voucher program, for one.
The governor’s secretary of labor, Tim Barfield, was a founding member of the Louisiana Family Forum and, Mr. Mills said, is a “squeaky-clean young man.”

And here is the clincher: "Mr. Jindal’s spokeswoman did not respond to messages on Friday."
They must have thought that it was the Shreveport Times. They never refuse to talk to national media, only Louisiana media.