Who's Going?

Clear your schedules ladies and gents!

There's going to be a group tea-bagging in Metairie.









What kind of tea-bagging party would it be without a special guest tea-bagging from Steve the Sleaze?

Someone really should go. If State Rep. John LaBruzzo shows up someone should ask him if he's gotten paid yet for getting his tea bags tied.

It's pretty hard to believe tea-bagger in chief David Vitter isn't going to be getting in on that action.

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I've read a lot of bloggers comparing this inarticulate and target-less action to the inarticulate and target-less action that the Left perfected from the '80's until now. I think there's some merit to that if you're just talking short term tactic. I think the comparison becomes less useful as you take the long view. The Left and Right have tended to organize in ways influenced by generally different orientations toward various authority structures.


UPDATE: Jeez MSNBC is having too much fun with this.

Moronic Republicans Attack Melancon For Being Useful Congressman

Future Senator Charlie Melancon recently commented on first-class dummy Rush Limbaugh and the second-class dummies on Capital Hill for whom El Rushbo acts as pied-piper. The T-P:

Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, was saying last week that he can understand why some, including all House Republicans, opposed the giant stimulus package now awaiting President Barack Obama's signature. "What I don't understand are people like Rush Limbaugh saying he hopes this president won't succeed," Melancon said, just before casting the only Louisiana House vote for the nearly $790 billion package of new federal spending and tax cuts. "Because if President Obama fails on the economy, we all fail, and a lot of Americans will continue to suffer."

Rep. Melancon gets it. He sees how this recession threatens the basic well-being of working Americans, recognized how the stimulus bill would benefit Lousiana residents and businesses, and worked to maximize the bill's benefits for the state. Then he voted for it.

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And then there's Roger Villere, Chairman of the Louisiana GOP. From the same T-P roundup:

Republicans are giving Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, a hard time about traveling to Europe this weekend with other House members to meet with NATO allies. Louisiana Republican Party Chairman Roger Villere said instead of going on a junket, Melancon should have been in his district explaining why he voted for what Villere labeled a pork-laden stimulus bill. Melancon spokeswoman Robin Winchell said Melancon, who thinks the stimulus bill will help put many unemployed Louisiana residents back to work, believes it's critical to work with European allies to get more support for U.S. military operations in Afghanistan. And with the economic crisis affecting the entire world, Melancon wants to discuss the issue with NATO members in Europe, Winchell said. Melancon's wife, Aleida, will be accompanying Melancon, as will other spouses of House members, but she will be paying her own way, including all meals, Winchell said.

That Villere is trying to paint the stimulus and Melancon's yea vote as a political liability seems questionable given the bill's relative popularity and the emergency needs here in Louisiana, but at least it's somewhat explicable in the context of generic conservative talking points.

What I don't get is why they're also criticizing him for engaging in critical international diplomacy. Where I come from, asking NATO for more support in Afghanistan is a good thing for a Congressman to do. To me, that's supporting our troops.

An example of a foolish trip out of district would be when Steve Scalise went to Alaska to meet with a bunch of oil executives for a photo-op at the same time a Congressional delegation was touring the New Orleans area to examine recovery issues. Wouldn't it have been nice if he'd been around to advocate for the needs of his constituents instead of the impulses of his campaign donors?

Then again, the GOP's got BIG plans:

SCHIP in da House!

Today, the House of Representatives passed a $33 billion expansion for the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP. In 2007, Bush vetoed this spending and Democrats came just short of overriding it.

Now, things have changed.

SCHIP should sail through the Senate and Obama will sign it the moment it's on his desk.

And millions of kids will have health insurance as a result. This is good.

More specifically, the SCHIP program helps get coverage for kids that aren't quite poor enough to qualify for Medicaid (presumably because their parents work) but too poor to buy private insurance. This could help 7 million kids around the country.

So how did the Louisiana Congressional Delegation vote?

1. Scalise: The sleaze votes against helping the children by voting no.

2. Cao: His vote on the Ledbetter Act was a major disappointment. But lo and behold, he bucked the caucus on this one and voted aye.

3. Melancon: The only Louisiana Democrat in the House votes as he should, aye.

4. Fleming: Freshman Republican votes against health coverage for children, no. Nice to meet you John Fleming.

5. Alexander: Alexander switched into the Republican Party in 2004. They can keep him. He voted no.

6. Cassidy: Bill Cassidy's victory over Don Cazayoux this past November was a minor tragedy for this state. Cassidy voted no, against providing health care coverage to needy kids.

7. Boustany: GOPer follows the reactionary herd, votes no on health insurance for children.


To recap:

Good: Cao, Melancon

Bad: Scalise, Fleming, Alexander, Cassidy, Boustany

Result: In one of the nation's least healthy and poorest states, the elected representatives from Louisiana voted 5-2 AGAINST providing health care to poor children. Luckily, it looks like thousands of kids from Louisiana will get health care in spite of the efforts of their out-of-touch representatives.

Scalise in Pocket of Club For Growth

Vote Jim Harlan to Congress!

No More Scalise-iness

Here he is in a nutshell.

Scalise, Bipartisan? Puh-lease!

Did Appointed Congressman Steve Scalise really just claim to have had a record of working across party lines?

Yes, it looks like he did.

The claim couldn't be further from the truth as Steve Scalise has been amongst the most partisan in Congress.

It's an interesting tactic for someone running in what is supposed to be one of the nation's reddest Congressional districts. Would Congressman Scalise like to back up his claims of reasonable moderation by, I don't know, rejecting and repudiating the endorsement of racist State Rep. John LaBruzzo? Rep. LaBruzzo proposed a revolting and roundly-rejected eugenics program a month ago.

...

Wait, a minute...

Where's that link I like to use?

...

One of these lists of Steve Scalise endorsers doesn't look like the other. This is a screen shot from October 6th. And here is the same site in its current form.

What was the catalyst for the removal of Rep. LaBruzzo's name? Why did it take a whole month for Congressman Scalise to do so? Does he wish to explain why he made such a decision?

Repeated calls to the Congressman's campaign office have not been returned.
I will be happy to let them speak for themselves in this space if they'd decide to get back to me.

Ditto Rep. LaBruzzo's office, who has not returned an email seeking comment. He may not yet know of the slight from Scalise.

Because there seems to be no official explanation for the removal, I feel it reasonable to infer that the campaign is trying to have it both ways. By removing the endorsement, the Scalise team may be hoping to deprive Jim Harlan of a potential rallying point, given that the LaBruzzo eugenics plan became a point of national embarrassment. Yet by doing so in the quietest way possible, Scalise may be betting word does not spread his racist base of Jefferson Parish GOP stalwarts.

It's also fascinating that Scalise kept the endorsement from LaBruzzo online for quite some time even after LaBruzzo had been stripped of his post on the health committee (by a Republican) and was mostly thrown under the bus by the vast majority of his party's leadership, including Governor Jindal.

Only now, after those darn local bloggers kept hammering him on it, has Scalise made an unannounced adjustment.

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Maybe my friends working in the mainstream media will have better luck getting their phone calls returned.

And once again, my offer for uninterrupted space for comment from either Congressman Scalise or Representative LaBruzzo stands.

Ditto for Jim Harlan, if he'd like to comment.

Why not?

On Republicans Running Against Obama in Louisiana

Jeffrey makes some good points about state Republicans running against Obama in their campaigns against local Democrats that have mostly never met Barack Obama or don't vote anything like him. (Including a the tasteless invocation of Reverend Wright in a political ad against the conservative Democrat Jim Harlan)

Jeffrey is right not to assume that this is a 'losing strategy' though I'm not sure which liberals are making that argument.

He is also right to assume that the identical and simultaneous strategies of Steve the Sleaze and the Neely Weather vane reflect some degree of coordination.

It is very possible that Scalise and Kennedy will see their electoral prospects improve based on this guilt by peripheral association smear campaign.

But this is unmistakably a desperate strategy. The Kennedy campaign is in awful shape and Scalise is looking in the rear view mirror at the fast-approaching and well-financed Jim Harlan. They don't have positive messages. They don't want to defend their past positions. They don't want to discuss the state of the nation. They don't want to debate the merits of their current policy positions. If they attempt to engage their opponents on any of these substantive things, the best they can hope for is a draw - as good as a loss given the momentum in each of the respective campaigns.

With nothing to run on and plenty to run from, the Kennedy and Scalise campaigns are forced to dig deeper and deeper into the depths of their sleazy souls in order to find mud sticky enough to stay on the minds of voters when they go to the polls.

Maybe attaching their opponent to Obama will work and maybe it won't.
Neither the Scalise and Kennedy campaigns know either.

The only calculation they've made is that they can't afford not to try it.

Disgraced LaBruzzo Stripped of Committee Chair, Scalise Still Proud To Call Him A Supporter

From the T-P:

In making the change, House Speaker Jim Tucker, R-Algiers, said the Legislature "will undertake the enormous and difficult task of reforming health care in Louisiana in the next several months. Some of the comments made by Rep. LaBruzzo recently have impeded his abilities to help lead critical health-care reform and be an effective member of our leadership team."

See, even the GOP reason for the removal was indeed his Nazi-esque eugenics proposal. They didn't even do him the charity of allowing him to "step down" on his own cliche desire to spend more time with his family or work on other projects. And it would appear that the move came as much as a result of the request of the Jindal administration as it did the Legislative Black Caucus. This might be the only time I applaud anything to come out of Jindal chief of staff Timmy Teepell's mouth:

“We have a lot of important work to do and it (LaBruzzo’s idea) was a distraction,” said Teepell, who said he had talked to Tucker about the situation last week.

Asked whether he sought LaBruzzo’s ouster, Teepell said, “I’m not going to go into details of a private conversation.”

Teepell earlier said LaBruzzo’s sterilization idea was “a non-starter” and “absurd.”

So it would appear that the state of Louisiana might be demonstrating some basic maturity here. It is now absolute consensus that John LaBruzzo's eugenics bill represents an embarrassment to the entire body politic.

Well...

Actually there's one high level conservative leader in the state of Louisiana who has maintained an eerie silence about the whole thing.

His name is Steve Scalise and he's running for reelection to Congress. In what is amongst the most conservative districts in the country, a supposed cakewalk for an incumbent Republican, Steve Scalise is bleeding in the polls against the uber-qualified Jim Harlan. He's also struggling badly in terms of campaign cash, which is why he was forced to hold a swanky downtown fundraiser with the Walking Undisclosed Location.

John LaBruzzo has already given Scalise close to $1000 for this election cycle and the Congressman continues to tout Rep. LaBruzzo's endorsement on his campaign website.

Steve Scalise the man would, I'm so sure, ordinarily have no issues with denouncing eugenics and racism. But this year, Steve Scalise the failed Congressman and flailing candidate literally can't afford to send back LaBruzzo's checks. Perhaps more despicably, neither can Scalise afford to alienate his racist electoral base.

The Sleaze Rubs Elbows With The Most Dangerous Man in America

Remember that time a major Hurricane devastated Steve Scalise's community and the Vice President spent the whole time on vacation in Wyoming and house shopping on the Chesapeake and then manipulated a tax loophole created to encourage donations to Katrina relief charities to lower his own personal obligation to fund the troops even though his contributions went to non-Katrina causes?

Water under the bridge, apparently!

Today, future ex-congressman Steve "the sleaze" Scalise held a private fundraising lunch at one of the city's most exclusive restaurants. A thousand bucks to get in, $2,300 to take a picture. No media allowed.

Was eugenics proponent and prominent Scalise-backer John LaBruzzo there too?

Steve the Sleaze STILL Touting Racist's Support, Now Touting Traitor's Support

Steve Scalise is in such big trouble in his District 01 race out in Jefferson Parish that he can't afford to alienate the white supremacist vote by ditching eugenics proponent John LaBruzzo's endorsement.

UPDATE:

Now Steve Scalise is celebrating the arrival of the most dangerous Vice President since Aaron Burr. That's right, Dick Cheney is coming to help raise money for Steve the Sleaze.

Dick Cheney of course is as close to a treason indictment as he is to being vindicated by history.

I know Jefferson Parish is conservative but there's not a place in America where Dick Cheney's popularity endures. He's poison.

Get into the Details?

I don't want to dwell on LaBruzzo for ever and ever. His shocking and abhorrent proposal is not something I want to continue to talk about. It discriminates based on race, class, and sex both in theory and in practice. It is hateful in every respect. It is also impractical and stupid from the get-go. As the Times-Picayune pointed out today, welfare expenditures actually represent an almost insignificant portion of the budget. LaBruzzo's proposal is a typical racist's attempt to deflect criticism of the excesses of the wealthy onto minorities.

Eugenics is pure evil. Period. LaBruzzo can never recover from this ever. He's finished in my book. Finished!

The controversy does remain of critical relevance.

Why?

Because look who else has exposed themselves to be racist:

(Excerpted from today's T-P)

Some of LaBruzzo's political backers, meanwhile, responded cautiously to his controversial pronouncements.

"It definitely caught me by surprise," said lawyer James Garvey, a member of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. He has given $1,000 to LaBruzzo's campaign treasury. "I guess I would say that Johnny is a really good guy and really bright guy and that he comes up with ideas that have not been thought of by many other people. Some are good. Some are bad."

Garvey said he had not given LaBruzzo's sterilization idea enough thought to take a position on it. "This might turn out to be a horrible idea," he said, "but you can't get his good ideas without getting some of his off-the-wall ideas."

Real estate developer Henry Shane, who has given LaBruzzo $2,000, also was noncommittal, saying he has not digested the proposal or talked to LaBruzzo about it.

"I'd have to know what he is actually proposing," Shane said. "It sounds like it might be unusual, but when you get into the details of it, it may make sense."

WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? There is no due diligence here. When someone proposes genocide through sterilization you condemn it automatically. There's no 'oh well he's a great guy, there might be something good in here' or 'yeah you know I'm not ready to take a position until I see the proposal.' THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST RACIST BILLS ANYONE COULD EVER PROPOSE. EVER.

James Garvey is on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and may soon rubber stamp a proposal that closes New Orleans public schools. Do you think he cares about the public education of the poor minority children of Orleans? Sounds to me like he wants them to have never been born. If James Garvey is the type of guy to take a pro-eugenics bill 'under advisement,' he has no business being in government, let alone on a board with jurisdiction over the lives of children.

This petition prevents the BESE board from rubber stamping the master plan until Orleans Parish voters get their say through a new school board. You should probably sign it, unless you're a soulless fool that thinks eugenics bills should be entertained.

This other guy, Henry Shane, whoever he is (a big Vitter-booster), also appears to be a flaming racist. He's suggesting that LaBruzzo's eugenics proposal might "make sense" if us crazies only took the time to look at the details.

Beyond that, we see that Congressman Steve Scalise continues to tout the endorsement he got from LaHitler on his website. I'd love to know what Mr. "the Sleaze" has to say about his friend's proposal. Until he repudiates it publicly, rejects and denounces LaHitler's endorsement, and returns any and all money LaHitler helped raise, I'll just have to go ahead an assume that Scalise is a white supremacist too. We're 48 hours and counting. Anything to say Scasleaze?

Perhaps Mr. Scalise is worried about alienating his base, the racists of Jefferson Parish. He has a difficult political calculation to make because he needs strong racist turnout if he's to retain his seat against the surging Jim Harlan, who not only rejects and denounces 19th century white supremacist philosophies like eugenics, but has a bold plan to move forward on coastal restoration. I fully expect that Mr. Harlan will have no problem pointing out this key difference with his opponent.

Mr. Harlan is closing the gap toward single digits! Prove reasonable people wrong, Jefferson Parish. Vote against politicians like Steve Scalise and his white supremacist friend, Eugenicsathan LaGenocide.

Ashamed

I don't even know where to begin on State Rep. John LaBruzzo, Republican from Metairie. If you think you can stomach some really 19th century craziness, go take a look at the filth Jeffrey has brought to our attention.

Eugenics? In 2008?

LaBruzzo is basically trying to come up with a "solution" to the "problem" that "nobody's talking about," which is that there won't be a white majority forever and ever.

Now, as of 1:16 AM on Wednesday morning, Rep. Steve Scalise is still touting State Rep. LaBruzzo's endorsement on his website, which is indicative of why I'm endorsing Jim Harlan for Steve the Sleaze's seat in US Congress.

Look, we all know that Jefferson Parish is one of the most racist places in America and that the Republican Party there is spawn of white supremicist social networks. State Rep. Labruzzo is merely carrying the mantle that David Duke once did when he represented that very same district in the Louisiana legislature. It's disturbing to think about but it's 100% true.

It's hard to believe that this disgusting creature holds a leadership position. Way to stay in the news there, guy. I'm ashamed to live in the same galaxy as you.

UPDATE: It's 5pm Wednesday evening and Steve Scalise still touts Rep. LaRacist's endorsement.

Support Jim Harlan in the LA 01

Jim Harlan is a self-financed Democrat running for US Congress against Steve "the Sleaze" Scalise in the LA 1st district, encompassing parts of Uptown, Lakeview, and Jefferson Parish. Here's an ad he's produced (h/t: Daily Kingfish)




Steve the Sleaze (aka 'the mistake by the lake') should also answer for his political dependency on anti-hurricane protection forces like Edward Diefenthal and Boysie Bollinger. If you look up either of those two New Orleans haters on the interwebs, you'll see they represent some of the Sleaze's biggest contributors, his base. You'll also notice that even though the Sleaze campaigned on the promise that coastal restoration and levee protection would be his top two priorities once in office, when a Congressional delegation was actually in New Orleans to specifically examine these issues, the Congressman felt it was more appropriate to be in Alaska of all places, fluffing big oil's drilling agenda in the Arctic wildlife reserve. (PGR caught this when it happened over a month ago)

In the middle of hurricane season, the Sleaze passed on an opportunity to advance a bipartisan coalition to federally fund levees and wetlands for Louisiana and instead stumped for the profits of big oil. What's even more inexplicable is that he was pushing for drilling expansion IN ALASKA instead of off the Louisiana coast. How is that representing your district, Steve?

What is wrong with this guy?

Senate Bill No. Whatever It Takes

Hopefully Senators Mary Landrieu and Barack Obama will be introducing Bill No. 0001 to the Senate floor as soon as that body is back in session. Essentially the bill articulates and provides funding for an immediate national service program that will provide a free college education or something like that to thousands of super awesome Americans to come down to the Gulf Coast and do three things: construct some impenetrable levees, restore some hurricane-blunting wetlands, and rebuild some affordable housing stock...

On the house side, even political opposites like Steve Scalise and Charlie Melancon agree that it's time to act.

Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, agreed with Scalise and Landrieu that the flood threats posed by Gustav -- even though critical levees generally held firm -- will help persuade some in Congress to increase levee financing beyond what is already committed.

"The leadership of Congress -- especially Speaker Pelosi and Whip (James) Clyburn -- has shown tremendous compassion and commitment to our recovery from Hurricane Katrina and Rita, and I'm sure the support will only increase now that we've weathered Gustav," Melancon said.

Everybody wins!
Everybody can take credit!

You know, I have to agree with Oyster and Pistolette about Jindal's leadership. He was indeed competent and I appreciated his level of engagement with the details of the evacuation.

But what impressed me most was his constant reiteration of the national security risks posed by structurally unsound levees and depleted wetlands in SE Louisiana. He has called for immediate federal assistance and as a fast-rising leader within the GOP, he has some juice he can leverage to get this done.

We disagree about a lot of stuff related to our recovery process in Louisiana but everyone agrees that we can't survive without levees and wetlands. So everyone should get on board and do something about it - and I'm not just talking about emergency Gustav money. We need a long term solution, we have bipartisan consensus on levees and wetlands - so let's get it done.

Where do we start?