Bobby Bye Byes

There's a bunch of them. I'll try and collect as many as I see.

This one is from former Governor Meemaw.

“I gave him one bit of free advice, which he ignored. And that’s why we have such a financial disaster,” Blanco recalled with a laugh, saying she told the incoming governor, “‘In the Louisiana Legislature there’s not a tax break that every single member, whether they’re Democrat or Republican or independent, doesn’t absolutely love. So here in the state of Louisiana you have to stay close during the session and watch what’s going on and stop the erosion of the tax base.’

“And I told him that I had just vetoed six tax breaks in my last session. I could have signed off on them and left him a disastrous financial picture. Our budget was balanced. We had a lot of money. But I vetoed those tax breaks because they affected the ongoing operations of government.”

Bobby didn't care about any of that, though. Bobby cared about shoving all the state tax revenue out to cronies. Thus.. problems.

"He didn’t guard the public trust. He didn’t have enough courage to veto — and some of those people, both Democrats and Republicans, were testing him,” Blanco said. “They were playing with him when they went after the Stelly tax cut to take the whole thing down. They thought he would veto it, and I told them, ‘You are wrong.’ I said, ‘This governor will never veto a tax cut; he’s going to sign every one, and you’re digging yourselves into a hole that you’re not going to be able to get out of.’ And that’s exactly what they did.”

The Governors

Check out the photo. If you didn't know who these people were and I told you they were a post-punk Blondie rip-off planning a reunion show you'd totally believe that, wouldn't you? Sadly, it's nothing so exciting... or is it?

Former Louisiana governors' Kathleen Blanco, Edwin Edwards, Murphy "Mike" Foster and Buddy Roemer are slated to be on a panel discussing the last four decades of government. The LSU Public Administration Institute and the Public Administration Institute Student Association will host PAISA Day in The Rotunda of the Business Education Complex.

The governors will tackle the following topic: "The Evolution of State and Local Government: A discussion about the last 40 years."

So far as I understand, this is a one-off show.  Unless Jimmy's ever gets its permits in order and then we'll see. 

Note: This is the first time in years I've posted anything having to do with Kathleen Blanco. I thought it was strange that there was no established "Kathleen Blanco" tag for this blog.  But then I remembered they're all filed under "Meemaw".

Disturbing thought of the day

Today the Yellow Blog has officially lasted longer than the Blanco administration.

Well, I guess you've covered your ass then

Associated Press

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco is declaring a state of emergency tonight as emergency preparedness workers continue to monitor Hurricane Dean's path toward the Gulf of Mexico.

At the same time, Blanco is sending a request to President Bush asking for a declaration that would allow federal resources to flow to the state should the storm strike any part of the Louisiana coast.

Yes!

Meemaw's vetos will stick... for now.

Yes!

I still heart Meemaw

Yes!

I heart Meemaw

It's nice to have a budget surplus

Blanco thinks she's found a way to kill two birds with one big sack of money.

BATON ROUGE -- Gov. Kathleen Blanco came up with a plan Sunday to help patch the Road Home shortfall and simultaneously bypass her dispute with Washington conservatives over a proposed Charity Hospital in New Orleans.

The governor will rely solely on state money to build the medical facility, then shift federal recovery dollars allocated to the hospital to fill in the Road Home gap.

Her move takes the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development out of the equation in deciding how to proceed on the medical center at a time when HUD, the Bush administration and U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., have become increasingly skeptical of the scope of her hospital plan.

I don't know if this puts the Charity Hospital project on shakier footing in the future or not, but getting HUD and David Vitter's unhelpful asses off of the State's case looks like a good move from here.

Also, by finding money for Road Home, the Governor may have freed LRA to release the block grant money that Ed Blakely's office has been counting on to partially fund the city's rebuilding plan. This may happen as early as today.

So.. not all the news is bad this morning.

Update: LRA has released $117 million to the city.

Now can we drop the Blanco-back-in-the-race talk?

Alabama chosen over Louisiana for location of steel mill

Yes yes yes

Needs to be done.. like.. yesterday.

BATON ROUGE -- A consultant hired by Gov. Kathleen Blanco's administration recommended Friday that the state build a new $1.2 billion LSU public hospital in New Orleans to replace the charity hospital flooded by Hurricane Katrina.

(Unconfirmed) Quote of the Day

"If I pay taxes on the money.. can I keep it?"

Hedge fund?

Blanco drops out, ICFI stock up 15% the next day.

Won't have Meemaw to kick around

For now, I'm taking Adrastos's advice and "letting her up easy". The best thing I can say about Meemaw is that she meant well. And that is indeed high praise for a Louisiana pol. She wasn't my type but at least she wasn't flat out evil. But no one can honestly dispute that she was just the wrong person at the wrong time. I don't think it helped that the hostile Bushies were constantly stacking the deck against her but I think that the situation called for a stronger more articulate leader and Meemaw, God bless her, just wasn't up to it.

There is much good news coming out of this. We may have the first truly interesting Louisiana Governor's race since the Edwardian era on our hands. Somewhere phony Bobby Jindal is crying in his.. (does he even drink?) beverage over having his gimme coronation ripped away so suddenly. I am quite relieved to find that Oyster no longer has to consider voting for him anyway. More to come... should be fun.

Taking the last Road Home outta town

Adrastos is saying that WWL is saying that WAFB is saying that Meemaw is packing it in... or something like that. Now comes the interesting part....

Okay a little less salt this time

Because this is Maginnis and not Crouere

Former Sen. John Breaux has told sources he is "very interested" in running for governor if Kathleen Blanco doesn't. The Fax Weekly spoke to three individuals who say Breaux directly told them of his renewed interest during Washington Mardi Gras. "This is the most interested I've seen him than all the other BS we've been through," said a friend of the 61-year-old ex-senator turned high-powered Washington lobbyist. He toyed with campaigning for governor in 2003 and for re-election in 2004, holding the political community and other campaigns in suspense until he announced he would not run. News of Breaux's interest both heartens Democrats and puts pressure on Blanco to make her decision soon. The governor is said to have a poll in the field.

Another impromptu strategy meeting with Dad during last night's parades confirms that there are indeed rumblings out there. Quote of the night: Dad believes it is imperative that Breaux enter the race in order to stop "the stupid stupid" (read: Jindal)

Okay.. grain of salt required

Seeing as how this is Crouere and all but there remains the possibility of a John Breaux for Governor campaign.

The rumor from the Washington Mardi Gras is that Blanco will make a decision by the end of the week and if she does not run, John Breaux will run.

That "end of the week" bit sounds hokey to me. While watching the Krewe of Pegasus, this past Saturday, Dad and I had one of those impromptu strategy meetings about the Governor's race. While I'm still holding out the possibility that Mitch Landrieu is not as damaged by his failed mayoral campaign as some may think, we are both agreed that if Breaux were to run he would stomp all over everyone. I still think that Breaux is quite content to remain in Washington living out his days as an energy industry sellout, but there might.. might still be some of the magical allure left in that old Governor's mansion for the one-time EWE protege. Stay tuned.