TIME TO ACT ON VIOLENT CRIME IN LOUISIANA!

Monday, April 25^th, 2022

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 TIME TO ACT ON VIOLENT CRIME IN LOUISIANA!

A mother’s wailing, tormented cry over the senseless killing of her three-year-old son cut through anyone’s sense of decency. “You killed my baby” sobbed the Baton Rouge mother just last week.  Her child was killed in his bed by a stray bullet in a drive by shooting.

Just another day of irrational violence in cities all over Louisiana.  Baton Rouge and New Orleans have become war zones.  Shreveport and Monroe have some of the highest murder rates in the nation.  There were 923 violent crimes reported for every 100,000 people in Shreveport last year, compared to 399 incidents per 100,000 nationwide. 

What can be done to stop the surge of violence in the Bayou State?  “Why not form a government-community agency of professionals whose job it will be to build a comprehensive road map to safety,” suggest columns in the state’s two largest newspapers.  But we have formed committees and studied the crime problem for years with nothing concrete to show for it. The criminal violence continues.

Some suggest a variety of social and economic incentives that need to be put into place.  But such programs will require not only a massive financial influx of taxpayer dollars, but will also take years to implement. We need effective programs now.

So what to do?  Here’s my suggestion for this governor and future governors.  It’s a similar plan I suggested back in 1987 when I ran for the state’s highest office. First, allocate in the state’s budget 100 million dollars for grants to cities that crack down on crime.  I mean really crack down.

“Oh, but the funds are not available,” legislators will protest.  Hey, Louisiana is flush with funds, and the current budget is loaded with pet projects packed in by legislators in Baton Rouge.  What’s more important, a rock ‘n’ roll museum in New Orleans, funds for more marijuana growing and dispensing agencies, and legal fees for insider reapportionment help? Or dollars to stop citizens from being slaughtered in their own homes?

Here is what should be done.

Require a strong “no broken windows” program. That means tearing down abandoned buildings, requiring grass to be mowed (no tall weeds), see that graffiti is painted over, and no trash allowed to pile up.  Put a lien on any property that fails to comply.  And levy serious fines on those property owners who failed to conform. Also improve and brighten streetlights in these high crime areas.  Blighted areas and darkened neighborhoods have proven to be a cesspool for crime.

Stop and Frist?  Some say it’s unconstitutional to profile.  But we do it all the time. Doesn’t the TSA profile anyone that tries to board a plane? If some kid comes to take your teenage daughter out on a date and has purple hair and a nose ring, aren’t you going to make some assumptions and profile? Of course you will. And you will take appropriate action despite your daughter’s protestations.  If a crime has been committed supposedly by a teenage male Asian American, and some one of that description is in the neighborhood, he should be stopped, questioned, and search for a weapon.  I would have no problem being stopped and searched if I was in a high crime area, and the police were in pursuit.  Hey, you may have to give a little if it means being a lot safer.

Cities and local communities should develop hotspots or “criminal grids” that indicate the most violent concentrated areas. Then direct a high visible law enforcement presence in these areas where we know more violent crime takes place.

Mandatory curfews for any child under 16 years old. Mama said it best. Nothing good happens after midnight. Why allow some 14-year-old to roam the streets at 2 o’clock in the morning? Without a compelling reason to be up and about, these kids should be home asleep.

Local communities that Institute such programs listed above should benefit and get grant money. For those who don’t, shame on them.  It’s time to quit talking about preventing crime, and actually taking a bite out of crime. There are other proposals and this is just the beginning. But citizens like me are sick and tired of looking over their shoulder, and constantly worrying about our family safety. These suggestions are no brainers.We are looking towards the governor and our legislators to take action. It should be done now.

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.  Readers can also review books by Jim Brown and many others he has published by going to http://www.thelisburnpress.com.

 

 

 

 

 

SARAH PALIN WOULD FIT IN WELL IN LOUISIANA!

Monday, April 18^th, 2022

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 

SARAH PALIN WOULD FIT IN WELL IN LOUISIANA!

Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin is back in the news, announcing that she will be a candidate for Alaska’s single congressional seat. Fifty candidates have signed up to run, but with Palin’s national statue, one would think that she would be the odds-on favorite.

I don’t know about you, but I actually read Sarah Palin’s book, Going Rogue that became a national best seller. Over a recent quiet weekend, I took in the unique insights of this controversial lady. 

Wanting to read all the juicy tidbits first, I immediately went to the index to get an idea of what Palin listed as being of particular importance.  But surprise!  There is no index in the book.  So no choice for me but to wade on through.  I did make a few page number notations so I could share with you. 

First, a stop on page 102 is a “must read” just for the lyrical prose.  Here’s a tid bit: “As the soles of my shoes hit the soft ground, I pushed past tall cottonwood trees in a euphoric cadence, and meandered through willow branches that the moose munched on.”  Hemingway would have been impressed.

And food?  She makes no bones about how she loves and cooks Alaskan edibles.  Her specialties include halibut tacos (p. 1), reindeer sausage (p. 1) and caribou lasagna (p. 218). How on the day she got married “we stopped by the Wendy’s drive-thru for our wedding dinner.” (p. 49).  Palin also makes it quite clear that “I love meat,” particularly “the seared fatty edges of a well-done steak.”  (p. 18).  She follows this homily with one of the book’s more deep and poignant quotes: “If God had not intended for us to eat animals, how come He made them out of meat? “(p. 133) Nuf said. 

She says that: “I love to write, but not about myself” (p. 409), although her book is almost entirely about herself. Hey, I’m not really knocking her for her effort, for she does have quite a story to tell.  After all, how many women have won a local beauty contest finishing runner-up in a state pageant, been a TV sports announcer, then gone on to be Mayor, governor, raising five children, be a vice presidential candidate of one of the two major parties, and helped in write her story that has become a huge bookstore hit?

So how would Sarah Palin fair in Louisiana?  Actually, quite well.  The deepest of the deep southern states shares much in common with Palin’s home state of Alaska.  Oil and gas production and seafood are major forces in driving the economy in both states. 

 Sure she’s a bit quirky, but how about Louisiana women politicos?  Former Governor Kathleen Blanco cried on national television, and former Senator Mary Landrieu has been accused of prostituting herself by none other than former Palin radio host Rush Limbaugh before his death. 

 

I remember back well in in 2008 when Palin brought her indomitable book tour road show to my hometown of Baton Rouge with the flair and the chutzpah of a larger than life personality, which she just might be.  Security was tight at the local Books-A-Million, and the crowd of over 1000 was given strict instructions of what it could, and could not do. I lived at the time just a short walk from Books-A-Million, so I decided to mosey on over to check out the Sarah phenomena.

 

Look, this was a real labor of love to stand there for hours and go though all these procedures just to get a book signed.  The process was similar to visiting a relative in prison, or maybe waiting to see Kim Kardashian.  But as much as I would have liked to visit with Sarah, the hoops you had to go through were just a little too much for me.  So with some reluctance, I walked back home.

Now, like I said, I live just a stone’s through away from the bookstore. So when I got home, I decided to climb up on my roof. It’s flat, with a full view of the shopping center where the bookstore is located.  And then it dawned on me.  We have a common bond, this lady and I. Remember back during the campaign when she was asked about her foreign policy experience.  She said she could see Russia from her house.  Well guess what!  I can see Sarah from my house!  Pretty cool, huh?  “You betcha.”

                                      *****

“Absolutely. Yup, yup.” –Sarah Palin after being asked by People magazine if she was ready to be a heartbeat away from the presidency back in 2006.

 

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.  Readers can also review books by Jim Brown and many others he has published by going to http://www.thelisburnpress.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LEADERSHIP NEEDED ON LOUISIANA PROPERTY INSURANCE

Monday, April 11^th, 2022

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

LEADERSHIP NEEDED ON LOUISIANA PROPERTY INSURANCE

Britain’s former Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli was full of insight with his poignant anecdotes. He once summed up the political courage of one of his opponents by observing: “Our citizens are moving in the streets. And I must find out which way they are going, and get in front of them. For I am their leader.” 

Property insurance rates have gone through the roof all over Louisiana and they will likely continue to climb. Yet for the past year, elected officials in Louisiana who could have made a difference have sat on the sidelines oblivious to the intense outrage by the masses who want some rate relief. 

Not so in other states. In Florida, the Governor and the Legislature held several special sessions, injected over $700 million into their state-run property insurance company, and are in the process of completely revamping this state created entity. In Mississippi, significant state funding has been allocated towards a similar public plan, and the Attorney General has worked with other state officials in aggressively intervening in lawsuits against insurance companies who failed to pay insurance claims.

But until recently in Louisiana, about the only solution suggested was to give a daily prayer for no more hurricanes. The state was forced to sell over $1 billion in bonds to finance the huge debt incurred by the publicly created Citizens Property Insurance Company. State officials tried to pawn off the problem as part of a natural disaster. But just as the damage to New Orleans was a man-made catastrophe because of levee design and construction failures, so to was the massive damage caused by the incompetence of those running Citizens. 

As this column has critiqued before, Citizens was a disaster in the making from day one. A combination of unqualified management, not one dime of capital and surplus, and completely inadequate reinsurance combined to create a no-win situation for every property owner in the state. It will take more 20 years to pay off the Citizens debacle. And this could be just the tip of the iceberg. 

What happens if there is significant additional destruction because of future hurricanes? Are there plans in the works to deal with such a problem? Other states are considering several options, including a state catastrophic fund that would be financed either through sales taxes or property taxes. Such a plan would be met with little support in Louisiana, but at least Florida is considering alternatives, while state officials in Louisiana shiver at the thought of peering into the future. 

Former political prognosticator C B Forgotston, now deceased, had suggested either a tax credit or rebate which would stay on the books for as long as any excess tax is charged to the insurance policies of homeowners. This could be accomplished by a majority vote of the Legislature. From then on, the state general fund, presently a wash with over $1 billion of surplus, should pay the yearly Citizens indebtedness. The Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana has come out strongly against such a proposal, saying any surplus funds should be used for other state needs. Their conclusion? “It is good politics, but not good policy.” But PAR is dead wrong here. 

Taking property owners off the hook from not having to pay a penalty for the next 20 years should be done for one good reason. The Legislature and insurance regulators were negligent in not providing ample oversight to protect the same policyholders from an incompetently run and dramatically underfunded state created entity. Property owners should bear no responsibility for the incompetence of those entrusted to protect the public interest. 

Louisiana State officials are also standing on the sidelines on the major issue of a national catastrophic fund. Louisiana led the charge back in the 90s in asking Congress to create an umbrella of support that would kick in following a major hurricane once the damage level reached $4.5 billion. The idea languished until Katrina hit. Legislators in Florida are now leading the charge, while insurance commissioners in several states have testified before congressional committees in Washington. Louisiana’s enthusiasm has been lackadaisical at best, with little more than lip service paid to such an idea by the state congressional delegation. 

The bottom line? It looks like some Louisiana legislators are beginning to realize the depth of the problem, and are taking the lead in trying to find workable solutions to an extremely difficult problem. The Governor is coming around and realizing that “the people are moving in the streets.”

Hurricane season is rapidly upon us. But the seasons will continue to come and go. And remember that when Katrina hit New Orleans, it was only a level two. The big one has yet to hit. Will Louisiana be ready? Right now, the state has a long, long way to go.

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.  Readers can also review books by Jim Brown and many others he has published by going to http://www.thelisburnpress.com.

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HOW IMPORTANT IS UKRAINE TO AMERICA?

Monday, April 4^th, 2022

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

                          HOW IMPORTANT IS UKRAINE TO AMERICA?

 

My home state of Louisiana is some 6000 miles away from Kyiv, Donbas, Crimea, and the Azov Sea.  Yet an overwhelming majority of Louisianians, along with most Americans, have no idea where these places are located.  For that matter, most of us would have a difficult time pinpointing Ukraine itself on a map. So here’s the question. Is protecting Ukraine worth risking a possible nuclear war for America and our allies?

 

For 70 years, Ukraine was a state operating within Russia-led USSR. America stood by and watched the murderous regime of Joseph Stalin force the starvation of some four million Ukrainian peasants.  So why now has the Ukraine invasion become of such vital interest to the U.S.?  

 

Historically, not only has Ukraine been a part of and held historic ties within the USSR dating back to the 18th century. Matthew Rojansky, director of the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center, says the two countries "are joined at the hip": They share language; Russian media are popular in Ukraine; there are family ties; many Ukrainians work in Russia; and Russians have billions of dollars invested in Ukraine. “Their relationship is like the U.S.-U.K. special relationship," Rojansky says.

But in recent years, Ukraine has been developing closer ties with the West, and even discussing joining NATO.  So Ukraine has been trying to have it both ways; keeping a harmonious relationship with Russia, while flirting with and developing closer ties to European countries. And Valdemar Putin is certainly not happy with this arrangement.

The US is concerned that Russia may use chemical or even nuclear weapons in their effort to retain control in this current fight. Chemical weapons were outlawed by both the Geneva Protocol and the United Nations going back over 100 years. Both sides, including America, used chemical weapons against their opponents in World War I. As far as nuclear weapons, the only country that has ever used them in wartime is America.  

As far as the bombing of civilians in cities across Ukraine, history shows this to be a terrible consequence of war.  Columnist Pat Buchanan recently wrote: “While America did not introduce the bombing of cities-the British and Germans did that-America did perfect the carpet-bombing of cities like Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin, and Tokyo.”  He could have added American carpet-bombing in Viet Nam.

Is there a moral obligation to aid a nation under attack?  A new Reuters/Ipsos poll indicates that most Americans are willing to help.  By a margin of 73% to 27%, voters across the country say the US “must support democratic countries if they are being attacked.”  Sixty-Five per cent of voters support the view that what’s happening in Ukraine is definitely the business of the U.S.

Is there is a double standard in this reasoning? The President and members of Congress in both parties have expressed outrage at the suffering in Ukraine. But let’s just put it on the table. The same brutality is taking place in numerous Middle East and African countries. Not much concern over catastrophes happening in Yemen, Syria, Ethiopia, and Darfur.  There are recent reports that in Myanmar, where thousands of citizens have been killed, soldiers throw babies onto bonfires for sport.  In Rwanda, some 700,000 killings took place a few years back where whole tribes were hacked to death with machetes.  A cynic might just say that in Ukraine, the victims are considered white Europeans.

 I think it’s critical to U.S. interests that we recognize the Russian attack on Ukraine has serious international consequences.  Putin himself is an unguided missile.  If Russia captures Ukraine, then a number of other Eastern European countries are at risk including Poland.  A united front among NATO nations is important to America’s national security.

For now, America is picking and choosing its fights as to when and where it gets involved.  And by doing so, some other countries get left by themselves in the crossfire. So yes, we have contradictions in our foreign policy.  Columnist and Oregon politician Nick Kristof writes: “Yes, there’s a double standard, but it is better to inconsistently do the right thing than to consistently turn a cold shoulder to suffering.”  I don’t know how you feel. But I agree.

 

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.  Readers can also review books by Jim Brown and many others he has published by going to http://www.thelisburnpress.com.