SHOULD THE FEDS MAKE LOUISIANA A PROTECTORATE? HECK YES!

Thursday, November 29^th, 2018

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

SHOULD THE FEDS MAKE LOUISIANA A PROTECTORATE? HECK YES!

Have you heard the cries that Louisiana is unable to take care of its problems, and should be treated differently than other states? Some even say, OK, then — make it a protectorate of the federal government.  And you know what?  Maybe that isn’t too bad of an idea.

The proposal took legs recently when Froma Harrop, a nationally syndicated columnist broached the idea in print. “Louisiana has had more than its share of tragedies in recent years, and some, such as hurricane Katrina, could be deemed an act of nature.  But whatever the cause, every calamity that befalls Louisiana is made worse by a corrupt civic nature. A protectorate could provide the structure of government people need.”

CNN travel editor Chuck Thompson drove the dagger in deeper in his recently released book, Better Off without ‘Em: A Northern Manifesto for Southern Succession.”  He summed up his, and purportedly other Yankee feelings, by calling the leadership down here in the deep South “a coalition of bought-and-paid for political swamp scum from the most uneducated, morbidly obese, racist, morally indigent, xenophobic, socially stunted, and generally ass-backwards part of the country.”

So if that is a growing northern attitude towards us poor lost souls in the Bayou state, maybe we should consider seceding and let the U.S. make us a protectorate like Harrop and others above the Mason-Dixon Line suggest. Anyone who does a bit of research will find that, right now, Louisiana is contributing much more to the national economy than the federal dollars the state is getting back. As a general rule, so-called protectorates receive much more in financial aid from their respective overseers than the country or state being protected contributes.  Not so in Louisiana. Yes, you will read about all the federal dollars that have been flowing into the Bayou State, particularly post Katrina.  But whatever federal sums have been allocated is a drop in the bucket when you add up the massive mineral resources that have been drained from Louisiana.

How about this!  Louisiana becomes an independent protectorate of the U.S., with Washington providing all the international protection like they do for Canada and Mexico. Sure the U.S. can continue to use the port of New Orleans (largest port in the nation), as well as Baton Rouge (third largest in tonnage) and Lake Charles (5^th largest in tonnage), but of course there would be fees similar to those charged in other international ports. The oil and gas would continue to flow to the rest of the country, but with adequate severance and processing fees for the quite reasonable sum of $7 billion to $10 billion. This is much less than the importation charges that the U.S. is paying OPEC countries now.  No more groveling for a small share of offshore oil payouts.

Mississippi might also want to join in the protectorate effort. The two states might even agree to create a “coastal nation of Louisissippi.”  The French would be appalled, but who cares.

So who is going to run this new protectorate?  The test?  Who knows how to get results.  Walking the walk rather than talking the talk.  There really are only two candidates for the job.  One is former Army General Russell Honoré.  He’s the “John Wayne dude” who blew into New Orleans post Katrina and took charge of the disastrous recovery efforts.  He lives in New roads and seems to be well rested and ready. And right there in contention is New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton. Look what he’s done with the Saints so far this year.  Now he does know how to get a job done.

The Ambassador to Washington? The “Ragin Cajun,” James Carville is the man to demand fair respect for the Bayou State in the nation’s capital. And it would have been an easy choice befoee he died to pick a state treasurer.  New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson would have bee, hands down, the best guy to go after the foreign aid.  He was Louisiana’s greatest robber baron, having talked the Louisiana Legislature out of $500 million dollars.  Remember that no other NFL team has received a penny from their respective states. He definitely would have been the man to go after to get the money.

The state flag would be a combination of black, purple and gold.  And of course, native-born Randy Newman (Louisiana-They’re Going to Wash Us Away.”) should write the national anthem.

Maybe the columnist is right, and we should give it a try. Let the feds protect Louisiana’s borders and let us keep all our minerals.  If you look at the numbers, I have a hunch that any redneck or Cajun would jump at such a deal.

********

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide.  You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.  You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9:00 am till 11:00 am Central Time on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.

TIME TO UPDATE ELECTION PROCESS IN LOUISIANA?

November 23^rd, 2018

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

TIME TO UPDATE ELECTION PROCESS IN LOUISIANA?

A ho-hum election day.  That’s what Louisiana voters experienced a few weeks back.  Now a runoff election is scheduled for December 8^thwith just a few choices for voters on the ballot.  At the top of the ticket is the race to fill the void left by former Secretary of state Tom Scheduler who resigned from office under a cloud. And many political pundits and reporters were surprised over the first primary results.

First Assistant Kyle Ardoin ran as the acting Secretary of State, after earlier announcing that he had no intention of running for the office.  He had never run as a candidate statewide and was given little chance of making the runoff. The early money was on several legislators.  But surprise, surprise. Ardoin led the field of nine candidates. The real shocker was that a virtual unknown democrat, Gwen Collins-Greenup, who spent a pittance, was a close second to Ardoin.

Collins-Greenup says her support was based on traveling the state, speaking over several months in many small churches.  I can tell you from my experience of running for six statewide races that you don’t come close to making a run off by shaking hands and speaking to small groups of any kind.

So what happened that got republican Ardoin and democrat Collins-Greenup facing each other in the runoff?  Simple.  In a race with little interest, Ardoin was the first name on the ballot with an R after his name.  The same goes for Collins-Greenup.  She was the first candidate with a D after her name. Here in the Bayou State, a significant number of voters ignore qualifications and vote only for a democrat or only for a republican.

Ardoin had one better.  When I absentee voted, the first thing I saw on my voting machine was a notice telling me that this was the official Louisiana ballot.  And the message was signed by, you guessed it, Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin.  Then I opened my ballot and the first name to appear was, that’s right, Kyle Ardoin. And this is all legal under the Louisan Election Code.  Hey, blame the game, not the player.

Now this is an important office, and perception is essential when it comes to protecting one’s right to vote and having a chief elections officer who is completely fair. So what can be done to let voters feel confident that no shenanigans might take place?  Having held the office of Secretary of State for two terms, here’s a few suggestions that could help.

First, drop party labels after each candidate’s name. A strong argument can be made that the official running the elections should be neutral.  We have seen in other states, particularly in Georgia, Kansas, and Florida, how the electron’s officer has been accused of being biased against candidates from the opposing party.  So just put all candidates on an equal footing and hope that voters will take the time to look over qualifications rather than political party tags.

Second, don’t list candidates in alphabetical order. Draw straws to see in what order the candidates appear on the ballot.  Why should a name that begins with an early alphabet letter always be listed first?  Randomly rotating the names seems more fair.

Unless Kyle Ardoin forgets to print his own name on the ballot, he should coast in to an easy victory.  Louisiana is a red state, and, at least for the time being, republicans rule with the exception of the current Governor.  And his democratic ties will face a stern test in next year’s gubernatorial election.  

There are number of issues that need addressing in the current election code, including the selection of new voting machines that are estimated to end of costing over 100 million dollars.  Do we have too many elections?  Should we modernize the entire voting process?  The last rewriting of the Louisiana Elections Code was back in 1980 when I was first elected to this office.  Perhaps it’s time to streamline and update.  After all, perception of what is fair too often becomes reality.

*******

I never vote for anyone. I always vote against. W. C. Fields

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide.  You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9 am till 11:00 am, central time, on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.

SANCTUARY CITIES FLOUT IMMIGRATION LAWS!

Thursday, November 15^th, 2018

New Orleans, Louisiana

SANCTUARY CITIES FLOUT IMMIGRATION LAWS!

The President has made illegal immigrants who have moved in to what are called “Sanctuary Cities” a major issue in recent months, even signing an executive order cutting off funds to municipalities that ignore federal law. The Crescent City is in the forefront of ignoring federal law and protecting those there illegally.

Can the City of New Orleans pick and choose which federal laws it will acknowledge and enforce? Most of us understand that if you violate a federal law, then there are consequences. You most likely will be prosecuted and punished. Federal laws on the books are supposed to apply to everyone. That is unless you are an illegal immigrant living in New Orleans.

Didn’t we fight a Civil War over the nullification of federal laws? A century and a half later, New Orleans has joined a host of other American cities in declaring that federal immigration laws are just right down bothersome. It is irrelevant to city leaders in the Crescent City that their actions in supporting widespread illegal immigration is a factor in causing crime rates to rise, and the cost of auto insurance for every Louisiana driver to go up.

No one seems to know how many illegal immigrants have gravitated to Louisiana. Guesstimates have varied from 75,000 to more than 150,000. But when an illegal is arrested for a crime committed in the state, federal law requires that local law enforcement authorities notify the U.S. Immigration and Customs office. New Orleans is not enforcing this requirement. As a New Orleans police department spokesman was quoted as saying: “In general, we’re not cooperating with the ICE.”

So immigrants who are in New Orleans illegally often create a false identity, use a fraudulent Social Security number, falsify federal forms, and, if arrested, are free to go once released by the New Orleans Police Department. We witnessed recently the tragic killing of a young woman in San Francisco, murdered by an illegal immigrant, who was a repeat felon and who had been deported five times.

Crime rates are on the upswing in New Orleans. A just released report by research firm 24/7 Wall Street concludes that New Orleans had the highest per capita firearm homicide rate in the nation—four times the national rate. No one knows how many illegal immigrants are committing crimes, because the city refuses to both monitor and release this information.

And just watch auto insurance rates, already the highest in the nation, go up even more as this policy from the New Orleans Police Department’s immigration manual is implemented. “Officers shall not enforce La. 14.100.13, which states that no alien students or non—resident alien shall operate a motor vehicle in the state without documentation that the person is lawfully present in the United States.” So ignore this state law, right New Orleans? You should just pick and choose what laws you like and the laws you don’t like. Is that what Louisiana has come to?

Traffic accident records show that illegal immigrants are a high risk of not carrying auto insurance. So a driver not at fault has to use their own insurance to pay the damage costs, and insurance rates continue to go up.

What happened that caused the deterioration of the laws on the books concerning illegal immigration?  When you break into my home, you are committing a crime.  But when you break into my country, it has become, to our leaders in Washington and New Orleans, merely an embarrassing inconvenience. Republicans are now throwing in the towel and giving up on seeing that current law is enforced.  Has it become OK to set aside the law and ignore its violation for political purposes?

And what’s all this stuff about “undocumented workers?”  The lead Republican in this effort to legalize those who have illegally entered the United States is Florida’s Senator Marco Rubio.  He conveniently refers to these illegals as “individuals who are living in the United States without proper immigration documents.” That’s like saying that your local drug dealer is in possession of large amounts of cocaine, but just forgot to get a doctor’s prescription.

There should be major risks and consequences when laws are broken.  But besides the President, both political parties are pandering to Hispanic voters who often are sympathetic to lax immigration enforcement. Will Donald Trump goad members of congress to take on Sanctuary cities like New Orleans, and lead a charge for strong enforcement of immigration laws? Let’s hope so.

*******

All the problems we face in the United States today can be traced to an unenlightened immigration policy on the part of the American Indian.”

Pat Paulson

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide.  You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9 am till 11:00 am, central time, on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.

MORE INTEREST NEEDED IN LOUISIANA ELECTIONS!

Thursday, November 8^th, 2018

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

MORE INTEREST NEEDED IN LOUISIANA ELECTIONS!

This past Tuesday’s election stirred mediocre interest here in the Bayou State. This was the fifth election in Louisiana in 2018.  And get ready for six election dates in 2019.  There was a 45% turnout last week, even though voters witnessed a great deal of election hype from throughout the nation. Louisianans just were not all that enthused.

Now remember that some 50% of adults over eighteen who could register have not done so. That means the less than 23% of Louisianans over eighteen bothered to show up at the polls to vote. And with a lack luster runoff for Secretary of State and a few other local races, projections are even lower for the runoff less than thirty days away. So how do we create more interest that will encourage a higher registration to vote? 

First, eliminate all election dates but one. We have way too many elections. In the past year alone, Louisiana has held five different elections plus as host of local contests.  All these special and local elections could wait until one election date a year. The savings to taxpayers would be some six million dollars.

And why have gubernatorial statewide elections in the fall to begin with? Many other states hold elections in the spring. Fall elections compete with LSU and Saints football along with fairs and festivals. A spring date would engender more interest.

Second, go back to party primaries. Louisiana is the only state in the nation that has our convoluted open primary system. When all candidates run in the same primary election, political parties become more irrelevant. But when candidates run within the old closed primary system, democrats and republicans alike are out working for their respective candidates in an organized fashion to get out the vote. The closed primary system generates a much greater interest.

Third, strictly enforce the laws that prohibit a candidate from coordinating with a third-party PAC. Millions of dollars poured into Louisiana from outside the state by sham PACs set up by the candidates. I’m against such PACs but the Supreme Court recently made them legal. Candidates are prohibited by law from any involvement or coordination. But both candidates and PACs regularly violate the law.

Without all this outside money, candidates will have to get back to “retail” politicking; showing up at fairs and festivals, riding in local parades, and re-engaging directly with voters. This will certainly create more interest on Election Day.

Forth, make voting easier. The world has changed in some many ways. You can buy, sell, conduct business, pay your bills and taxes, and interrelate in just about any possible way with the exception of how you vote. Why does one have to get in their car, drive to a polling location, wait in line, all just to vote? Isn’t it possible to design a system to allow voting electronically wherever you happen to be?  If we can fly to Mars, we certainly out to be able to develop a secure system to keep out the Russians.

Fifth, let Hard-Working Undocumented Immigrants Vote: Just kidding. I wanted to see if you’re still paying attention.

But seriously, how about this idea. If we eliminate all these special elections, the state will save millions of dollars in elections costs. So let’s give some of those savings back. When a voter finishes cast their ballot, the system gives them a number. That’s right. A lottery number! The state takes $500,000 of that multi-million dollars savings, and the lottery picks twenty different voters to each receive $25,000 for being a winner in casting their vote. Think of the renewed interest and higher turnout that would take place.

Poll after poll indicates that Louisiana citizens have little confidence in how their state is being run. But the present system offers little incentive and too many roadblocks to make voting easier. Maybe a little creative thinking by new legislators in Baton Rouge could help in getting voters out of their current doldrums. There is really not much at stake. Well, except for the future of our kids and our quality of life.

*******

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide.  You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.  You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9:00 am till 11:00 am Central Time on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.

WHY DO WE HAVE HATE CRIMES?

Thursday, November 1^st, 2018

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

WHY DO WE HAVE HATE CRIMES?

The horrific Pittsburgh synagogue shooting that left 11 people deadlast week was, for good reason, called “the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history.”  It was a ghastly crime of appalling proportions. Robert Bowers is charged with 11 counts of using a firearm to commit murder and multiple counts of hate crimes.  If he is convicted, as he most assuredly will be, then the death penalty would, and should, be fully justified.

"The crimes of violence are based upon the federal civil rights laws prohibiting hate crimes," said Scott Brady, U.S. Attorney, and Bob Jones, the FBI special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh office.  Brady further avowed that Bowers could face the death penalty if he is convicted of a hate crime.

So, what’s a hate crime you ask?  If someone is premeditatedly shot and killed, that’s commonly murder.  When you’re dead, you are dead, and there is a strong penalty for that; generally, life or the death penalty.  But hate crime supporters want more than justice.  They want vengeance.

Under federal law, one can be charged with a hate crime if the crime was motivated by hatred involving race, religion, national origin, color or sexual preference.  Penalties for crimes against these groups already exist, but under the law such crimes are enhanced by what’s in the perpetrator’s mind.  What ever happened to double jeopardy?  Simply put, a prosecutor can bring charges not only for an accused’s conduct, but they also can go after him for his thoughts.  In the Four Lads song, Standing on The Corner, Watching All The Girls Go By, there is the lyric, “Brother, you can't go to jail for what you're thinking.” Well, in the case of hate laws, apparently you can.

Having deeply troubling concerns over a thought police is nothing new.  George Orwell’s novel, 1984 paints a disturbing and chilling scenario where one can be accused of a crime, arrested and prosecuted merely for thoughts in your mind.  “The thought police would get him just the same. He had committed… the essential crime that contained all others in itself. Thoughtcrime they called it… Sooner or later they were bound to get you.”

Have you ever gotten so mad and pent up that you went into a rage and said things you really didn’t mean?   “That sorry, no count blank, blank, blank, blank!  I’ll get even with him!” Have you ever used a racial slur? Oh, no, you say.  But then, upon reflection, maybe you did once or twice.  Does that make you a racist?

If there is supposed to be equal justice under the law, shouldn’t the punishment be based on the crime, and not on who the victim is?  If a deranged killer opens fire in a shopping mall, is this less of a crime than a maniac opening fire in a club filled with African Americans or gays?  Otherwise, when a life is taken, aren’t we making a determination that that the lives of one particular group have greater value than the lives of another group? Isn’t it a fundamental principle of a democracy that the punishment fits the crime, not the victim?

Ayn Rand wrote about the divisiveness that takes place when preferences are given under the law.  “There is no sure way to infect mankind with hatred – brute, blind, virulent hatred – than by splitting it into ethnic groups or tribes.”

Freedom in America means the freedom to have bad thoughts.  I may not like what you are thinking, but ideas alone should not be a crime.  A criminal should be punished for bad acts, not bad thoughts.  James Madison said it well: “We have extinguished forever the ambitious hope of making the laws for the human mind.”

When it comes to crime, yes there should be a protected class that gets full protection from the criminal justice system. That protected class should be all Americans.  And all Americans should be treated equally.
 

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide.  You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.  You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9:00 am till 11:00 am Central Time on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.