Gov. Bobby Jindal took office in 2008 promising the most transparent administration in Louisiana history, and he quickly began to deliver. He got the state Legislature to approve one measure that requires elected and appointed officials to disclose their personal finances and another that provides greater public disclosure of government contracts. But over the past […]
Tag: Bobby Jindal
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Four years is a split-second eternity—no matter who wins tonight
Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson: Is the Libertarian a longshot for 2016? photo: Steve Terrell, Flickr I expected the 2012 race for national office to be a weird one. Instead, it’s been pretty stable. Sorry about that. I didn’t think Republicans would nominate former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney to lead their crusade against President […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Lawmakers cool on session to reverse Jindal's hospital cuts
A legislative bid to reverse Gov. Bobby Jindal’s cuts in health care services for the poor and uninsured seems likely to fail. In a survey by The Lens state legislators from Orleans, Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes expressed doubt that the political will exists to call the Legislature into special session next month to restore […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Jindal's path to be determined by presidential election results
What’s next, Bobby? In a career marked by a series of stepping-stone jobs – with the White House increasingly apparent as the ultimate goal – Gov. Bobby Jindal’s future will depend on who wins November’s presidential election. Ironically, a victory for his party’s standard-bearer, Mitt Romney, would force Jindal to postpone his presidential ambitions until […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Hurricane alert: Keeping your cool likely to get harder and harder
How was your Labor Day weekend? Mine was hot, dark and wet. A confounded, slow-moving tempest knocked out my electricity and exposed leaks around my windows. After a couple days of sweating and mopping up, my wife and I decided to consume all the beer in the fridge, before it got warm. Emergency measures, you […]
Posted inOpinion
Busting Jon Johnson shows early promise of a new kind of news
Councilman Jon Johnson’s indictment and abrupt resignation last week caught political observers off guard, but the gist of his wrongdoing was disclosed by my former colleagues at The Lens more than a year ago. The Times-Picayune, which recently announced savage newsroom cuts as part of a transition away from daily print publication, only managed to […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Obama linked to civil rights heroes – in Alabama, not Louisiana
A detail from the Alabama tourism pamphlet links President Obama to heroes of the civil rights era. l While stretching my legs at one of the Alabama “Welcome Centers” along Interstate 10 last summer, I browsed through a formidable collection of pamphlets touting the state’s various tourist destinations. I’d never seen so many travel brochures […]
Posted inOpinion, Schools
Why fight it? Let’s embrace textbooks Loch, stock and barrel
Say you’re an executive for a growing company that intends to relocate to the Southeast. One morning, while perusing your robust web news round-up, you click on a Business Insider article. It’s labeled “Hot,” because it’s being so widely viewed and shared. The first sentence begins: Thousands of children in Louisiana are being taught that […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Schools
Interview with OPSB's Thomas Robichaux: Looking beyond school system's past
Thomas Robichaux Thomas Robichaux, 43, a former city attorney who now works as a lawyer for a gaming distribution company, ran in 2008 as a reform candidate for a seat on the Orleans Parish School Board and today is its president. Few dispute that change was sorely needed. For years the city school system had […]
Posted inOpinion, Schools
National spotlight on creationist law promises ridicule for Louisiana
Defenders of the Louisiana Science Education Act often pose as friends of free inquiry. They argue that high school science teachers should be permitted to teach their students “all sides” of controversial topics such as evolution. The scientific community largely disagrees and says there is no productive debate to be had about basic evolutionary theory. […]