LA
Posted at 9:52pm on Jun. 16, 2008 LA Senate Passes Hot Potato to Gov. Jindal
By Vladimir
The Louisiana State Senate, by a vote of 20-18, approved the House pay raise plan as amended last Friday.
Posted at 8:28am on Jun. 15, 2008 LA-02: Reelection Prospects of Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA)
By Vladimir
Well, this should be entertaining.
Odds facing Rep. Jefferson's re-election bid grow longer
In a nutshell, in the district, Democrats have a 6-1 edge. This is the first time 'round for closed primaries and a Dem vs Repub runoff in the general. The three day qualifying period closes July 11.
State Sen. Karen Carter (D), who Jefferson narrowly beat in the last election, may or may not run. State Sen. Derrick Shepherd (D), who ran third, is facing Federal money-laundering charges and will not run.
The fallout [from the scandals revolving around Jefferson, his entire extended family, his political machine, and everyone in Orleans Parish named "Jefferson"] appears to have put a serious crimp in William Jefferson's fundraising. Heading into the 2006 election, he had a $325,000 war chest. Jefferson's latest finance report shows that as of March 31, he had $57,000 in the bank, plus more than $255,000 in debt. The latter sum included nearly $190,000 of his own money loaned to the 2006 campaign.
[snip]
With Jefferson enmeshed in controversy, challengers have begun to eye his seat, which represents most of New Orleans, most of Jefferson Parish's West Bank and parts of south Kenner. Though nearly a month remains before the July 9 start of the three-day qualifying period, state Rep. Cedric Richmond of New Orleans and Jefferson Parish Councilman Byron Lee announced last week that they are running. Former WDSU-TV news anchor Helena Moreno is expected to declare her candidacy July 8. All three are Democrats.
Posted in $90000 | 2008 | IN HIS FREEZER! | LA | William Jefferson — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 2:55pm on Jun. 13, 2008 BREAKING: LA House Postpones Vote, Brokered Deal Rumored
By Vladimir
Link to the Times-Picayune Live Blog
The leadership was reportedly meeting with Gov. Bobby Jindal during an extended lunch break.
"1:43 p.m. [CST] - There is a distinct theme in comments from lawmakers since the lunch break: the proposed pay raise appears to have [been] too much too fast."
Posted in Bobby Jindal | LA | State Politics — Comments (13) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 6:08pm on Jun. 12, 2008 Jindal v. Legislature on Massive Lawmaker Pay Raise
By Vladimir
Promoted by Erick. This is terrible news from Louisiana.
There will be no showdown in Baton Rouge over the legislature's vote to increase legislative compensation from $16,800 to $50,790, and to index state lawmakers' wages to that bastion of legislative and fiscal restraint, the U.S. Congress.
Gov. Bobby Jindal said Wednesday he would let a bill that would triple legislators’ pay become law rather than use his veto pen.
...
“I don’t want to give anybody any excuse for slowing down any of the important reform going through the legislature (that are) important to the people of Louisiana,” Jindal said. [more...]
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