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Big Government has obtained copies of subpoenas issued last month to ACORN by the state of Louisiana. We are working to determine the status of this and other investigations. ACORN operates in 46 states. 45 more of these would move us much further towards full transparency and accountablity.

Gannett's The Town Talk in Alexandria, La., will lay off about 40 employees when it shifts its printing next month to Lafayette, La., according to a Wednesday memo. Leslie Hurst, Gannett's vice president of the South group and publisher of The Daily Advertiser in Lafayette announced the move in a memo obtained by Gannettoid.com. In the memo, Hurst said, "this decision was not made lightly, but is the result of a great deal of thought and research to ensure that we are making the best decision for both operations." According to a story published Wednesday on The Town Talk's Web...

President Obama is right: This nation shouldn't allow tens of millions of its citizens to be left without health care. Those Americans suffer physically and financially, and the country is diminished because of it. He is also right that it is time for our leaders to act. As the economic downturn leaves more and more people without health insurance, the well-being of thousands of families is eroding week to week. The president made that case persuasively in his address to Congress and the nation Wednesday. It was high time that he stepped in. After a fractious August, during which both...

WASHINGTON -- The day after President Barack Obama urged Congress to quit bickering and enact health-care reform, Republicans on Capitol Hill said his trillion-dollar plan would be enacted on the back of Medicare recipients and sound the death knell of Medicare Advantage. "That program will be killed off," Rep. John Fleming, R-Minden, one of three doctors in the Louisiana delegation, said on the House floor Thursday. Medicare Advantage is an option utilized by one in five Medicare beneficiaries. More than 145,000 Louisianians are enrolled in the program, which provides additional benefits, from glasses and hearing aids to preventive care services,...

BATON ROUGE -- Louisiana's top health official said Thursday that the state will keep an open mind on whether to apply for the demonstration projects touted by President Barack Obama this week as a way to reduce medical malpractice suits. But state Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine said the pilot programs Obama is proposing would likely be ineffective in reducing health-care costs unless they remove doctors' fears of getting sued. "The state of Louisiana would probably participate in anything that would help improve patient safety," Levine said. "But this is not real tort reform." Levine's comments came a day...

BATON ROUGE -- More than a year before Louisiana voters head to the polls in what promises to be one of the most closely watched U.S. Senate races in the country, the rhetoric already is heating up between incumbent Republican David Vitter and his Democratic challenger, Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville. The standard political playbook says incumbent politicians should ignore their opponents as long as possible, as mentioning them by name only gives them free publicity. But Vitter, who is seeking a second term after becoming Louisiana's first Republican senator since Reconstruction in 2004, turned that theory on its head during...

For the past several months, the federal building on Poydras Street has seen a steady stream of New Orleans police officers trudge in and out, all of them testifying before grand jurors gathering evidence of possible civil rights violations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina -- allegations that center on police misbehavior. Federal agents, meanwhile, have been studying police e-mails and documents obtained by subpoena -- as well as through a surprise search warrant executed on the New Orleans Police Department homicide office -- in an attempt to ferret out exactly what happened in the chaotic days after the storm....

Louisiana will waive sales taxes on purchases of firearms, ammunition and hunting supplies Friday, Sept. 4 through Sunday, Sept. 6. The so-called "Louisiana Second Amendment Weekend Sales Tax Holiday" was authorized by the state Legislature and will become an annual event.

BP said Wednesday that it has drilled the world's deepest oil well in the Gulf of Mexico and found a giant pool of crude, a discovery that promises to make an indelible mark on the south Louisiana economy. The Tiber Prospect is expected to rank among the largest petroleum discoveries in the United States, potentially producing half as much crude in a day as Alaska's famous North Slope oil field. Louisiana energy circles were abuzz with news of the discovery Wednesday. "Any incremental business in the Gulf of Mexico is going to be a net positive for us one way...

If a presidential election were held last night on the campus of Loyola University New Orleans, the winner would not have been the 48 year old occupant of the White House, but a spry 74 year old physician from Texas. U..S. Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) enthralled a huge crowd of supporters and students with a one hour address on topics ranging from the war in Afghanistan to the Federal Reserve. The crowd was so large that the university set up five overflow rooms to accommodate the intense interest in Dr. Paul’s message. It was amazing to see such an enthusiastic...

Here is video of Democrat Mary Landrieu telling CNN's John King yesterday that she would "tend not" to support a "Public Option" is Health Care legislation. She said the focus should be on "bending the cost curve." She also said it would be "very difficult" to support legislation that used tax-payer money to fund abortion. This would seem to show that even among the Democrats, they are cracking in their support of what Obama is trying to do. . . . . (Watch Video)

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, the blunt-talking, cigar-chomping military leader who stepped into the political feuding that followed Hurricane Katrina and sorted matters out, will be guest speaker at the annual Freedom Fund Banquet of the Shreveport Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. snip

The palpable hunger for new leadership in the GOP makes most interesting the 2010 Senate run in Louisiana reportedly being mulled by Hurricane Katrina hero General Russell L. Honoré, for the seat currently held by David Vitter, seriously damaged by his name turning up in the client list of a prostitution ring in Washington DC, in 2007. One primary opponent announced yesterday, US Rep. Charlie Melancon. Shortly afterward, this intriguing post appeared in Bayoubuzz.com: The Louisiana Weekly and Bayoubuzz.com have learned that the hero of Hurricane recovery, General Russell Honore is seriously considering entering the Republican Primary for the U.S....

Retired Lt.General Russell Honore is considering running in a primary race against Senator David Vitter (R – Louisiana).

Dear Mr. President, Tomorrow we will mark the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which claimed the lives of 1,400 Louisianians and nearly killed a great American city. We will miss having you in our midst. We know you don't lack passion for our community and its recovery. Though you haven't been here as president, as a senator you visited five times after Katrina. We remember well the fervor of your speech at Tulane University on your last visit, a year and a half ago. "I promise you that when I'm in the White House, I will commit myself every day...

'There is a sense of momentum and a desire to get things done'As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama pledged to right the wrongs he said bogged down efforts to rebuild the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. Seven months into the job, he's earning high praise from some unlikely places. Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., says Obama's team has brought a more practical and flexible approach. Many local officials offer similar reviews. Even Doug O'Dell, former President George W. Bush's recovery coordinator, says the Obama administration's "new vision" appears to be turning things around. Not too long ago, Jindal said in a...

Speaking before what was described as a friendly crowd at the Monroe Chamber of Commerce yesterday, Sen. Mary Landrieu said she was opposed to much of the Democrats' legislative agenda. Asked under what circumstances she would support a public option, Landrieu responded, "[v]ery few, if any. I'd prefer a private market-based approach to any health care reform that would extend coverage," according to the Monroe News Star. "I'd like to cover everyone -- that would be the moral thing to do -- but it would be immoral to bankrupt the country while doing so," Landrieu said. The public option as...

New Study of House Health Reform Bill: Louisiana Faces $561 Million in Medicare-Funded Nursing Home Cuts Over Ten Years .... Proposed Medicare Cuts Will Harm Seniors' Care, Place More than 757 Louisiana Nursing Staff Jobs in Jeopardy .... BATON ROUGE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new American Health Care Association analysis of the pending House health reform bill, combined with the impact of a recently-enacted Medicare regulation cutting Medicare-funded nursing home care by $12 billion over ten years, finds seniors in Louisiana in need of nursing and rehabilitative care will face total funding cuts of $561 million over that same time period. Nationally,...

The 270 victims who died in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 more than two decades ago included 189 Americans, among them dozens of college students and military personnel heading home for the holidays. Former Libyan intelligence agent Abdel Baset al-Megrahi was convicted of the terrorist act in 2001 and sentenced to 27 years in a Scottish prison. That's where this monster should have ended his days.

While [Senator David] Vitter is holding a series of town hall meetings across Louisiana, [Democrat Congressman Charlie] Melancon is deciding whether to challenge the incumbent Senator. If he runs, Melancon will have to deal with the relatively low approval rating for the Democratic Party’s top official, President Barack Obama, in Louisiana. Undoubtedly, he will find as many issues as possible to oppose the Obama administration. Melancon also faces a financial disadvantage against Vitter and will have a challenge matching the Senator’s fundraising success. To raise Democratic Party funds, Melancon recently attended a gathering in Martha’s Vineyard. Vitter wasted no time...

August 14, 2009…It is August of 2009, but it might as well be George Orwell’s 1984. The author’s nightmare vision of an oppressive government is coming true in Barack Obama’s America . The latest example is the administration’s blatant assault on free speech. The Obama White House is asking supporters to spy on fellow Americans and inform on any friends, family members or colleagues who may be opposed to the President’s trillion dollar health care plan. According to the White House website: “There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there…These rumors often travel just below the...

WASHINGTON -- United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., will host a public town hall in Reserve, La. to discuss health care reform on Thursday, August 27. In July, Sen. Landrieu joined Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki in St. John the Baptist Parish for a public discussion on rural health care. During this town hall Sen. Landrieu committed to holding a follow up town hall in the river parishes later in the year. Your coverage is invited Who: U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La....

NEW ORLEANS — Rev. Gregory Aymond, a 59-year-old New Orleans native, was formally installed Thursday as the 14th archbishop overseeing the city's Roman Catholic community, which is still struggling to recover from damage done by Hurricane Katrina.Aymond is the first New Orleans native to hold the post."This day is overwhelming," Aymond said after the 2 1/2 hour ceremony.In an interview the day before the lavish ceremonies in the French Quarter's historic St. Louis Cathedral, Aymond said he expected to be emotional. "I was ordained a deacon, priest and bishop in that cathedral and now an archbishop."Cardinals from Chicago, Philadelphia...

U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, used a Thursday evening telephone conference with constituents to continue his assault on President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats for their plans to overhaul the American health insurance system. Scalise, serving his first full-term representing the conservative 1st Congressional District, framed the debate with familiar Republican rhetoric. In his opening, Scalise said he wants to expand access to care and lower costs. But he said House Resolution 3200, a Democratic bill Scalise opposed when it cleared the House Energy and Commerce Committee before the August recess, would mean a "government takeover of health care."

From a friend: Saturday, August 22nd: 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm. Say NO to Government Run Health Care rally. Veterans Memorial Park at Veterans and Causeway Blvds. across from Lakeside Mall in Metairie. Bring your signs, your voices, your passion, your manners, and your love of America. One for all, all for one.

A town hall gathering on crime and corruption hosted by U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise in Elmwood addressed a range of law-and-order issues Wednesday night, but the meeting eventually veered into a discussion of health care reform. The gathering attracted a standing-room-only crowd that packed the second-floor council chamber of the Joseph S. Yenni Building. Scalise said he organized the event before the town hall meetings on President Barack Obama's health care overhaul began. For his town hall meeting, Scalise pulled together a panel featuring Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand, Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick, Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon...

Carrying out a heist that could have been scripted in Hollywood, two men scaled the JC Penney store near Covington under the cover of darkness early Sunday. They cut a hole in the building's roof, descended into the store using ropes and, somewhere along the way, disabled the security system, paving the way for them to browse the darkened store and stuff plastic garbage bags with jewelry, clothing and other goods. After an hour in the store, the burglars disappeared through a fire door, taking with them more than $1.5 million in goods and pulling off what authorities called the...

U.S. Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao faced a tough crowd at the Westwego Community Center on Tuesday night, with skeptics of President Barack Obama's efforts to overhaul the health care system cheering for the least amount of government involvement in the health insurance sector. Cao, R-New Orleans, spent the first 20 minutes of the hourlong town hall forum explaining the basics of the various bills, trying to dispel confusion and anger about "death panels," mandated health plans and other issues that have been raised at similar town hall meetings across the country. "It is controversial because right now, with respect to...

HOUMA — President Barack Obama appears in medical scrubs with a stethoscope around his neck in a flier mailed to voters by Republican state Senate candidate Brent Callais. Norby Chabert, his competitor in the Aug. 29 runoff for the Senate District 20 seat, takes offense to the flier, which he contends is an attempt to unfairly link him with presidential health-care plans. “He’s trying to tap the vein of public unrest over the national health-care plan,” Chabert, a Houma Democrat, said in an interview Saturday. “Time and time again, I’ve said I’m not in favor of the president’s health-care plan.”...

In a public forum defined as much by passionate declarations on abortion as by statements about health care policy intricacies, U.S. Rep. Ahn "Joseph" Cao, R-New Orleans, said Thursday that he "leans" toward supporting the House Democrats' vision of a medical system overhaul provided it won't pay for procedures to end pregnancy. "The word is 'leaning,' " he repeated to about 150 people gathered at an Irish Channel Neighborhood Association meeting, the first of four planned public forums for Cao during the August recess. Besides the abortion caveat, Cao further tempered his statement with his concerns about how major policy...

A Louisiana man riding a bicycle with an alligator around his neck was arrested after he dropped the reptile on the ground and ran off as police approached. St. Charles Parish sheriff's deputies said they spotted Terron Ingram, 38, riding his bicycle with a 3-foot alligator around his neck Friday in Boutte. The man tossed the gator and jumped off his bicycle when he saw authorities approaching him to ask questions, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported Thursday. Capt. Pat Yoes, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, said deputies do not know where Ingram obtained the alligator. "We don't know what...

A Republican lawmaker said Monday that he will propose a constitutional amendment to protect Louisiana from the repercussions of possible national health-care changes. “This is kind of a way to throw the gauntlet down and stand up for ourselves as a state,” said state Rep. Kirk Talbot, a River Ridge businessman. Talbot said he wants to protect state rights in the health-care arena via a constitutional change he will seek in 2010. The change would require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature, then approval by the state’s voters to take effect. Arizona and Florida are already considering similar proposals. “I...

Sen. Mary Landrieu plans to host a town-hall meeting on healthcare reform later this month somewhere in the river parishes. Bring a helmet. That would be the advice of Democratic congressmen around the country who have been booed, heckled, shouted down and threatened while trying to explain and/or defend their positions on health insurance legislation, particularly the 1,017-page bill that will be on the House floor when lawmakers return from August recess. Republican operatives and conservative talk show hosts have been blamed for or credited with whipping up the masses, but they didn't wholly manufacture the genuine anger, fear and...

The nation's largest umbrella group for Roman Catholic sisters opened its annual meeting Tuesday in New Orleans, marking the first formal gathering of members since the Vatican launched two unprecedented inquiries into their communities. Officers of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, whose 1,500 members represent about 95 percent of 67,000 sisters in the U.S., said that in addition to public events they will convene behind closed doors this week to gauge response to the ongoing "doctrinal assessment" of their group launched early this year by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. That office, once known as the...

A Republican lawmaker said Monday that he will propose a constitutional amendment to protect Louisiana from the repercussions of possible national health-care changes. “This is kind of a way to throw the gauntlet down and stand up for ourselves as a state,” said state Rep. Kirk Talbot, a River Ridge businessman. Talbot said he wants to protect state rights in the health-care arena via a constitutional change he will seek in 2010. The change would require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature, then approval by the state’s voters to take effect. Arizona and Florida are already considering similar proposals. “I...

There’s a boom in rodeos in America, but I doubt that many riders would want to find themselves in this ring. These photographs by Mark Saltz (click to expand them) are of the Angola Prison Rodeo, staged by the fearsome Louisiana State Penitentiary, which sells tickets to it on its website. Why do the prisoners take such insane risks? Because it’s the nearest many of them will get to a taste of freedom. Also, the last man left in the poker game (see below) wins $150, which makes you a rich man in jail. Hat tip: Richard O’Connor.

Constituents packed into a health care forum hosted by Sen. David Vitter today in Elmwood, where Vitter took audience questions mostly criticizing President Barack Obama's reform push and stated his own opposition to the plans. "I think there are problems and issues with the health care system that need improvement," Vitter said during the forum. "I want to focus specifically on those problems, and I don't want to throw out the baby with the bath water. I completely and unalterably oppose the Obama administration plan." Vitter said Obama's reforms - creating a new government health plan option that competes with...

Federal funding hinges on definition of poor households Members of the U.S. Congress are seeking to update the federal “poverty threshold” and measure figures that determine at what income level a household is considered poor. Backers say the change will more accurately define poverty in America and show that the current measure underestimates the problem. Opponents say the change is an attempt to raise support for wasteful spending on social services. The “poverty threshold” — the line by which people’s incomes are measured to determine their economic status — is what the federal government uses to determine who receives how...

David Vitter, Senator from Louisiana, spoke at a town hall meeting on health care at Louisiana College in Pineville on Saturday. After the prayer, a minister referred to Vitter as doing God’s work as Vitter welcomed those called “an angry mob.” Louisiana College is a Baptist-run college in North Louisiana. The town hall meeting was held in what is normally the place of worship on the campus, as folks found Bible hymnals in the shelving in front of each pew. People expressed their anger and frustration at the meeting, chaired by Vitter who spoke of his concerns before introducing other...

July 31, 2009 …This week, a source within the New Orleans Police Department confided to me that Police Chief Warren Riley will resign his post within the next few weeks and begin a campaign for Mayor of the city. Qualifying for candidates is in early December and the election is in early February 2010, only six months away. Riley has served as Police Chief for the past four years. He replaced Eddie Compass who resigned in the midst of the post-Katrina chaos. While Riley looks more professional and is certainly a better communicator than Eddie Compass, he is not a...

Four years to the week after federal agents found $90,000 stashed in a freezer at his Washington home, former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson was found guilty Wednesday of putting his clout up for sale. The guilty verdicts on 11 of 16 corruption counts ought to at last lift the cloud that Mr. Jefferson's tawdry behavior has cast over New Orleans since the FBI raid Aug. 3, 2005. Oddly enough, the jury in Alexandria, Va., returned a not guilty verdict on the count involving the $90,000, which prosecutors said Mr. Jefferson planned to deliver as a bribe to the vice president...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson has been found guilty of 11 of the 16 charges against him in a federal bribery and conspiracy trial. Jefferson was accused of accepting more than $400,000 in bribes and seeking millions more in exchange for brokering business deals in Africa.

ST. AMANT -- After a disastrous speech to the country in February, followed by a spring lawmaking session dominated by budget battles, Gov. Bobby Jindal in recent weeks has resumed the peripatetic campaign-style pace that has been a source of both political strength and fodder for his harshest critics. A 64-parish, statewide "working tour" across Louisiana featuring campaign-like speeches and check-signing ceremonies is reintroducing Jindal to home-state voters who, according to a recent poll, have grown less enamored with the man they elected in 2007 and are wary of his apparent national ambitions. The tour also comes as Jindal is...

NEW ORLEANS — It's been a tough week for porn actress Stormy Daniels — complete with a domestic violence charge and a car explosion — as she continues to mull a U.S. Senate bid that could make life uncomfortable for incumbent first-term Louisiana Republican David Vitter, still recovering from a sex scandal. Daniels was arrested Saturday on a domestic violence battery charge after she allegedly hit her husband at their home in Tampa, Fla., during a dispute about laundry and unpaid bills. Her arrest came two days after her political adviser in Louisiana, Brian Welsh, said his parked 1996 Audi...

It has been two years since Sen. David Vitter was linked to a Washington, D.C., prostitution ring, and there is a year to go to the qualifying period for his 2010 re-election bid. While he has no declared challengers yet, he already has started picking fights with his two targeted opponents, Congressman Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, and President Barack Obama. A recent statewide poll showed only 44 percent approved of Vitter's job performance to 38 percent who didn't, hardly stellar marks for an incumbent. Only 38 percent said they would vote to re-elect him compared to 45 percent who wanted to...

Jefferson's Wife Paid State Salary While Attending TrialAndrea Jefferson Gets $72,000 Per Year From SUNO **SNIP** "It is unfortunate that in these tough times for higher education that the Southern University system continues to pay $72,100 and Mrs. Jefferson continues to accept her salary. This is the type of waste that is plaguing our higher education systems," Republican State Rep. Cameron Henry said. State Sen. Julie Quinn, also a Republican, said, "Mrs. Jefferson's 'paid leave of absence' ... doesn't pass the 'smell test,' particularly when higher education has been forced to increase tuition and fees due to budget cuts." Jefferson...

Superstar [New Orleans] Saints running back Reggie Bush and longtime romantic interest Kim Kardashian have split up, according to reports on Usmagazine.com and People.com. Usmagazine.com quoted a source close to the couple as saying, "Nobody cheated. This is just a case of conflicting schedules and their lives going in different directions. ... It was a totally mutual decision." People.com's report quoted a source as saying, "They never get to see each other, ever. It's been a long time coming. They still love each other and are part of their lives, but Reggie spends six months out of the year in...

The Louisiana Association of Educators must think Louisianians will fall for anything. Nothing else explains the whoppers told by the teachers' union in calling for the firing of state education Superintendent Paul Pastorek. The union said Mr. Pastorek has not produced positive results in public education and suggested that he's an obstacle to meaningful education reform. That's pretty rich from the folks who for years opposed reforms because they threatened the union's influence on personnel matters and other school decisions.

Put Louisiana in the Palin column for 2012 (if she's running, that is). Those aren't my words, btw, but those of Democratic pollster Tom Jensen: "I agree BHO will not win Louisiana." It's called 'concede and move on'.

Any time a motorist is stopped by a police officer, insists Shreveport, Louisiana Mayor Cedric Glover, "Your rights ... have been suspended." This includes not only the freedom of movement, but also, in the event the officer inquires as to whether the driver is carrying a weapon, "Your right to be able to hold on to your weapon and say whether [you] have a weapon or not" -- as well as the right to retain possession of that weapon, should the officer decide to confiscate it from you. Should you choose not to answer the question, the officer could still...