Rose colored glasses

I couldn’t help, but notice since both stories hit my computer almost at the same time.   It’s the same issue, but the headlines are different.

Here’s the headline from the Baton Rouge Advocate’s story

La. income drops 0.7%; beats national decline

Here’s the headline from the Baton Rouge Business Report’s Daily Report’s story:

Louisiana personal incomes outpacing national average

Both are correct, but for the headline-only readers convey very different pictures of personal income in Louisiana.

C.B.

1 CB 8:00 am

“Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny.”  Edmund Burke

Rep. Steve Pugh, R-Ponchatoula, has introduced legislation to hide more information from the public.

Pugh wants to give him and other public servants the right to determine which “emails” they receive are “junk” and therefore not subject to the Public Records Law. (See HB 1074.)

What’s junk?

Pugh’s legislation offers no definition of “junk email.”

However, Pugh gave an example of what apparently he considers “junk email.”  In the April 2, edition of the Hammond Daily Star Pugh said:

“I got one [email] that said ‘How dare you vote for the Health Care Plan. We’ll never send you back to Washington’”

The sender may have made an error, but it certainly isn’t “junk.” It expressed a constituent’s feelings.

Constituent input thwarted

Recently, I learned that all of my emails (regardless of the substance) sent via the House of Representatives’ email server were routinely routed to the recipient’s “junk mailbox.”

Since the server is a taxpayer-owned, I requested and was given clearance for my emails to be routed to the recipient’s “in mailbox.”

It makes one wonder how many other citizens are questioning why they don’t get responses to their emails?

Leges have long used the excuse: “If I had heard from my constituents I would have voted differently.”

If Pugh’s legislation passes, you’ll never be able to prove that your message was delivered. Any lege who votes against your wishes can simply delete your email and claim they never heard from you.

Ignoring the wishes of the people is not representative democracy.  It is tyranny!

C.B.

1 CB 8:00 am

In a recent letter to the editor of the Hammond paper, Tangipahoa Parish School Board member Al Link defended his ethically-challenged, colleague Danny Ridgel.

Link called my pointing out that Ridgel made a nice profit from the taxpayers by being unethical as adjudicated by the State Ethics Board a “cheap shot.”  In case you missed it. See commentary here.

Government of laws

Mr. Link and the other board members seem to think they are above the law.  Link rationalized Ridgel’s blatant violation of the letter and spirit of the law by saying:

“Besides being an excellent, informed board member who is ‘up to speed’ on our ongoing desegregation suit, Mr. Ridgel was the best avenue for the board.”

That’s a typical Machiavellian approach to government by a long-time Louisiana politician.

Perhaps I was brain-washed by my law school training, but I remain wedded to the concept that, in the United States (and even Louisiana) we are a government of laws and not one of men.

The fact that Mr. Ridgel violated the law is not in dispute.  He was adjudicated as such and was fined.   Ridgel did not contest the adjudication and paid his fine.

Ridgel earned $7,500 by violating the law.  He was fined $2,500.  Thus, Ridgel made a nice profit of $5,000 from his illegal act.

Small change

Perhaps Mr. Link is so wealthy that he considers ripping off $7,500 from the taxpayers as small change.

To me that’s not cheap. It’s an expensive shot at me and the other taxpayers of Tangipahoa Parish.

C.B.

1 CB 8:00 am