As Haiti struggles to pull itself together, French finance minister Christine Lagarde is pushing to expedite a cancellation of hundreds of millions of dollars in Haitian government debt. Haitian historian Alex von Tunzelmann said, “For all of the 19th century and most of the 20th century, Haiti was unable to develop normally” because of crushing debt. […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Supreme Court ruling permits more direct corporate influence on elections
The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down decades of campaign finance law in a controversial 5-4 decision. Ruling that Congress cannot limit the political speech of corporations and labor unions, the Court overturned precedents established by prior courts in 1990 and 2007. The decision renders moot many of the laws governing outside spending established by […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Race to the punch line: The home stretch
In about two weeks, New Orleans will vote for a new mayor. Wednesday night, WWL-TV released independent poll numbers that provide a glimpse into what the final results might be after polls close Feb. 6. Mitch Landrieu has a commanding lead, with 45 percent of the vote and polled first among all demographic groups including […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
City denies public-records request for pending contracts
The New Orleans city attorney has denied a public-records request from The Lens that seeks every contract that leaves the Law Office to be signed by a contractor, on the same day it leaves the office. The state’s public-records law requires that records be made immediately available if they’re not in active use. The goal […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Will Nagin steamroll City Council on disaster recovery spending?
Whether or not you’ve been following the insider chatter about the lack of oversight of Disaster Community Development Block Grant money, Ariella Cohen’s piece at The Lens and with WVUE is a must read. The Nagin administration has chosen to put the disaster-recovery money in the operating budget, essentially giving the council less control over […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Troy Henry's "cheesy" tribute to MLK
Update: Uh oh! The Henry campaign has already scrubbed the Web version of the ad. Is it still on the radio or did they pull that too? Troy Henry has a new web video and radio ad that uses the voice and image of the Rev. Martin Luther King. Henry ties his personal success in […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
NORA's $30 million award not quite for blight
A highly touted $30 million federal grant to the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority arrived with some confusion about how it will be used. A nola.com headline announced that NORA got the money “to fight blight.” Meanwhile language on the Web site of the granting agency, the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department, says first that […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Thoughts on the Perry campaign, continued
A reader comments on the Perry campaign: “As a young white pseudo-lib I attended a couple of weakly organized events publicized only on Facebook. I donated money and offered to volunteer. This began some 9 months ago. I hesitate to make the comparison — in part because I find Perry’s invocation of Obama a little […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Troy Henry at Enron
Mayoral hopeful Troy Henry has stressed his executive experience to differentiate himself from his rivals. Indeed, Troy Henry has spent his career climbing the ranks in the private sector. He spent more than a decade at IBM before joining Enron, where he was promoted to vice president of Enron Energy Services in January 2001. Enron […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Investigations, Schools
Nagin administration moving millions in recovery money without public input
By Ariella Cohen, staff writer — In the months after Hurricane Katrina, traumatized New Orleanians turned out in droves to discuss the fate of their neighborhoods. They gave hours of their time with the understanding that their input would guide the rebuilding of their city – and help secure the federal disaster grants needed to […]