A major mobile phone corporation launched an attack on Sen. David Vitter, R-La., during the same week the senator used social media websites to ask people for pictures of “free cell phone” booths and signs. Earlier this month, Vitter filed legislation to end the GOP-maligned subsidies for low-income families to receive mobile phone services. Continue reading →

LSU invaded Washington last week for the 2013 Breaux Symposium – named after retired U.S. Sen. John Breaux, D-La. — to help find a way toward “Making Congress Work: A Guide for Representatives, Senators and Citizens.” The event was put on by the LSU Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs, George Washington University and the … Continue reading →

Whether it was U.S. Sen. Russell Long chairing the Senate Finance Committee for parts of three decades, or Congressman Hale Boggs, of New Orleans, serving as House majority leader, the Louisiana congressional delegation for many years held an outsized reputation. Toward the end of the 20th century and through the past decade, that sway in Washington … Continue reading →

Baton Rouge native Bradley Beychok is moving up in the world of Washington politics with his new promotion to president of the liberal watchdog group, Media Matters for America. Beychok previously moved to Washington to serve as the campaign director for the Democratic Party-aligned American Bridge 21st Century Super PAC. After the November elections, he … Continue reading →

Praised be! More than three years after the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf states are back and virtually better than ever. That is, at least, according to BP. Three years after the oil explosion dumped roughly 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf and killed 11 men … Continue reading →

U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, and Sen. David Vitter, R-La., filed similar pieces of legislation to force President Barack Obama and his cabinet secretaries to personally participate in the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare. The “In It All Together Act” by Cassidy, who supports repealing the health-care law, was filed after talks were … Continue reading →

With the effects of Hurricane Katrina still looming over southeastern Louisiana, U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, on Friday filed the Army Corps Accountability Act of 2013 to make the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers more culpable for its flood-protection failures. Legal wrangling could still remain over the impact the corps’ maintenance of the Mississippi … Continue reading →

U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., last week touted outpacing her 2014 re-election opponent in fundraising and she noted the support she has from top Republican donors and power brokers such as New Orleans developer Joe Canizaro and Lockport shipyard magnate Boysie Bollinger. Landrieu’s GOP opponent, Rep. Bill Cassidy, of Baton Rouge, responded in a fundraising … Continue reading →

U.S. Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., set the table for two weeks or so of upcoming gun control legislation debate by reaching an agreement to support expanded criminal background checks on commercial gun sales. Broader measures, like banning some assault weapons and limiting the number of bullets in ammunition clips, are unlikely … Continue reading →

Outgoing Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has had his ups and downs with the Louisiana congressional delegation, including the much-debated offshore drilling moratorium after the 2010 BP oil tragedy. Before leaving, Salazar had one last online video chat last week with the media before giving way to his successor, Sally Jewell, who is awaiting Senate confirmation. Continue reading →

The 2014 U.S. Senate race between incumbent Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and challenger Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, has begun. The next question is whether anyone else will attempt to muddle the two-person field. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., quickly made it clear, in his opinion, that “Bill Cassidy will be the single major conservative challenging … Continue reading →

U.S. Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and David Vitter, R-La., announced the awarding of a $1.4 million competitive federal grant to elevate and improve the drainage of Theriot Road at Port Fourchon in Lafourche Parish in order to make it more resistant to flooding. The Economic Development Administration grant is part of a nearly $4 million … Continue reading →

Louisiana’s Democratic U.S. senators in 1996, J. Bennett Johnston and John Breaux, both voted in favor of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that defined marriage as between a man and a woman and banned same-sex couples from receiving federal benefits. Nearly 17 years later, the Supreme Court is considering whether to strike down the … Continue reading →

U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-Quitman, found himself highlighted this past week in a USA Today story as one of several lawmakers who uses campaign donations to pay family members to work on the lawmakers congressional campaigns. In Alexander’s case, this is nothing new. One daughter, Lisa Lowe, has been in charge of … Continue reading →

It gets repeated ad nauseam in Louisiana, but the state is losing more than a football field an hour through coastal erosion. This is not a new issue and the fight to help fund coastal restoration by using revenue sharing dollars from offshore oil-and-gas drilling has gone on for decades as well. In … Continue reading →

After briefly “pondering” running for the U.S. Senate, Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne said Friday he will not challenge Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., in 2014. While he never touted himself as a serious candidate, Dardenne did acknowledge thinking about it for a few weeks after national polling data showed he could be the top Republican challenger to … Continue reading →

Gov. Bobby Jindal received wide praise last week for his standup comedy routine at the annual Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, D.C., with President Barack Obama and other politicians. Jindal made jokes about himself, the president, Mitt Romney, the media and much more. He even took aim at the partially debunked prostitution scandal of Sen. Robert … Continue reading →

While the salaries of the president and members of the U.S. Congress are untouched by the across-the-board budget cuts going into effect, their congressional office budgets are affected. Members of Congress are looking to cut 5 percent to 8 percent of their office and committee budgets, which means roughly $100,000 for House members and closer … Continue reading →

Wednesday in Washington was supposed to bring the “snowquester” and up to 10 inches of precipitation, but the nation’s capital largely shut down for what ended up being less than an inch of accumulated snowfall. What did remain active — and did not disappoint — was the “filiblizzard” in the U.S. Senate chamber, as countless eyes … Continue reading →

While all the focus was on the sequestration federal budget cuts last week, the only major piece of legislation that actually cleared Congress was the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. While the name taken on its own makes it seem like a no-brainer, the bill passed the U.S. House on a 286-138 vote with … Continue reading →

The sequestration apocalypse-palooza is officially now in effect. No, anarchy has not taken hold and the streets are not running red with blood. So the question is should we follow the British lead, “Keep calm and carry on?” Well, that depends. Louisiana will feel the impacts of the $85 billion in arbitrary, across-the-board spending … Continue reading →

Louisiana’s congressional delegation ranked among the 14 worst on the National Environmental Scorecard released last week by the nonprofit League of Conservation. Louisiana and 13 other states had overall scores below 20 percent. The average score for a U.S. senator was 56 percent and for a U.S. House member it was 42 percent. Continue reading →

After taking a week away from Washington, D.C., Congress returns Monday to deal with the latest manufactured financial apocalypse facing the country. This congressionally created situation is the $85.4 billion in across-the-board federal budget cuts, called sequestration, that begin going into effect March 1 unless Congress acts or at least kicks the can down … Continue reading →

Young students from the Batiste Cultural Arts Academy in New Orleans received a treat last week in the form of a White House visit and a special movie screening with Michelle Obama. The first lady wanted to honor the Oscar-nominated “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” which was filmed in Louisiana and share the film with more … Continue reading →

Covering the State of the Union address in person for the first time offers a glimpse into the theatrics of the annual event. There was walking past the wide-eyed, gun-loving rocker Ted Nugent en route to entering the U.S. House chamber. Then there was the required viewing for reporters on how to respond in the event … Continue reading →

Watching the unlikely duo of conservative Republican Sen. David Vitter and liberal Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer lead the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in a true bipartisan fashion thus far this year has been entertaining. Boxer, D-Calif., has so far called two committee hearings Vitter, R-La., requested in consecutive weeks — on the Harbor Maintenance … Continue reading →

U.S. Sens. David Vitter, R-La., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., butted heads a bit last week over the bipartisan immigration reform framework that Rubio is helping to lead. Vitter was one of the first senators to express concern that the plan would end up largely as an immigration amnesty program. Then Vitter went on Laura Ingraham’s … Continue reading →

Heritage Action for America is an advocacy group that puts out one of the most-popular conservative scorecards and the group did so again last week with its summary of the 112th Congress in 2011 and 2012. Rep. John Fleming, R-Minden, led the way out of the Louisiana delegation with a 90 percent score … Continue reading →

Thirteen-year-old Jordan Joseph, of Baton Rouge, doesn’t remember too much about politics before Barack Obama ran for president. He’s part of a young generation that now sees having a black president as the norm, or at least close to it. As such, he was part of a group of Martin Luther King Jr. … Continue reading →

Former Rep. Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia, may have finished his time in Congress earlier this month, but he certainly isn’t showing any signs of leaving the spotlight. Right after his term ended, he incorrectly predicted House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, would lose his position, although there was a tea party conservatives-led effort to … Continue reading →

As the U.S. House vote loomed last week for the Hurricane Sandy disaster relief package, Republicans and Democrats from Northeastern states spent a lot of time calling for national unity and criticizing members from hurricane-vulnerable states if they voted against the aid. “To my colleagues who are from states who have had disasters, some … Continue reading →

In late 2008, state Sen. Don Cravins Jr., D-Opelousas, lost his congressional bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette. Not long afterwards, he took a call from U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., to congratulate him on running a good race, despite the disappointing finish. It didn’t take too long for the conversation to … Continue reading →

We fell over the fiscal cliff for more than a day, but chaos was avoided except for a case of metaphorical whiplash. The Mayan calendar was wrong and Wall Street is relatively stable. Members of Congress — and the media — paid the price of having their New Year’s celebrations largely ruined because … Continue reading →

It’s Christmas time and the “fiscal cliff” is still looming. Congress has not yet learned the spirit of the holidays. So instead of buying a plump goose, it’s a “Bah humbug” and tax hikes for Tiny Tim’s family — if they lived in the U.S. — and everyone else who pays taxes. The fiscal cliff … Continue reading →

In case it wasn’t already obvious, Louisiana Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein reiterated the state’s opposition to participate in the federal Medicaid expansion as part of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Speaking at a Republican-led U.S. House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee “State of Uncertainty” hearing, Greenstein said states have not received enough … Continue reading →

The U.S. House approved Senate amendments to the Coast Guard reauthorization with several tweaks that the Louisiana congressional delegation considers favorable to offshore industry. Among the new provisions are measures like the “Notice of Arrival” so domestic ships will not have to inform the United States Coast Guard as much as they do now while moving … Continue reading →

President Barack Obama has won re-election; with it his Affordable Care Act and the upcoming Medicaid expansion are the law of the land. But that is not going to stop U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, from continuing to push for his “MAC Act” Medicaid plan. Whether he is tilting at windmills or not, Cassidy contends … Continue reading →

U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, and a handful of his Republican colleagues filed a bill this past week intended to increase access to “life-saving” prescription drugs. Cassidy, who is a physician, said his “Patient Access to Drugs in Shortage Act” would more accurately match the “artificially low” Medicare reimbursement rates for generic … Continue reading →

Thanksgiving is over, but the time for giving thanks hasn’t ended. In politics, while President Barack Obama and Democrats may have claimed victory in the Nov. 6 elections, everyone can remain thankful for one magical gift — the joyous delights of congressional gridlock remaining intact. Republicans may despair that Obama has four more … Continue reading →

An Ocean Springs, Miss., native, Parker Wishik graduated from LSU in 2009 and made his way up to Washington, D.C., last year for graduate school and work. Little did Wishik know, that as a Gulf Coast veteran of hurricanes, he’d move farther north just in time for Hurricane Irene to strike the Atlantic coast. Continue reading →

The campaign between Republican incumbent congressmen Charles Boustany, an Episcopalian, and Jeff Landry, a Catholic, to represent southwestern Louisiana has escalated to the point that they are now feuding over instability in the Middle East and Israeli-Palestinian relations. Boustany, the grandson of immigrants from Lebanon, has for years pushed for peaceful resolutions in the … Continue reading →

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., wrote a letter Friday to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner asking him to cancel any potential plans to designate certain nonbanking institutions what Vitter calls “too big to fail.” Vitter said he is concerned that the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act in the aftermath of the Wall Street crisis that designated some so-called … Continue reading →

While the push for more federal government cost sharing in the recovery from Hurricane Isaac continues, the state government is implementing a plan to divert federal disaster funds from the aftermath of hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008 into the state’s early childhood education program. Wait, what? Although the matter is much more … Continue reading →

The U.S. House easily passed the so-called “Buffett Rule Act” by Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, that would allow people to pay extra money on their IRS tax filing forms to help reduce the national deficit if they want. The name of the bill is a shot at billionaire investor Warren Buffett — the nation’s second wealthiest … Continue reading →

Yes, there are three other candidates in the mix, but the 3rd Congressional District race is still primarily about two Republican House incumbents — Lafayette’s Charles Boustany and New Iberia’s Jeff Landry — duking it out to represent southwestern Louisiana because redistricting forced them together. Landry will keep painting Boustany as an outdated Washington insider, while Boustany … Continue reading →