What began as a standard announcement story in The Daily Advertiser on Rep. Joel Robideaux’s switch to the GOP took a sharp turn toward the Tea Party poppy fields Friday when Ernie Alexander, a former state lawmaker and erstwhile radio station manager spouted some very public bile on behalf of the Lafayette Parish Republican Executive Committee.
Just three paragraphs into the daily’s piece outlining Robideaux’s decision to join the Republican Party, Alexander tells reporter Nicholas Persac that “Robideaux is not one of my favorite people:”
“He is not well-thought-of by Republicans, and he should not expect support from any of the groups of organized Republicans in Lafayette Parish,” Alexander said.
He said Robideaux is part of big-money politics backed by wealthy Lafayette residents who look after one another’s political interests rather than staying true to Republican ideology.
In the past, some local Republican groups have reprimanded politicians for straying from Republican ideology, but since Robideaux was an Independent, those groups had no jurisdiction over his actions.
“Now that he’s become a Republican, I think we will censure him too,” Alexander said. “There is no doubt in my mind that while Robideaux thinks he is gaining support, he will be censured by several groups.”
Tell us how you really feel, Ernie.
What’s even more outrageous than the comments from Alexander, who didn’t decide to not seek a third term as state rep. until his opponent (current state Rep. Page Cortez) substantially outraised him, is the timing. Robideaux’s party switch ups his chances of being elected as speaker of the house when the Legislature reconvenes, and the powerful position would serve Lafayette well in terms of legislative influence. With term-limited state Sen. Mike Michot stepping down as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Robideaux’s rise to the top House leadership position would fill the void.
Though we won’t know until January whether the R instead of I before Robideaux’s name will secure a win for speaker of the house, Robideaux tells the daily that many state lawmakers have said they can offer more public support of Robideaux after the switch. Alexander’s assertions that Robideaux won’t get help from “organized Republicans in Lafayette Parish” should be no sweat off Robideaux’s back, since Robideaux’s colleagues in the Legislature are the ones casting the speaker votes, not Alexander or any of his "organized Republican groups," also known as the TEA Party.
Read more here.
MAY 17 Here's a column from James Gill, this time in the Advocate. Gill, who has jumped ship from the Picayune, writes about the absurdity of dueling polls in this post. The numbers are so wildly different, it is obvious that both sides are "cooking the books," he writes. In particular, he looks at Sen. Mary Landrieu, and how her recent actions in DC have been received by those polled. Gill's acerbic, amusing prose is a welcome addition to a paper so conservative as to be occasionally lacking in personality.
MAY 17 Blogger Tom Aswell continues delivering bombshells about the state education department and Gov. Jindal's education "reform" efforts. In this post, he reports that students in the Shreveport area have been signed up for a charter school without their knowledge or consent. Most interesting to Aswell is how this Texas-based charter (with ties to GOP types) got the personal student information it has, if the students didn't give it.
MAY 17 This post by JR Ball in the Baton Rouge Business Report is an interesting tongue-in-cheek look at recent Baton Rouge economic development efforts. Among the items he examines is the idea that gaining a Costco makes BR a "world-class city." (Really? All you need is a different brand of Sam's? MK!) This effort, and other recent ones, are all built on the taxpayer's back, with tax zones, tax incentives and tax rebates, Ball writes.
MAY 17 Blogger CB Forgotston is critical of the legislature's reliance on a revenue-estimating committee's decision to include projected tax amnesty income in this year's forecast. That's a problem, CB posts, because the deadline for these people to pay their taxes is June 30, 2014. So when do you think these people who haven't paid taxes in years are going to pay their taxes? Surely not before June 30, and that means the money won't be there for this year's budget, he argues.
MAY 17 Here's an interesting blog out of California by a Hollywood writer, attorney and academic named Brian Alan Lane. He blogs about higher ed, and was a whistle-blower in a scandal over false credentials. In this post, he takes aim at LSU's new top dog, King Alexander. It's convoluted and a little confusing, but it sure makes Alexander a lot more interesting than he was yesterday.
MAY 17 Blogger Robert Mann writes about the LSU Board's refusal to allow Dr. Fred Cerise to testify before the legislature about Gov. Jindal's plan to close down all the state's charity hospitals and dump the poor on the private system. It's hard to imagine anyone more qualified than Cerise to testify about that, so why would anyone try to prevent him doing so? Mann thinks it is because the powers that be aren't interested in hearing any truth about the plan.
MAY 17 This post on the Louisiana Sinkhole Bugle, a blog that notes developments in the Bayou Corne and Jefferson Island salt domes, talks about a proposed expansion of the salt dome storage under Lake Peigneur in Iberia Parish. Residents are working against it for several reasons, including two biggies: the sinkhole disaster in Bayou Corne and the continuing, unexplained bubbling on the surface of the Lake.
MAY 17 NOLA police arrested more people Thursday accused of either being involved in the Mother's Day shooting or hiding the suspect afterward, this Gambit story reports. The NOLA police chief said he suspects the whole thing was gang-related and throws out a challenge to the gangs: he's got informants now, he says, and he knows a lot more than the gangs want him to know. The people who live in the neighborhoods terrorized by gangs are ready to talk, he says.
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