Louis R. Avallone

Category: Local

  • Drain the Bayou

    Drain the Bayou

    “If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck,” right? This is often said when you are making a point you can identify an unknown situation by merely observing the characteristics of that situation. Well, in 2015, 56% of conservative Louisiana voters believed John Bel Edwards looked, swam, and quacked like a “conservative Democrat,” which is really an oxymoron – kind of like being an “honest thief” or a “wise fool,” because there’s really no such thing. No, John Bel Edwards, is just a plain old-fashioned, bitterly partisan, tax-and-spend liberal, and there’s nothing accidental about him, or Louisiana’s “fiscal cliff.”

    Yes, it’s true that the state budget was around $25 billion when Edwards was elected into office. But today, under Edwards, he’s grown Louisiana’s budget to $29.6 billion. Even if you make the point that Bobby Jindal underfunded many state departments and programs, in order to maintain state services, fund TOPS, etc., and that Edwards had no choice but to restore the necessary financing, should that be nearly $4 billion? I mean, not only did the budget grow nearly 20%, in a state whose population growth is among the lowest in the nation, but he added insult to injury by raising $2 billion with sales tax increases.

    Louisiana now has the highest sales tax rates in America, an “accomplishment” that only Edwards can lay claim to, because that wasn’t true before he took office.

    With the 2018 legislative session on the horizon, and a $1 billion plus deficit in the state’s budget, what is Edwards’ plan? Well, businesses and wealthier folks will pay higher taxes, if Edwards gets his way, and one way he’ll do it is by limiting tax deductions.

    Really? But look around the country. Since President Trump signed tax reform into law on December 22, over 80 companies have publicly announced bonuses, wage increases or other kinds of benefits they’re offering employees. AT&T: $1k bonuses for 200,000 U.S. employees, Southwest Airlines: $1k bonuses for 55,000 employees, Waste Management: $2k bonuses to 34,000 eligible employees, and the list goes on, and on.

    Governor Edwards, don’t you realize that decreasing the tax burden on the American people – the promise of cutting unnecessary regulations and reducing the size of government – has resulted in the lowest unemployment rate in over 18 years? The stock market has rallied, home prices are rising, and manufacturing jobs have rebounded – across the country.

    And yet, here in Louisiana, our Governor is just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, instead of looking at what is ALREADY working around the country, and then just doing more of that, instead. After all, we can‘t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them, can we?

    Oh…it’s more complicated than that? But why does it have to be? Because some old-fashioned, big government, tax-and-spend legislators in Baton Rouge say it is?

    Okay, that’s fine, then. Keep your decades of charts, Excel spreadsheets, and long lunch meetings in Baton Rouge that have produced little more than bowel movements, and let’s just feed off common sense for a moment.

    You know what strengthens an economy, and creates jobs? The free market economy and small businesses. When you REDUCE taxes and regulations, businesses hire more employees, they expand their facilities, and then purchase new goods and services to meet the market demand.

    That means they go out and buy trucks and tools and computers, and anything else needed to meet the demand. And when those businesses start hiring, that means folks from out of state will come (home) to Louisiana because they want a good job, and not just another government check from the state.

    Governments do not create wealth. They can influence the distribution of wealth, by providing financial incentives, but they do not create it, regardless of how much they spend. They just move it around.

    And the reason government spending does not create wealth is because the source of government spending is tax revenue, right out of the pockets of taxpayers.

    This deluge of poor fiscal management, and higher and higher taxes, from the Governor on down, isn’t just running off our backs any more, like it would on any good duck – and unless we’re willing to drain the bayou here at home, it’s surely going to drown us first.

  • Skin Deep

    In his 1957 speech entitled, “Give Us The Ballot,” Martin Luther King, Jr. did not advocate for the right to vote simply because he wanted to see more black people in office. No, not at all. He wanted more than that – he wanted to be able to choose men “of good will” who would “do justly and love mercy.” He wanted to be able to select men and women based on their character, and who exhibited “strong, moral, and courageous leadership.”

    Even after 60 years, it’s timeless advice that still rings true today.

    And yet, the voters in Shreveport will still spend most of this glorious new year talking about the skin color of their mayoral candidates in their upcoming election this fall. They’ll talk about why this color candidate or that color candidate can’t win, shouldn’t win, and ought not even try.

    Before considering the content of a candidate’s character, or deciding which candidate is best suited to lead our city, most Shreveporters will look first to the color of the candidate’s skin, instead. Although this may not be shocking to you, it’s just not right.

    I mean, you’ve overheard the conversations about how a white candidate cannot possibly be elected Mayor of Shreveport. It’s the “city’s demographics,” they say, and about how black candidates will be universally supported by the lion’s share of black voters anyway. Whomever is mayor, according to these folks, won’t need much support from white voters, at all, to get elected into office.

    But is it just me? Isn’t it immoral to disqualify a candidate based on the color of their skin? I mean, it’s 2018, for goodness’ sake. Instead of finding common ground, learning from one another and coming together, we’re still dividing ourselves in the most uncivilized, elementary, and ignorant way – by our skin color.

    In essence, we’re discouraging candidates, however qualified they may be, from running for Mayor – based simply on the color of their skin. Aren’t there countless, real reasons that ought to disqualify candidates, instead? Like are they decisive or wishy-washy? Do they get the right things done, or do they just make a lot of noise? Do they follow-thru on their commitments, or is it just all hot air?

    But if all you need to know is only skin deep, why bother talking about any of this?

    Why ask if a candidate has the attention span or the dogged determination needed to concentrate on the details (and not just the “big picture”) of the large-scale changes needed so desperately in city government?

    Why bother to find out if the candidates are persistent enough to see those changes through to completion, even in the face of great opposition? Are they transparent in their dealings? Are they capable of gaining a detailed understanding of their elected position, and how it works? Will they act prudently for the long-term needs of our citizens, or will they choose short-term popularity, instead?

    If all you see is the color of my skin, none of that really matters to you.

    And while that is not to say most black Americans think alike – they have voted alike, historically. For example, blacks have backed Democrat candidates almost 90% of the time since 1980. And this is why most folks, from the coffee shop to the barbershop, say white candidates for mayor simply “need not apply.”

    There’s a University of Chicago professor, Michael Dawson, who thinks he understands why, though. In his book, Behind the Mule: Race and Class in African-American Politics, he calls it “black utility heuristic” and it’s basically how, when you belong to a group, you often feel your individual prospects for success are ultimately tied to the success of your group.

    This is referred to as “linked fate” and you can see this principle at work in your family, your company, your church, etc. Linked fate is also one of the reasons why 2 out 3 black Americans, according to a Pew Research Survey, see their black community as a single group (or a monolithic voting bloc), even though political views among blacks are as diverse as any other group.

    While we’re all in this together, how can we be sure we’re choosing men “of good will” (in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.), if we’re sorting them first by race?

  • Dear Shreveport…

    Dear Shreveport…

    Dear Shreveport,

    I know you have been through some really tough stuff. The drop in oil prices in the 1980s, the bankruptcies and foreclosures – you have really never been the same since then. The 7,500 jobs lost at the Western Electric plant – that was a rough patch, too, I know. I mean, so many good people have left you behind for greener pastures, and after 40 years, some just never came back.

    I was happy to hear the news, though, about your discovering the Haynesville Shale in 2008, and just couldn’t believe when the drop in oil prices came so fast, and caused so many rigs (and jobs) to leave for other states. Then you had to cope with the GM Plant closing in 2012. I was so sorry to hear about those thousands of jobs disappearing – good paying ones, too, I know. And even though you knew it was coming, you’re really never prepared for something like that.

    But enough of all that talk…it’s important to remember the good times, too, right? Like when the census came out in 1970 and it showed no growth in population? That’s when you came up with a plan to develop an interstate highway from Shreveport to south Louisiana (I-49), and to complete the Inner Loop, and get graduate courses at LSUS – and population did grow.

    But before that, in the late 1960s, remember how you would go down to Baton Rouge to meet with Governor John McKeithen, over and over? That’s how LSU-Shreveport and Southern University got started here, and most importantly, that’s how you got the medical school started. And none of that would have happened without you believing in you.

    Now, I know you are probably feeling hurt, angry, frustrated, or shut down with how everything is around you today. Maybe there’s not much that could make you feel better at this point. But I know this: you have to start treating yourself better, like the best Shreveport you’ve ever been.

    And from what you’ve been saying about yourself recently, it makes me very sad.

    Ever since this Pelican’s “G-League” proposal has been out there, you’ve let everyone know how much you stink.

    You’ve posted on social media about how “the people that sit on the selection committee have sense not to select such a crime ridden city for any new ball team” and that you’ve “never fully understood what creates a successful venue.” And then you posted, “Get out now, folks. It ain’t gonna get better in Shreveport!”

    Look, you can’t keep talking to yourself this way. I don’t know if this Pelican’s “G-League” is a good idea or not, but this stinking thinking has to stop. All that stinking thinking does is make you feel defeated, discouraged, and depressed. Haven’t you ever heard that you are what you think about?

    Instead of all this negative talk, how about asking, “What can I do differently this time, to make sure I don’t mess up again?” Yes, over the last 20 years, seven semi-professional teams tried to make Shreveport-Bossier their home. But again, the question is not how horrible you think you are or unworthy. The question is, “Can it be done differently, this time, to get a better result?”

    Perhaps this just isn’t the right time for you to do this basketball deal. That’s okay, but that’s no reason for you to bad mouth yourself to the world. How you speak to yourself is important. The Bible tells us this also, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7).

    And I do think some of it is the people you are hanging around. You keep letting people lead you around every 4 years or so who don’t have a plan, and it has to stop. They may intend to do good, but if intentions are all that were needed to be successful, or to stop smoking or to lose weight, then we’d all be a lot happier and healthier.

    You had a plan of action back when you were going to Baton Rouge and meeting with Governor McKeithen in the late 1960s. And you had a plan when you wanted to build I-49 and make the Red River navigable in the 1970s, and attracted General Motors.

    You have been at your best when you’ve had a game plan, and players on your team who could execute the strategy. Right now, you simply don’t believe you can win.

    For too many years, I know you feel like you have been living in the shadow of your more successful brother in Dallas, and that you’re not as fun and pretty as your sister, south Louisiana, but it doesn’t have to be that way, Shreveport.

    I know there is greatness within you, and you should remind yourself of the same, because it’s time to change not only how you talk to yourself, but the way you look and your so-called friends, because you’ll never become what you need to be by remaining what you are.

  • Seeing the Trees for the Forest

    Seeing the Trees for the Forest

    You’ve heard the saying, “Don’t miss the forest for the trees,” right? That’s when someone is trying to make the point that you shouldn’t get so caught up in the small details that you fail to understand the bigger picture. Well, in the case of this whole healthcare debacle in our country, and the shenanigans in Congress, the “bigger picture” doesn’t mean a darn thing here without getting caught up in small details, and here’s what I mean:

    I know that many think that anyone proposing the repeal of Obamacare is a heartless so-and-so, or an insensitive you-know-what. But Obamacare is already repealed – for all intents and purposes – because it’s collapsing under its own weight.

    With or without any political party approval or bipartisan support, irrespective of the mainstream media’s stance, and regardless of how many protests are organized, or members of Congress vocally express their distaste for President Trump – Obamacare care is repealing itself.

    The average health insurance premium on the individual market has soared by a staggering 75 percent – just in the past four years. 31 million Americans can’t afford the deductibles because of these rising costs, and have flat-out stopped paying the premiums. We were supposed to have saved $2,500 per year if Obamacare became law, but premium costs today are $2,000 more today than they were just in 2013, and double-digit premium increases are expected in 2018.

    The reason for this is that health insurers lost over $2 billion dollars in 2016 and rather than expand coverage, these same insurers are pulling out of the exchanges set-up by Obamacare, altogether (and just so you know, two-thirds of the exchanges have already gone out of business, too). Ironically, the exchanges were set-up so people could “shop” for insurance plans, often with the help of government subsidies.

    But for 1 out of 3 Americans today, there is no “shopping” for insurance plans, unless your idea of shopping is like when Henry Ford famously told his customers they could have any color they wanted, as long as it was black. You see, with so many health insurers leaving the marketplace, too many of us have only one choice of an insurer under Obamacare – and that means we have essentially no choice, at all.

    If you’re wondering if it could get any worse, the answer is yes. The number of insurers applying to serve the federal marketplace has dropped 38% for 2018, and it’s now reported by the Kaiser Family Foundation that just over 25,000 people in Ohio, Indiana and Nevada are at risk of having no options in the exchanges next year.

    To add even more confusion, we’re told that repealing Obamacare now will result in nearly 32 million uninsured in this country, but the Associated Press reports only around 10 million Americans are paying any Obamacare premiums, whatsoever.

    But, some will interrupt here to say: Isn’t some increase in the number of Americans with health insurance better than “nothing” at all? And, even though “Obamacare” is not perfect, isn’t it better now because you can’t be denied coverage for any reason, or be charged more based on your health status or gender, or be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions?

    Yes, theoretically, yes.

    But if 31 million Americans can’t afford the deductibles because of rising costs, and millions of others have flat-out stopped paying the premiums for the very insurance policies intended to afford them healthcare coverage, then hasn’t the care and comfort of the least among us only worsened? And all under the pretense that something is better than nothing?

    You see now why sometimes it’s better to see the trees, instead of the forest? Getting caught up in the details is not something that Congress has done in a very long time. And that explains a whole lot, doesn’t it?

  • Nothing But Net

    Nothing But Net

    Sometimes, the idea of something, and the thing itself, aren’t always the same. In other words, the idea is much rosier than the reality. For example, many people like the idea of owning a boat, rather than the reality of actually maintaining one. Many like the idea of eating healthier or exercising, but not so much the reality of changing your diet or going to the gym.

    Some might say the idea of having a NBA G League team in Shreveport is much more appealing than the reality of what it actually costs to have one. For example, College Park, GA is spending between $20 and $40 million to build an arena for the Atlanta Hawks’ G league team – and that’s funded with taxpayer dollars in a city with just 15,000 residents.

    The Washington Wizards are also building an arena for their G League team with taxpayer dollars at a whopping cost of $65 million.

    And now the City of Shreveport is considering building a $25 million arena with taxpayer dollars for a G league team owned by the New Orleans’ Pelicans. In a news release, Mayor Tyler said building this arena will be important as a “significant economic driver in job creation and attracting outside tourism for the city’s future success.”

    Many would agree with her, and may even call the arena an “investment” in our area’s future. Perhaps it is, but the University of Maryland has studied the economic impacts of professional sports franchises and stadiums and found the following to be true: “No matter what cities or geographical areas are examined, no matter what estimators are used, no matter what model specifications are used, and no matter what variables are used, articles published in peer-reviewed economics journals contain almost no evidence that professional sports franchises and facilities have a measurable economic impact on the economy.” Ouch.

    In St. Tammany Parish, they were considering building an arena for the Pelicans’ G League team too (like us), but they looked at their numbers and said, “Essentially we have $22 million in costs and $15 million in funding. Building, or retrofitting, a venue for a basketball team is unfortunately not a priority at this time.”

    Some in Shreveport feel that same way – and it’s not because they are not basketball fans, or they’re just stuck in their old ways and don’t want to do anything new. Instead, it’s a matter of economic priorities in a city where the tax base is shrinking and there are simply bigger fish to fry first, so to speak.

    But if you like fish like I do – especially fried catfish – as much as you love basketball, let’s find a way to make this G League a reality. Let’s not use taxpayer dollars to do it, though.

    Instead, let’s do it with a Kickstarter campaign. For $25 million. That’s right. And why not?

    You see, Kickstarter.com is the largest crowd-funding website in the world, where entrepreneurs have raised millions of dollars selling concepts of products – which haven’t even been created yet (like the new arena) – from thousands of supporters who want to see those concepts come to fruition.

    If Mayor Tyler uses the crowd-funding model from Kickstarter to bring her arena concept to reality, and 25,000 supporters in Caddo, Bossier, Webster, and Desoto were to purchase two (2) $500 ticket packages for the new Pelicans’ G League team (entitling you to special ticket prices, discounted gear, etc.), we will have paid for the new arena upfront, and that’s before any monies are negotiated for naming rights, sponsorships, concessions and dining, club seating and suites, or rental income throughout the year.

    Of course, many of the supporters won’t necessarily be huge basketball fans who will go to every game, but they still want to support the idea, without wanting to saddle their children and grandchildren with debt, for decades to come.

    So yes, crowd-funding (and not taxpayer-funding) of an arena is worth a shot here – from the free throw line.

    If it’s done right, it’ll be “nothing but net.”

  • Basic American Values

    Basic American Values

    By now, you know that Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise was wounded, along with two Capitol Police officers, a congressional staffer, and a lobbyist, after a shooter opened fire at a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia. The shooter’s motive is thought to be related to his expressed grievances online about President Donald Trump and Republicans. Our prayers continue for a speedy recovery of all that were injured during the shooting.

    Unfortunately, this has all tragically happened before, though.

    You know – a member of Congress being shot.

    Remember in 2011, there was Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was shot in the head during a shooting rampage at a public event outside a grocery store in Tucson. Six people were killed, and 13 wounded, including Giffords.

    In 1968, New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot and killed by Sirhan Sirhan in Los Angeles, moments after declaring victory in the California Democratic presidential primary. Five other people were injured in the shooting.

    Then there was Louisiana Senator Huey Long in 1935, who died in Baton Rouge after being shot in the Louisiana state Capitol, allegedly by Dr. Carl Weiss.

    These are all isolated examples, in the long history of the world, that acts of violence will always be with us, however random or nonsensical they may seem. Violence, actually, is an expression of the need for survival in all living things.

    Perhaps liberals feel their existence is being threatened into extinction after last year’s elections.

    Maybe that is why Hillary Clinton’s former running mate Tim Kaine called for Democrats to “fight in the streets against Trump.” Or that the New York Times is currently sponsoring a play that features the assassination of President Trump. Perhaps the “need for survival” is why former CNN host Kathy Griffin posed for an ISIS-inspired photo holding Trump’s decapitated head.

    But is violence the only way to survive? For some, it obviously is.

    Is that why Madonna told the Women’s March on Washington, the day after the inauguration in January, that she fantasized about blowing up the White House. Is survival the reason that Snoop Dogg references assassinating President Trump in music video?

    If so, then this may explain why so many of our fellow Americans tweeted thousands of messages like this one, after the shootings: “Will the @SenateGOP reflect on today’s shooting and invite the Dems into the political process that’ll shape our healthcare system? Doubt it.”

    Others justified the shooting by tweeting, “The shooting today today is horrible but what the GOP is trying to do to Americans with health care is also horrible.”

    So if violence has always been with us, and will always be with us, why does violence feel so much more likely to happen today, in places where we least expect it, for doing nothing more than expressing our opinion on the issues? Whether it’s a bumper sticker on your car, or wearing a t-shirt, or sticking a campaign sign in your yard?

    Maybe it’s because our basic American values now seem so diluted in our culture. There seems to be less empathy and optimism, and more uncertainty and indecisiveness.

    There’s less congruency between how we want others to see us, with how we actually are. Our faith in God has declined, and there’s less a sense of community, or belonging, than ever before.

    There’s an interesting study that looked into the shift of our basic American values. The study analyzed the values expressed on the most popular television shows, from 1967 to 2007, namely: Andy Griffith, The Lucy Show, Laverne and Shirley, Happy Days; Growing Pains, Alf, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Boy Meets World, American Idol, and Hannah Montana.

    For these television shows, the most expressed values were community feeling, benevolence, tradition, and popularity. The least expressed values included fame, physical fitness, and financial success.

    In the last decade, though, those values expressed have flipped – from top to bottom. The new top values expressed include: fame, achievement, popularity, and financial success (with self-centered, attention getting, comparison to others, and power, all following close behind). It seems we’ve become more narcissistic than ever before.

    So, is this why the recent shootings feel like so different? Like it may be a sign of things to come – unless we can return to the basic American values that made America great?

    If being self-centered or attention-getting are the values that are growing in our country, then such acts of violence will surely continue, and the number of Americans justifying such horrific crimes will only grow, as well. Too many people place blame on others today – but not themselves – for everything that isn’t right in their life, whether it’s shooting at a police officer, or blocking city streets in protest, or setting a neighborhood on fire and looting.

    Have we become so enamored with ourselves, or self-absorbed in what we think, that common sense and decency has evaporated? And that lying, cheating, or hurting others doesn’t seems so out of place, as long as the ends justify the means?

    Well, call me old-fashioned, but maybe it’s time to turn Laverne and Shirley back on.

  • Monumental Error

    Monumental Error

    Why would you ever return to what hasn’t worked? I mean, would you ever choose to go back to your least favorite employer? If you had a drinking problem, would you ever choose to go back to those times when you simply weren’t your very best self?

    If you’ve worked hard to become educated, or experienced in your trade, would you choose to return to those times when you were more ignorant than not, and didn’t really know what you were doing, at all?

    Obviously, you wouldn’t choose any of that, or go back to any time when you were not the very best you could be.

    But this seems to be at the heart of the hullabaloo over the Confederate monuments in New Orleans. Here’s why:

    Those offended by the monuments (and want them taken down) really believe the rest of us want to go back to the time of slavery, when we were not our very best selves, and more ignorant than not.

    But again, who in their right mind would choose to return to what doesn’t work?

    You see, removing monuments, rewriting textbooks, redacting words in literary works (such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn), legislating political correctness, snubbing films like Gone with the Wind, or even banning the display of the American flag as racist, is not necessary to make the point that what happened way back then has no place whatsoever in whatever we are doing now.

    The overwhelming majority of Americans need no convincing of that, at all.

    But regardless of whether those monuments are displayed, or pushed into a corner, under the dust heap of history, there will always be those who have hatred in their heart. For them, hiding our past makes no difference in their thinking.

    Instead of the monuments representing an enemy, or our past failures (even though the war was really over states’ rights), what if these Confederate monuments represented the triumph of good over evil. Of justice. Redemption. Forgiveness. Of what’s possible when men and women of principle make a stand. Or the power of God to change the hearts and minds of men.

    America has changed (thankfully), and that’s putting it mildly. Consider that only 15 percent of African-American adults today lack a high school education, compared with 75 percent of adults 50 years ago. There are now 3.5 times more African-Americans enrolled in college than were 50 years ago, and for every college graduate in 1963, there are now five.

    And in positions of power, black elected officials have also made significant gains. Just going back 50 years to when the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965, there were only five African-Americans serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate – now there are 49 black lawmakers. Over a similar period, the number of black state legislators grew from about 200 to 700.

    Am I saying everything hunky-dory now? No, of course not. There is still prejudice. Bigotry. Injustice. But these have been with us since before Jesus Christ (and will likely be with us until He comes again).

    So, how much does removing monuments make life any better for people of color? You tell me. Maybe the issue isn’t so much as where the monuments are placed, or buried, as much as how we perceive their meaning, in the first place.

    No, no, no one wants to go back to a time when we were not our very best selves. But that doesn’t mean we want to forget when we weren’t.

  • Not Getting It

    Not Getting It

    Sunday morning came way too early for many in Caddo Parish on April 30. It was the day after voters rejected the property tax renewals that had been placed on the ballot. That morning, The Times in Shreveport couldn’t even bring themselves to report the election results in their printed edition. Online, this news must have still been too grim for them to report, as it was posted up with only a simple, almost curt headline, “Results uncertain, pending certification.”

    You see, the day before, there had been an election, and renewing property taxes were the only items on the ballot. And voters had said “no”, or “not so fast,” to all of them. And online, at least, the news seemed tough to bear for some.

    After all, many who had placed those tax renewals on the ballot, and supported renewing them, didn’t understand why. Caddo Parish Commissioner Patrick Jackson thought that voters “didn’t get the message,” saying “there is some misinformation that was put out, there is some more information that the parish needs to put out.”

    Parish Administrator Dr. Woody Wilson, and several commissioners felt the public had been misinformed about the property tax renewals, too. They thought the public just “didn’t get it” and that after the voters get more educated about those tax renewals, they’ll come to see it differently, next time, and vote in favor of those taxes, instead.

    But – what if the public already knows more than our government leaders think, and notices more than they realize?

    Remember in 2010, when the Democrats lost control of the House, and voters handed Democrats more losses than in more than 62 years? Many government leaders then, also, said the voters “didn’t get the message”, and that too many had been manipulated into becoming angry about the wrong issues.

    Back then, Barack Obama explained those 2010 elections as having to do with “anti-immigrant sentiment” or being “troubled” by what an Obama administration represents. Even actress Janeane Garofalo believed the voters just “didn’t get the message” in the 2010 elections, saying “this is about hating a black man in the White House.”

    And just this month, Hillary Clinton explained her election day loss last year on those voters who just “didn’t get it,” or otherwise didn’t understand the issues. “I was on the way to winning,” she said, “until the combination of Jim Comey’s letter on October 28 and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me but got scared off.”

    Obama felt the same way about Clinton’s bid for President last year. He believes that the voters just “didn’t get it” because he thinks Clinton didn’t do enough to get her message out. If only HE had been the one to articulate her message, he says, he “could’ve mobilized a majority of the American people to rally behind it.”

    But this “blame the voter” has happened before, though. The voters get blamed for not getting the message, or not being smart enough to know any better. In 1980, Republican rival John Anderson called candidate Ronald Reagan a sure-fire “loser,” comparing political suicide to the possibility of nominating Reagan as the Republican Party candidate for President. Even Gerald Ford labeled Reagan, “unelectable”. And Jimmy Carter was convinced that Reagan was the easiest Republican to beat.

    You see, it’s not that the Caddo Parish voters “didn’t get the message” in voting “no” to the property tax renewals, it’s that they don’t trust their parish government to spend their tax dollars wisely, or honestly. At least, not yet.

    And why should they? From spending millions to purchase the former General Motors plant (and then allowing millions of dollars worth of equipment inside to be sold off by others), to the Caddo Parish Employees Retirement System or “CPERS” (where it is reported that Commissioners received triple the amount they contributed), to the repeated requests for more revenue through multi-million dollar bond elections (even though the Commission’s reserves are almost double their annual budget), it’s not that voters “don’t get it” on these issues, or why taxes are needed in the first place.

    It’s not that, at all.

    It’s that the voters just don’t want any more of it.

  • Just Sitting There

    Just Sitting There

    You have probably heard it said that the average person uses only 10 percent of his or her potential. Some studies say that most people function with only about 2 percent of his or her mental potential. The remainder just sits there in reserve, being saved for some later time. Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar explained that this would be exactly like your parents leaving you a trust fund with $100,000 in it, but all you ever took out to spend was $2,000 and “the other $98,000 simply sat in the account, unused throughout your life.”
     
    Well, this is somewhat like our Caddo Parish government, which has more than $120 million of cash (or cash-equivalents) just sitting there, being saved for some later time. This amount is almost 200% of their total budget for 2017, at a time when most local governments across the country seldom have reserves of more than 8-10% of their annual budget.
     
    So if you have almost 200% of the amount of money you will spend in any given year, just sitting there, why in the world would you need to borrow money from us, and burden us with more debt, when we already are paying the highest property taxes in Louisiana?
     
    Well, the academic answer, from local elected officials, is that any surplus money should be kept around for emergencies, such as a flood, tornado, or man-made disaster, like a plant explosion or oil pipeline burst.
     
    But would any such disasters require $120 million in expenditures? Of course not. Consider Bossier Parish, as an example, though. They were the hardest hit from the flooding in March, 2016 and suffered $3.4 million in total losses.
     
    However, after FEMA reimburses them (FEMA reimburses 75% of costs), the net cost to Bossier Parish will only be around $900,000. That’s a lot of money, of course, but obviously a far cry from the $120 million or so that Caddo Parish has just sitting there, set aside, for such emergencies.
     
    This underscores the fact that too many of us don’t understand what local governments take in, or the extent of waste, fraud, and abuse present in the system. And frankly – there are too many elected officials counting on just that.
     
    Caddo Parish is not unique, though, in that regard. Many other local governments across the country are facing the same difficulties. Declining tax revenues, depressed property values, shrinking populations, higher costs of government services, etc.
     
    However, not all local governments take same approach. Some don’t see raising (or renewing) our taxes, or cutting services, as the only 2 options to balance their budgets. Some have chosen to lower taxes, instead. For example, in Burlington County, NJ, the county government was hemorrhaging dollars. So, they reduced their spending, and cut taxes by 13% because their goal was to “reinvent government.” The county chairman said, “We wanted to find a better way to get it done and by combining different departments and offices, we would find ways to save dollars and not duplicate tasks. We had to be more efficient.”
     
    Similarly, in Greene County, Ohio, commissioners were able to reduce the amount of property tax collected by $1.9 million because the county determined it had more than what was needed for county services. The county administrator said, “We didn’t need all those tax dollars, and we need to find a way to put them back in the community.” As one commissioner said to his constituents, “This is your money. We don’t need it, so you put it to use.”
     
    Now, when was the last time any of us heard that? Never.
     
    So, why is the only discussion around here about raising, or renewing taxes, especially when there’s $120 million just sitting there?
     
    Here’s the real answer: Our elected officials know that if they spend what they have “saved,” or don’t renew what taxes they already have, the taxpayers won’t likely vote for any new taxes, at least not anytime soon.
     
    So, it’s the “bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” analogy. And that “bird in the hand” is our tax dollars, and they aren’t letting go, and there’s certainly not any talk around here about “reinventing government” or putting tax dollars “back into the community.”
     
    None of the tax propositions on the April 29 ballot expire this year. Only 1 of them expires as early as 2019. The rest don’t expire until 2021 or 2022. What’s the rush to hold an election to renew a while bunch of taxes, on an obscure Saturday in April, where the voter turnout will be almost nil, that will cost the Parish almost $150,000 to conduct? There is no rush. Not at all.
     
    Instead, let’s give our Caddo Commission the opportunity to do for us, just what the local governments in New Jersey and Ohio have done for their constituents, and reinvent government for us, first.
     
    Will Rogers once said, that “we should be thankful that we’re not getting all the government we’re paying for.” If that’s true, then maybe having some folks in our government using just 2% of their mental potential is a good thing. There’s no telling how much higher our taxes would be, if they were using anything more.
     

  • “X#!!”

    “Incompetence” is a 4-letter word. And for those of us who are totally fed up with “incompetence” in our elected officials, we probably sound like the most foul-mouthed, cussing sailor you have ever met. And you know what? It’s just gotten to that point.

    There’s simply no polite way to say it anymore. After all, if we keep doing what we’re doing, we’ll keep getting what we’re getting, and frankly, and I don’t want any more of “it.”

    From the Caddo Parish Superintendent of Schools, to the Mayor of Shreveport, to the “accidental” Governor of Louisiana, they tell us how much they are “working for us,” that “now is our time,” and that “our children deserve better”. They tell us how our streets will be safer, our schools will be better, garbage pick-up will be on time, our water bills will be accurate, and our future will be brighter, all because of their ideas (and the higher and higher taxes to pay for them).

    But their ideas aren’t enough — good ideas don’t have wings. They don’t just take-off. They require leadership abilities to bring them into fruition, and far too many of our elected officials simply don’t have it in them, despite their arguably good intentions.

    They don’t have the temperament needed to concentrate on large-scale, organizational change. They aren’t secure enough in their own beliefs to deliver the changes needed because they capitulate when faced with almost any political resistance to those changes.

    But look, leadership is not for everyone, and that’s okay, but we don’t have to elect them into office, either. According to Fortune magazine, 70% of CEOs fail because they cannot execute. They don’t get things done, they are indecisive, and don’t follow-thru. And yet, we keep electing these same type of folks, to lead our communities and nation, year after year.

    As voters, we must be in the “people” business in every election, every year, everytime. As Jack Welch, the former Chairman and CEO of General Electric said, “We spend all our time on people,” he says. “The day we screw up the people thing, this company is over.”
    The same is true for our government, from City Hall to the White House and I’ll say it — we’ve screwed up the people thing. Just look at the “ideas” being floated around in Baton Rouge right now to “fix” our state’s economy.

    Although Louisiana already has the highest average combined state and local sales tax rates in America, Governor Edwards wants to raise taxes in Louisiana even more – this time with a “gross receipts tax” – even though our proposed state budget is already $4 billion larger than it was last year.

    This “gross receipts tax” is an additional tax that will be levied on all businesses that sell more than $1.5 million of “stuff.” That’s a tax that is due whether a business is earning a profit, or not. There’s not enough room here to discuss the details, but the next time you call a plumber to unclog a drain, or buy a car, or even go to the doctor, you’ll be paying for Governor Edward’s “gross receipts tax” and you’ll be funding higher and higher government spending for stuff that you probably wouldn’t approve of, in the first place.

    What our “accidental” Governor doesn’t understand is there is no such thing as a “free lunch,” even if you think you are soaking the rich, or making business pay their “fair share.” At some point, we, the people, end up footing the bill, no matter what you make it look like today.
    Raising taxes is the path of least resistance. It’s much easier to keep on spending, than cutting back and disappointing a constituency. Just like it’s much easier to keep smoking, than to quit. Or to sit in front of the television, or scroll through Facebook posts, than to spend time with your kids. Or to be more concerned with your own well-being, than those who are less fortunate and could use your help.

    So yes, I am using a lot of 4-letter words these days. For some of our elected officials, they just may be the only ones they can understand.