-my entire salary from the dccc is on open secrets
-Too much social networking
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Bummer: Jindal denies funding for light rail between NOLA and BR
This is kind of old news, but I'm incredibly bummed that Jindal refused funding for the light rail between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. I don't know how to say this without being offensive to Louisiana representatives, but seriously yall, Mass transit is the shit!--- (last time I will ever say 'yall' I promise! I nearly got clubbed by some LSU fan on Saturday)
I mean you wouldn't know how good and cost effective transit can be if you've only ever taken the bus in Baton Rouge--b/c BR bus system is limited, runs irregularly and doesn't meet the need in a significant way. The bus doesn't even run to the Baton Rouge airport!
The bus was my number one means of transportation to work and school when I lived in Philadelphia and DC. The bus was cheaper then the metro, and was faster then the metro at rush hour. You could very easily live in those cities and not own a car.
I've ridden the Accela from Philadelphia to New York, so I know that light rails are expensive, but I think the light rail would be good for BR because:
1) Wealthy folks who commute between BR and NOLA could potentially get rail travel subsidized (or partially subsidized by their employer) and bypass the frustration that is commuting in the south
2) A fast accessible option for traveling between Nola and BR might bring some of New Orleans tourist industry to Baton Rouge (at least for a day trip)
3) Finally, and this is real life, folks to go to New Orleans to drank (or at least I do). No one's going to drive an hour and a half home (or they shouldn't)
I say: Yes! Jindal, fucking take the money! And while you're at it, don't just make a super expensive high-speed train. Expand the bus system. Obviously there are more lower income folk than rich folk in Baton Rouge.
I mean you wouldn't know how good and cost effective transit can be if you've only ever taken the bus in Baton Rouge--b/c BR bus system is limited, runs irregularly and doesn't meet the need in a significant way. The bus doesn't even run to the Baton Rouge airport!
The bus was my number one means of transportation to work and school when I lived in Philadelphia and DC. The bus was cheaper then the metro, and was faster then the metro at rush hour. You could very easily live in those cities and not own a car.
I've ridden the Accela from Philadelphia to New York, so I know that light rails are expensive, but I think the light rail would be good for BR because:
1) Wealthy folks who commute between BR and NOLA could potentially get rail travel subsidized (or partially subsidized by their employer) and bypass the frustration that is commuting in the south
2) A fast accessible option for traveling between Nola and BR might bring some of New Orleans tourist industry to Baton Rouge (at least for a day trip)
3) Finally, and this is real life, folks to go to New Orleans to drank (or at least I do). No one's going to drive an hour and a half home (or they shouldn't)
I say: Yes! Jindal, fucking take the money! And while you're at it, don't just make a super expensive high-speed train. Expand the bus system. Obviously there are more lower income folk than rich folk in Baton Rouge.
Vitter-Bennet seeks to exclude illegal immigrants from the 2010 census count
Senator Vitter is riding the wave of the Acorn defunding by introducing an amendment with Sen. Bennet (R-Utah) that would bar the Census Bureu from conducting the census (I feel like I said census too many times) unless they ask residents what their citizenship and immigration status is.
Scalise and Vitter Call on Pres. Obama to Stay in Louisiana longer...
President Obama is coming to New Orleans this Thursday to tour Gulf Coast Recovery. Awesome. The President will hold a townhall at the University of New Orleans and speak at the Martin Luther King Jr. Charter school in the Lower 9th ward.
Both Sen. Vitter and Rep. Scalise have issued statements asking that the President extend his trip to get the full scope of recovery efforts. To me, this seems like little more than a thinly veiled effort to criticize the President. As always. It's difficult to take Rep. Scalise seriously when less than a month ago he spoke at the Northshore Tea Party in Covington, deliberately promoted the myths surrounding health care reform (you know, abortion, illegal immigrants and rationing) while a 500-person crowd chanted "You Lie".
It would be awesome if Pres. Obama were able to tour areas that were hurt by Hurricane Gustav and if he could make his way to Mississippi. Spending a single day in this state will not and cannot show you the extent of the damage. Economic issues and deficient infrastructure were problems that pre-dated the hurricane, and have only been augmented in the aftermath.
Louisiana, like many southern states, has huge poverty issues which affect every aspect of statewide development/living conditions. "A Portrait of Louisiana" a recent study conducted by the American Human Development Project, ranked Louisiana 49th in terms of human development (using the United Nation human development score). The text of this amazing study is posted online in full, or you can order a free copy (I got mine the other week, and development variables have been condensed and plotted on maps--really interesting and easy to read).
I fully admit that I'm not from Louisiana, so my opinion is certainly less relevant than the opinion of those folks who are actually from here. But still, I think as our government addresses Gulf Coast Recovery ongoing issues of poverty and opportunity need to be considered. I recently heard someone say "Gov. Jindal says Louisiana is recession proof because it really couldn't get any worse than it already is."
Lyndon Johnson was committed to fighting southern poverty, and like Pres. Obama, Johnson had an ambitious agenda to expand social programs and enact meaningful, progressive reform. I hope Pres. Obama can follow Johnson's example and make fighting southern poverty a high domestic priority.
Both Sen. Vitter and Rep. Scalise have issued statements asking that the President extend his trip to get the full scope of recovery efforts. To me, this seems like little more than a thinly veiled effort to criticize the President. As always. It's difficult to take Rep. Scalise seriously when less than a month ago he spoke at the Northshore Tea Party in Covington, deliberately promoted the myths surrounding health care reform (you know, abortion, illegal immigrants and rationing) while a 500-person crowd chanted "You Lie".
It would be awesome if Pres. Obama were able to tour areas that were hurt by Hurricane Gustav and if he could make his way to Mississippi. Spending a single day in this state will not and cannot show you the extent of the damage. Economic issues and deficient infrastructure were problems that pre-dated the hurricane, and have only been augmented in the aftermath.
Louisiana, like many southern states, has huge poverty issues which affect every aspect of statewide development/living conditions. "A Portrait of Louisiana" a recent study conducted by the American Human Development Project, ranked Louisiana 49th in terms of human development (using the United Nation human development score). The text of this amazing study is posted online in full, or you can order a free copy (I got mine the other week, and development variables have been condensed and plotted on maps--really interesting and easy to read).
I fully admit that I'm not from Louisiana, so my opinion is certainly less relevant than the opinion of those folks who are actually from here. But still, I think as our government addresses Gulf Coast Recovery ongoing issues of poverty and opportunity need to be considered. I recently heard someone say "Gov. Jindal says Louisiana is recession proof because it really couldn't get any worse than it already is."
Lyndon Johnson was committed to fighting southern poverty, and like Pres. Obama, Johnson had an ambitious agenda to expand social programs and enact meaningful, progressive reform. I hope Pres. Obama can follow Johnson's example and make fighting southern poverty a high domestic priority.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
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