It's Obama's fault!

Here's a hypothetical scenario that I'd really like to collect reader thoughts on.

If the President or local Congressperson were to propose a $20 billion program to fund a variety of Gulf Coast infrastructure projects and social programs, would it pass? What if it were $10 billion? Or $5 billion? What do you think the tally in the House and Senate would be?

My initial assumption is that there would not be sufficient votes in either chamber but I haven't given it a whole lot of thought.

President Obama's visit to New Orleans

I have a whole bunch of really fuzzy pictures from my increasingly useless digital camera right here on the flickr. I took pictures of political people I recognized. From the New Orleans City Council, I spotted Shelley Midura, Cynthia Hedge Morrell, Arnie Fielkow, and Jackie Clarkson. From our Baton Rouge delegation, I noticed Jim Tucker, Walk Leger, Ed Murray, and Karen Carter Peterson. Of course I also spotted Mayor Nagin, Governor Jindal, State AG Buddy Caldwell, as well as Representatives Cao, Scalise, and Melancon. As far as aspirant candidates are concerned, I saw Murray and John Georges but wasn't able to pick Badon or Perry out of the crowd. They may have been there; this is certainly not an exhaustive list.

I had a great time and came away satisfied with the experience. Seeing a Presidential speech in person is not a bad way to spend a Thursday afternoon. Being close enough to shake Mr. Obama's hand was also very exciting, as I've obviously been an admirer of his for some time.

More substantively, I found his comments to be largely uncontroversial, and therefore, somewhat unsatisfying. Some have criticized the President for what he did and did not say during his junket here. I don't necessarily disagree with many of the critiques I've read, but I'm going to take a different approach and discuss what I think are some significant signs of progress specific to our region during the administration's first nine months.

1.Housing

To me, this is the area in which the administration has been most proactive. Before HUD's Shaun Donnovan can even begin to evaluate housing policy here, he has to at least have people on the ground with the credibility to tell him what's happening. I'm encouraged by Donnovan's decision to send in an entire team to gut and rebuild HANO after Alphonso Jackson's pathetic receivership of the agency. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever heard of such an intervention before.

2. Coastal Restoration

The Obama administration has created the Gulf Coast Interagency Working Group to deal with environmental issues and coastal restoration. In part, this move seems to be designed to force the Army Corps out of isolation and into a collaboration with local agencies in Louisiana and Mississippi.

3. Criminal Justice

The Department of Justice and FBI have opened up a series of investigations into the NOPD's conduct during and after Hurricane Katrina. I've speculated that this could result in the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division possibly pursuing a consent decree with the city of New Orleans.

4. FEMA/DHS

President Obama has cleaned out the local FEMA office, appointed a new director who everyone seems fired up about, and established an arbitration system that will resolve ongoing reimbursement pursuits in less time than the traditional appeals process that local agencies had previously been muddling through.

5. Schools, healthcare, infrastructure

The stimulus bill has allowed Louisiana to compete for lots and lots of money - to accelerate school construction, to fix roads and build new train lines, and to keep clinics open. It is unfortunate that our Governor has decided we shouldn't try for some of this money but that's not the administration's fault. It's also unfortunate that our Congressional delegation - especially since Congressman Cao was not prepared to be effective when he was first sworn in - wasn't able to do more to push important Louisiana-specific infrastructure projects in the stimulus bill.


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To me, that's an okay first nine months considering everything the country faces right now while also keeping in mind that President Obama is not the Mayor of New Orleans or the Governor of Louisiana. It's not fantastic, but it ain't bad.

The biggest problem is that our local officials are really poor advocates for the needs of the city.

The most common critiques I've seen from others and the biggest complaints that I have myself, revolve around the perception that the federal government isn't really serious about coastal restoration or levee protection, the sense the the administration doesn't care about punishing those who abused their power during Hurricane Katrina, and the idea that the administration isn't resolved to invest in infrastructure and opportunity here on the Gulf Coast.

Are our Congressional Delegation and our Governor all on the same page when it comes to proposing and advocating for the grander initiatives we need to move forward?

Is anyone from our local delegation calling for investigations into post-Katrina racism? John Conyers is, but he's from Michigan.

Is our local delegation united on an independent commission to look into the army corps and the federal levee failures? As far as I can tell, there isn't a significant lobbying effort by our Congressional delegation or our Governor for such a commission.

Are our local elected officials making a case for expanded federal funding of our infrastructure needs? Absolutely they are not. In fact, Governor Jindal seems to be consciously working against federal funding of infrastructure projects. When the stimulus was being negotiated, was the really city prepared ahead of time with a list of projects that need additional federal support? Were state agencies on the same page with the Congressional delegation about the needs of the region?

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I don't mean to absolve the President of any criticism. It does seem like the President isn't interested in a transformational platform to make Southern Louisiana sustainable or to extend opportunity to its residents. It does seem like he's only taking President Bush's programs and making them work a little bit better.

That's not enough.

Nonetheless, it is the job of our local officials to work toward a consensus vision for rebuilding this region, not the President's. Until our local leadership can articulate that vision and mobilize New Orleanians to support it, this President and future Presidents are not going to risk political capital on big ideas for Southeast Louisiana or New Orleans.

Are we done with Joe Wilson now finally?

House approves motion to disapprove.

I think that Congressman should be held accountable by their colleagues for violating Congressional rules of decorum. I think that's fair.

I think the way this was pursued was petty and counterproductive.

Basically, House Democrats witnessed one of the greatest speeches of the last twenty years, one that stated eloquently the financial and moral imperatives for healthcare reform, one that took back the reigns of the debate in stunning fashion.

They responded by focusing singularly on a sensational outburst of an uninformed no-name goofball and instead we're pretty much back where we started.

We almost were about to have a national conversation about the best way to reform healthcare.

Almost.

The House could have gone about censuring Congressman Wilson in a classier way. One would have been to just quietly hold the guy accountable for the breach of decorum the very next day without all the cable news grandstanding. The other would have been to have waited until near the end of the session after the sensationalism of the moment had passed.

In related news, Congressman Cao was one of seven Republicans to cross over and vote for the motion to disapprove Congressman Wilson. A number of progressive Democrats voted against the motion or as present, which I think is very interesting and maybe even admirable.

Overslept

Did Cedric Richmond declare his candidacy this morning?

Update: Politico says yes.

In Case You Didn't Notice

Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed the 2010 budget resolution.

Charlie Melancon did the right thing and voted for it even though I'm sure he was getting lots of pressure from his more conservative constituents.

Everybody else from Louisiana voted against it, including the increasingly indefensible Joe Cao.

He's constantly talking about how in the middle he is and how much consideration he's giving to these things but increasingly it seems like he's just blowing smoke. He also voted against the Republican alternative budget (known as the Rep. Ryan April Fool's Joke).

I'd like to know exactly what kind of budget Mr. Cao would prefer.

His nay vote against this budget really ticks me off.

What exactly does Mr. Cao stand for on any national issue of substance? So far, he voted for SCHIP. That's the only matter on which he's actually taken a stand against the embarrassing paramilitary shell of the Republican Party to do something productive for the people in his district.

What is SO objectionable about healthcare reform?

Mary Landrieu, Charlies Melancon, and Anh Cao are mulling over President Obama's budget proposal, which promises to make significant down payment on healthcare reform and sets up a program to control harmful pollution and spur the development of renewable resource technology.

I love this budget proposal. I think it is exactly what the country needs right now.

I need affordable health care options. So do tens of millions of my American neighbors. And our country needs to get off of foreign oil. Our industries and businesses are going to need to adjust to environmental realities.


This is a prudent and moderate proposal that will help this country emerge from this crisis with a stronger social safety net and a robust new green jobs sector.

This budget puts mechanisms in place to do these things. But our Representatives are still sticking their fingers up into the wind.

And guess what?

The people of this nation are in favor of it and this new President's agenda by huge margins.

But they really need to hear it from us. The conservative talk radio crowd makes phone calls and sends letters. We need to our voices to be heard over theirs.


Call 'em up in D.C.

Rep. Melancon: (202) 225-4031

Rep. Cao: (202) 225-6636

Sen. Landrieu: (202)224-5824

TARP Bonus Recipient Punishment Bill in Da House!!!

I've had mixed feelings about the whole AIG bonus controversy that's been dominating the news this week. Of course it's pretty insulting that everyone at the Financial Products division is getting big bonuses after basically bringing down the whole economy by themselves. And I'm pretty sure some of those cats should be going to prison for fraud.

But the media feeding frenzy seems awfully contrived and the Congressional reaction has been transparently contrived. It all seems like they all watched the Jon Stewart drubbing of Jim Cramer and felt like they just had to find something to get really angry about. This AIG stuff is outrageous but no more outrageous than any of the other nasty stuff we've been hearing for months and months about the larger Wall Street environment or some of the more specific things about private planes and refurbished offices, etc.

However, the Congressional Democrats felt the rage and proposed a plan to do something about it - to recoup the bonus money back for the taxpayers by taxing the hell out of the assholes that got paid to destroy the economy. And it passed the House of Representatives just now by an overwhelming margin.

Here's how YOUR Louisiana Representatives voted:


01 Steve Scalise: NAY
02 Joe Cao: YEA
03 Melancon: YEA
04 Fleming: YEA
05 Alexander: YEA
06 Cassidy: YEA
07 Boustany: NO VOTE

Cold Case

Following up on a tip, I called Congressman Cao's Washington office to ask how many open constituent service case files were inherited from Congressman Jefferson's office. I'd been told that it was a comically low single digit number.

I was able to speak to Cao's new Chief of Staff, Clayton Hall.

I asked him to confirm that what I'd heard.

But before he answered that question he described a little bit about how open constituent service cases are supposed to be handed over. It isn't just a manila folders changing hands. Rather, the outgoing staff sends a letter to the relevant constituent to ask whether or not to transfer the open case to the next Congressman's staff. Some say yes and others say no.

After putting me on hold to get the exact number of open cases transferred from Jefferson to Cao he came back with a precise answer:

"Zero."

Jefferson's staff told Cao's staff that they had closed all of their open case files. And I suppose that that's entirely possible.

But it's kind of hard to believe.

Generally, a Congressional office has a hundred or more ongoing constituent service files open at any one time. The 2nd Congressional District, because of all the individual issues people have with different federal agencies, would generally have more open cases than most other districts. New Congressman also receive a high number of inquiries at the beginning of their term. So while it's hard to pinpoint precisely what a "normal" caseload would be for Cao, right now the number of open cases in the hundreds.

Cao: New Orleans Shafted!

Given how little we know about precisely how the stimulus will work around the nation, to start making job projections for individual Congressional districts seems silly, more so when one realizes that so much of that the allocation of much of each state's haul is still up for negotiation between governors and legislatures.

So I wouldn't get too indignant about the details of this article in today's Times-Picayune. The problems in New Orleans are so vast that a more direct infusion of federal attention is to be expected, and it is highly unlikely that more stimulus money would have been procured at the cost of special attention later.

Nonetheless, Joe Cao would have you believe that the real reason he voted against the stimulus package was that it didn't include enough jobs for the 2nd Congressional, which does indeed rank last on the Obama administration's estimate of jobs created or saved per district. On Monday, he unveiled this line in an op-ed penned to the Times-Picayune. Yesterday, he was flogging this talking point at a joint event held with Steve Scalise at the Port of New Orleans.

However, we know very well that the jobs per district number is misleading. More useful would be a calculation of jobs per capita or per 100,000 residents. The 2nd Congressional district lost a huge percentage of its population as a result of, well, you know.

But that's not really the important point.

The questions I have are:

Where the hell was Joseph Cao when the stimulus bill was being written?

Was he on the phone daily between the Regional Planning Commission, the Regional Transit Authority, the City of New Orleans, the Recovery School District, the State Department of Transportation and Development, and the Port of New Orleans?

Was he talking to traditional friends of New Orleans in Congress like Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, Judicial Committee Charmian John Conyers, Committee on Education and Labor Chair George Miller, or Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Barbara Lee?

Was he working with other fiscally conservative moderates who were working on maximizing returns for Louisiana and New Orleans like Rep. Charlie Melancon or Senator Mary Landrieu?

Did he try to leverage his highly coveted vote as a Republicam moderate to try to win extra spending on projects important to his district? The Democrats were bending over backward to try to get some GOP support. Did Joseph Cao try to use that?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Cao went the other way. He didn't put the pressure on Democrats to tailor the bill to help his residents.

He got pressured by conservative wing nut Republicans. He's alternatively had Newt Gingrich, Steve Scalise, Eric Cantor, and others whispering into his ears while stepping on his feet.

Take this revelation from the Politico:

He told reporters an hour or two before the vote that he was strongly considering a vote in favor of the stimulus measure after rejecting an earlier version – “At this point, I’m leaning ‘yes,’ but I’m not absolutely certain.” He reasoned that his heavily Democratic district could use the money with many of his constituents still struggling to rebound from Hurricane Katrina.

Beforehand, Cao acknowledged that Republican leaders had put “pressure” on him to oppose the package, and the party’s chief deputy whip, California Rep. Kevin O. McCarthy, stood near Cao during the entire vote.

“They encouraged me to vote ‘no,’ but they understand the needs of my district,” Cao said.

Does Joseph Cao understand the needs of this district?

Something tells me that the deregulation/kill government/fundamentals are strong/let'em drown crowd doesn't understand the needs of this district AT ALL. Nobody representing the leadership of the Republican Party has any credibility to talk about the needs of New Orleans.

So Joe Cao better decide quickly who precisely he's representing.

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:

Seeking, Buffering: GOP strategy @ 48.8 bps

Some interesting leaks this weekend regarding GOP strategy as it relates to stimulus, Obama, and Congressional Democrats.

1. Elana Schor documents GOP triangulation against Pelosi and Reid.

But don't tell Republicans that it's Obama's stimulus plan they're rejecting. GOPers are subtly aiming to capitalize on two very different numbers: the Democratic Congress' sub-30% approval rating and Obama's impressive 64% approval.

"The problem lies squarely with congressional Democrats," House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) told reporters after the vote. "My conversation with the president was clear; he said, 'it's the Speaker [Pelosi] and the Leader [Reid] running these chambers, they have the ability to control this process.'"

2. Rep. Cantor is the real leader of the House Republicans these days. He's been considered a rising star for some time and his name was bandied about when John McCain was looking at potential running mates this past summer. Now, as head whip, he's really started to realize his influence on GOP politics. He's BFF with Newt Gingrich and they talk on the phone several times a week about the latest sitcoms and dramas.

You can start to see a new generation of leadership crystallizing around some of the organizing and messaging principles laid out by Newt Gingrich since 2006ish. I've tracked this on and off since the election but it's worth bringing full-circle. Gingrich and Bobby Jindal are clearly cozy and the two employ a very similar rhetoric about "solutions." Gingrich also not-so-quietly supported Michael Steele's campaign for the GOP Chairmanship. And now the Gingrich protege Eric Cantor represents the 'anointed one' in Congress.

Watch those four names very closely: Cantor, Gingrich, Jindal, and Steele. I'm curious to see who else is looking to do business with master Newt.

3. Getting back to point 1, Josh Marshall interprets Elana's digging:

In fact, it even goes deeper than this. As Elana noted yesterday, the plan of the congressional GOP -- to the degree they have one -- is to faux cozy up to Obama and say that they both face a common foe in the Democratic Congress. The idea being that since "Congress" is really unpopular they can run against Congress.

But there's a very big problem with this strategy above and beyond the absurdity of the argument. "Congress" may be really unpopular. And the Democrats now control Congress. But politics is a zero sum game. At the end of the day, in almost every case, you've got to pick a Republican or a Democrat when you vote. And if you look at the numbers, congressional Democrats are pretty popular. And congressional Republicans are extremely unpopular. If you look at the number, the Dems are at about 50% or higher in most recent polls, while the GOP is down in the 30s.

From my armless chair, I trace a lot of this weekend's recalibration as it relates to interpreting GOP strategy to Andrew Sullivan's reaction to overall GOP tactics related to the stimulus vote and the Gregg withdrawal.

Their clear and open intent is to do all they can, however they can, to sabotage the new administration (and the economy to boot). They want failure. Even now. Even after the last eight years. Even in a recession as steeply dangerous as this one.

I think an abundance of disbelief related to Andrew's dark assessment has caused a lot of pundits to convince themselves of a contrived GOP triangulation against Congressional Democrats.

The GOP is really just kind of using a stumble upon strategy, reevaluating their position at the end of every tactically-contrived media cycle.

Maybe they have indeed come up with a medium-term plan to work against Pelosi and Reid in lieu of Obama. But this is most certainly NOT something that the wingnut base is going to endorse.

4. And for all the stories about the death of bipartisanship and the unpatriotic GOP war of insurgency, there's this from Arlen Spector:

"When I came back to the cloak room after coming to the agreement a week ago today," said Specter, "one of my colleagues said, 'Arlen, I'm proud of you.' My Republican colleague said, 'Arlen, I'm proud of you.' I said, 'Are you going to vote with me?' And he said, 'No, I might have a primary.' And I said, 'Well, you know very well I'm going to have a primary.'"

Specter, along with centrist Maine Republican Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, joined with Democrats last week to move the stimulus bill forward. Specter said he doubted there would be any more Republican votes than those three Friday night.

"I think there are a lot of people in the Republican caucus who are glad to see this action taken without their fingerprints, without their participation," he said.

Specter was asked, How many of your colleagues?

"I think a sizable number," he said. "I think a good part of the caucus agrees with the person I quoted, but I wouldn't want to begin to speculate on numbers."

Now Arlen has a certain way of making a tactical lie seem like refreshing candor but it's worth taking note. I wonder how this changed the printout coming from the Marshall and Sullivan Megapolitics3000 supercomputer.

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So basically I think that Obama needs to continue doing exactly what he's been doing as far as political strategy is concerned. It's amazing how often I'll read thousands of words from people freaking out left, right, and center and ultimately conclude that Barack Obama's game plan is generally the right way to proceed. Pick the issue, reach out to skeptical parties, make a couple of changes, pass the law.

Late to the party (Cowing to the Party Update)

Update: Uh-oh! Flip-Flop! Cao says no to jobs, schools, roads, and levies for his own district. So much for yesterday's playful explanation of his intention to vote yea on stimulus:

"The GOP leadership, they fully understand my situation and the needs of my district, " [Cao] said.

Scalise, the assistant Republican whip, laughed when asked whether it was his responsibility to keep Cao in line, adding that a few Republican defections are to be expected.

Joked Cao, "Steve Scalise doesn't know kung fu. I know kung fu. He can't whip me."

So just how did Congressman Scalise 'whip' the rookie Cao into dis-understanding the needs of his district?

Does this mean Joseph Cao's honeymoon is over now?

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Original post

Congressman Cao's noble pledge to vote for the stimulus bill on his second-go-round with the legislation is like sneaking your name onto someone else's gift at an office birthday party after the present has already been opened.

Not an office guy myself, but I'm confident in the analogy.

"I'm voting along what my conscience dictates and the needs of the 2nd Congressional District dictate, even if I were to be the only member of the GOP to vote for the stimulus package, " he said.

"Even though it is going to be a humongous bill, even though we will be in debt for years, I believe that more likely than not, I will vote for it because the 2nd Congressional District needs a stimulus package."

The Times-Picayune's Jonathan Tilove certainly doesn't get in the way of Cao's self-congratulation.

In fact, Cao was totally MIA when this bill was being crafted. He did absolutely nothing to articulate the needs of the district and was not properly engaged with the detailed plans of various municipal and state agencies. He did not leverage his vote to try and get money for schools, roads, public transit, or energy infrastructure. He voted 'no' when it counted, when his vote would have meant something in terms of the structure of the bill. Then, he was in lock-step with his obstructionist, do-nothing, Hooverite brethren.

And it cost the city of New Orleans.

I've been doing a lot of heavy examination behind the scenes of how various state and municipal agencies collaborated with our Congressional delegation, national organizations, and with the Obama transition team. I'm trying to work it all into one big picture but there are many layers. I promise results soon.

Suffice it to say, we could have used some real representation in the House. I'm not sure Bill Jefferson would have been appreciably better but he at least would have tried.

I'm glad to see Cao is voting for the stimulus now but the Congressman from the most devastated city in the nation needs to bring more to work than a lunch box and a 'yea' vote. Legislate, my good man. Legislate.

SCHIP!

A senate-amended bill to fund the state children's health insurance program went back in front of the House. It passed easily. Louisiana Congressmen were consistent in their positions from when the original House version passed.

Yeas: Melancon, Cao

Nays: Scalise, Flemming, Boustany, Alexander, and Cassidy


Thus far, SCHIP has been the only policy on which Joe Cao has bucked his GOP overlords.

What Is Bill Cassidy Saying?

The House version of the stimulus bill passed yesterday and included something in the order of $5 billion for the state of Louisiana. Big chunks of that are going to go toward state highway projects and existing Army Corps projects.

I'm also happy to report that Louisiana schools will see a big infusion of funding.

There will be some help for our public transit system, but nothing in the order of what the RPC and the City proposed. This is regrettable given the needs here but considering how little advance planning officials did in anticipation of this stimulus money, Louisiana came away with a respectable haul with perhaps the least amount of Congressional support out of any state in the country. Besides Charlie Melancon and Mary Landrieu, the Louisiana Congressional delegation has tried to obstruct the flow of money to our state. Not one Louisiana House Republican crossed over to support the bill and Vitter has positioned himself as the most belligerent and reactionary member of the Senate.

Congressman Bill Cassidy of the 6th Congressional District had an interesting rationale for his nay vote yesterday. Try to wrap your mind around this.

Cassidy voted against a massive stimulus bill that would send checks to working families, build infrastructure, and cut business taxes because...

A better bill, Cassidy said, "would focus on providing tax relief for working families and small businesses and strengthening our infrastructure."

Wow, what a stickler for progressive principles! I agree, this bill should have had more infrastructure spending and more tax relief for working class families. Who said Don Cazayoux would have been a better Congressman?

What are we worried about?

Maybe it's not such a bad thing that Republicans have been outnumbering Democrats on TV over the last few days...

Mike Pence is supposed to be one of the face cards in the House GOP deck, isn't he?



Not to mention Dick Armey on Hardball tonight. Watch that clip (start at about 9:30 in), not to rubberneck at Armey's sexist remark but to listen to Joan Walsh's defense of Democratic principles in response to Armey's insults.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

House Passes Stimulus

Not one Republican crossed over to support the bill. Nice to see the GOP coming out 100% against job creation, tax cuts, and infrastructure improvements. That's right the caucus voted against tax cuts.

Louisiana tally:

Yeas: Melancon

Nays: Cao, Boustany, Cassidy, Alexander, Fleming, and Scalise

Stimulus: Crossing Our Fingers

I've tried to stay on top of the New Orleans implications of the big federal stimulus bill being negotiated in Congress. When I last broached the topic, I discussed the competing asks coming from the state and municipal levels.

Under a directive from Governor Bobby Jindal, the Department of Transportation and Development released an approximately $1.4 billion plan that is almost entirely comprised of major highway expansion projects outside of Orleans Parish. DOTD Secretary Ankner is on the record saying that the state is really only expecting to receive something in the ballpark of $400 million from the feds.

That's not very much money at all, and almost none of it would go to New Orleans, you know, the place with the most crippling infrastructure needs in the United States of America.

But as it turns out, New Orleans has come up with it's own ask. I alluded to the competing plan by the Regional Planning Commission, Regional Transit Authority, and the City of New Orleans.

Here are some more details:

Total ask: $6.3 billion
Estimated "shovel ready" spending for 2009: just under $1 billion.

First up is public transportation, where we request a total of half a billion dollars,

This portion of the draft document proposes seven streetcar projects, including:

-extending the Carrolton ave. line to connect to the Canal st. line
-extending the riverfront line to Jackson Avenue, building a new line north along Jackson Ave to St. Charles
-extending the riverfront line to Poland Avenue, building a new line along Poland from the river to St. Claude
-building new line to link union passenger terminal to Canal
-new line from Canal to Elysian Fields along N. Rampart and then from N. Rampart to the river along Elysian Fields
-a new line along convention center boulevard
-a new line connecting Canal all the way to Poland Ave, perhaps extending the proposed line along N. Rampart all the way down St. Claude

Also there is several tens of millions of dollars in spending proposed to build Bus Rapid Transit lines from the CBD to N.O. East and Algiers as well as for shelters, new buses, kiosk technology, etc. etc.

Then there's what is known as 'infrastructure resilience' spending, which actually comprises close to half of the city's total request. This includes an ask of $2.5 billion to supplement efforts to replace our sewer lines and pipes and half a billion to bury electrical and telephone wires.

Another section details our requests for regional rail spending, about $1.2 billion. There's a 450,000,000 request for a light rail line from downtown New Orleans to the airport. The city also proposes high speed rail connections to Baton Rouge, Mobile, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Hattiesburg, and Meridian.

Then there's just over a billion dollars proposed for "pedestrian enhancements" like new sidewalks, curbs, gutters improved drainage systems, street lights, trees, crosswalks, etc.

What else?

$120,000,000 for airport improvements
$240,000,000 for road repaving in Orleans Parish
$65,000,000 for bicycle infrastructure

Of course, all amounts are approximated and project details are heavily annotated.

But after a quick browse, it's a pretty solid package. I'm not sure what's "shovel ready" for 2009 but it's not hard to imagine how helpful these projects would be for our short, medium, and long term regional health.

Just think if all we got funded out of this was half of the proposed streetcar lines and half of the proposed sewer replacements. Even that would be an extremely significant, if not a game-changing investment.

I'd been wondering why it was that the city of New Orleans and the RPC were putting out a plan that would compete with the state plan, why the DOTD plan didn't just include our region's requests.

It turns out that this was by design - as a result of lobbying by the Mayor - to counteract what might happen if states were not given strict guidelines on how to allocate federal money. This was something discussed within the US Conference of Mayors, so I don't mean to insinuate that Nagin just invented the strategy out of thin air.

In fact, it would appear that the USCM thinks that a lot of the infrastructure money in the stimulus bill can and will be funnelled directly to cities and regional planning organizations through existing programs like CDBG.

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I have also heard from a couple of different sources that, to a significant extent, the amount of stimulus money allocated for New Orleans depends on the lobbying efforts of folks like Karen Carter Peterson and Desiree Glapion Rogers instead of the Louisiana Congressional Delegation.

My question now is why our Congressional Delegation isn't up to bat for us. Is it just because New Orleans doesn't have political clout within our state delegation? Or is it because Congress in general isn't actually doing much "earmarking" of the package?

I have some theories but I'd like to know what you guys think...

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.

Truth, Torture, and CIA Political Power

Talking Points Memo is trying to figure out whether or not the Democratic Congressional leadership has any interest whatsoever in pushing a proposal to establish a Commission on Presidential War Powers and Civil Liberties.

Three cheers for Rep. John Conyers for making this proposal. He's a national treasure.

(Will he also propose a commission on Katrina?)

I believe that such a commission is essential to our ability to repair our international reputation.

It ought to be a no-brainer for the Democratic Congress.

But unfortunately, it's not that simple. An investigation into civil liberties and war powers would invariably examine torture, rendition, and the C.I.A.

Oyster has an essential post examining some early indications that the C.I.A. is dead serious about being left alone.

Anh Cao Goes to Washington

Oyster's piece yesterday was excellent.

It's not easy to be comfortable with the prospective mentors lining up at his door and Cao's preference for the House Ways and Means Committee seems comically naive, if it wasn't originally intended to be a joke.

Today, the Times-Picayune's Jonathan Tilove touched on the various GOP talking points on Cao's victory. RNC Chairman Mike Duncan and Minority Leader Boehner waxed on and on about Cao's race as symbolic of the upcoming GOP phoenix.

At first, I simply thought that Cao's victory was just being massaged by GOP messengers as a matter of routine. Cao provides cover to boost the morale of the troops, to win a day in the media. The GOP's got to take what it can get.

I remember when the Dems got massacred in the 2002 midterms but Mary Landrieu was able to win in a December runoff. The same sort of thing happens. Party leaders need some happy stuff to put into the quarterly newsletter, you know?

So they simply exaggerate the symbolism of the victory and the potential of the victor.

But at the same time, this GOP is in such disarray that it's not so implausible that Cao could find some room to maneuver. Or, put another way, some of Cao's mentors might find some room for him to maneuver.

Cao has two things going for him, in terms of political opportunity within the GOP.

First, in a rhetorical sense, one way the GOP will attempt to rise is by putting their best foot forward on ethics. Something something about absolute power corrupting something something. The Democrats got a lot of mileage out of the ethical missteps of their GOP colleagues and the GOP will try to do the same.

According to the Hill, Republicans are already salivating. The article features a lot of GOP ejaculations over the Blago arrest in Illinois but it also touches on the expanded allegations into Charlie Rangel of New York. More:

The stream of bad news for Democrats on the ethics front shows no sign of letting up anytime soon.

Just Monday, the Chicago Tribune broke a story about Rep. Luis Gutierrez’s (D-Ill.) questionable real estate deals involving a developer and a longtime political donor that netted him $420,000. In the past week, The Village Voice also reminded readers that Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), the top candidate to chair the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, was videotaped accepting a bribe back in the 1980s.

“There is just a torrent of this stuff — it seems like it’s never-ending,” gushed one GOP aide.

I think it's fairly certain that we're not done discovering GOP skeletons, as a probe into Senator Coleman is casting a wider net, but I do think that the fractured GOP will fight back on matters of congressional ethics and honor in terms of perception and portrayal. Joseph Cao is a shiny new trophy for the caucus to be photographed with.

It's a no-brainer talking point effort for Republicans, who are fairly divided on matters of policy. It's something they can get the caucus around for demonstrations of unity while the fundamentalist and pragmatist wings of the party duke it out for future control.

The second thing Cao might be able to use is the aforementioned GOP civil war. Guys like Mike Duncan and Newt Gingrich are competitors for the RNC chair. Duncan is hoping to stay on while Gingrich is backing Michael Steele from Maryland. There are a number of other candidates for that job. The Republicans in the House have already decided to keep Boehner at the top, so there are few positions from which to reform the GOP.

Cao can play politics here. He has a higher profile than most freshman GOPers because of the nature and timing of his victory. He represents token diversity in a party that has none and he also represents one of major issues on which the GOP will use to try to climb back to respectability.

Still, the Ways and Means Committee?

That would take some kind of political savant. From Cao's "jokes" the other day, it's pretty hard to see that. We'll find out soon, I guess.

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I was also going to call out Bill Jefferson for not congratulating Mr. Cao but I realized that I hadn't offered any congratulations myself.

Congratulations to Anh Cao for his victory. I wish him the best of luck and I am curious to see what he's able to accomplish.

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I almost went on a speculative tangent when thinking about the GOP leadership vacuum, the RNC, etc. I'll do that now. This is bad analysis, poor speculation. It borders on a wanton prediction. But it's fun to do this stuff.

Guys like John Boehner and Mike Duncan seem to me to be fairly responsible for recent GOP congressional massacres. I think they're kind of in the same boat together as far as their organizing principles and messaging strategies.

Guys like Michael Steele and Newt Gingrich have been on the sidelines shooting spitballs from cushy perches as analysts for the media. They've been able to be conservative while also having the wiggle room to distance themselves from the excesses of the Bush years. I think guys like Gingrich and Steele are all about setting things up for the conservative 'solutions' of outsider Bobby Jindal. I think guys like Boehner and Duncan are all about Mitt Romney or something.