They finally fixed the pumps

Just in time to decommission them.

Now all the pumps at the mouths of the outfall canals in New Orleans use stainless steel, corps spokesman Ricky Boyett said.

That came just in time for the corrosion-resistant replacements to be irrelevant, as the temporary pumping stations will be shut down and disassembled when the permanent ones start up.

The permanent stations, which employ bigger, sturdier pumps, will be operated by the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East. That agency is in charge of the rest of the complex network of levees, floodwalls, floodgates and other structures protecting the metro area.

The annual maintenance cost for the permanent pumps is estimated between $4 and $5 million. (Assuming they really are rust-proof this time.) It's not clear to me exactly how that's going to be funded now.  In an unrelated but similar matter, the West Bank Authority has a millage proposal on the April 28 ballot in Jefferson Parish to help it take care of the infrastructure over there.

Anyway, the Lens article about the new pumps is worth a look.  It recaps about a decade of McBride's work criticizing the Corps.  For a lot of us, it's quite the trip down memory lane.  I was especially glad to see them bring up the Jeb connection to MWI. 

MWI is owned by J. David Eller and his sons. Eller was once a business partner of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in a venture called Bush-El that marketed MWI pumps. And Eller has donated about $128,000 to politicians, the vast majority of it to the Republican Party, since 1996, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

MWI has run into trouble before. The U.S. Justice Department sued the company in 2002, accusing it of fraudulently helping Nigeria obtain $74 million in taxpayer-backed loans for overpriced and unnecessary water-pump equipment.

The Bushes really set the tone for the neo-liberal rebuild of New Orleans early on.  People with short memories like to pretend we only entered the kleptocratic phase of our crumbling empire the day Putin followed them on Twitter or whatever.  But, really, this is the normal story of our entire lifetimes.  And, on most days, you don't have to go very far past your own flooded street to see it.

The Bushes still do not know how "the internets" work

This is over a decade ago now so maybe some people need the reference



Anyway, today on The Internets, this story made the rounds.

Bush's campaign never bothered to register JebBush.com and has been using Jeb2016.com instead. For the first several months of the campaign, that didn't hurt the campaign; as of late September, JebBush.com was benevolently blank, according to the internet archive site the Wayback Machine.

But sometime last fall, someone appears to have noticed an opportunity, and arranged for the Australian company that owns the domain name to redirect visitors to DonaldJTrump.com. (The Trump campaign denies involvement, for what it's worth.)

Which, okay, it's been a while since this prank happened but it's still rather shocking to think the Jeb! campaign would not have made an effort to acquire "JebBush.com" by now.  But then again, here's what the Jeb! campaign was up to today.

Jeb Bush’s caption on a tweeted photo of a handgun inscribed with his name was simple: “America.”


The immediate reaction on Twitter was: Boom! A steady stream of tweets, many mocking Bush’s, followed. Bush’s post also had more than 5,000 retweets less than an hour after he posted it.

If there is a stupider person that Jeb! to have ever run for President (including the rest of this year's GOP field) I don't know who that is.

Team Jeb! in Louisiana

Who even knew Suzie Terrell was still around?

Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush’s campaign on Tuesday named his Louisiana steering committee and finance chairs.

St. Tammany Parish President Pat Brister, state Sen. Conrad Appel of Metairie, state Rep. Nancy Landry of Lafayette and former state Commissioner of Elections Suzie Terrell will work to build Bush’s grassroots infrastructure.

And on the fundraising end, some of your favorites. 

Meanwhile, fundraising efforts will be led by New Orleans developer Joe Canizaro, Lockport shipbuilder Boysie Bollinger and Ruston businessman James Davison.

Taking his 2% or whatever and going rogue

Jim Webb is going to go and run on the Jim Webb For Lieberman For Connecticut Ticket or whatever.  

Democratic presidential candidate Jim Webb will announce Tuesday he's dropping out of the Democratic 2016 race, according to reports.

Webb is scheduled to hold a news conference at the National Press Club in D.C. at 1 p.m. ET.

Webb was reportedly considering a third party bid, according to an email his campaign distributed Monday.

The email announced the news conference and the subject line was "Jim Webb to consider independent run."

Here's what should happen.  Webb and Jeb Bush, and Chris Christie and.. I guess they'll probably take Kasich and Graham can all run together in a new "Grown Ups" party presented by No Labels or Third Way or somebody. It will attract all of the PAC money and all the candidates will poll a combined 15%.  David Brooks can write about how they're going to save America.  It will nominate Hillary somehow.

Jeb will not be the nominee

This is a pretty good look at Trumpmania right here.

A new PPP polls shows Trump, not surprisingly, at the head of the GOP pack. But when PPP created head to head match ups with the other contenders, Carson, Fiorina, Rubio and Walker all beat Trump and in most cases handily. Except Jeb. Trump beat Jeb.

Trump will not be the nominee. He's a placeholder for whichever candidate finally locks down the non-Trump Anybody But Jeb vote.  Because that's really what this is all about. And it could be pretty much any of those other jokers.. although it won't be Carson and it probably won't be Carly. 

What else they got?

If there was a winner of the kids table debate on Wednesday night it looks like it was Bobby Jindal. He has a 56/19 favorability rating, which makes him the 5th most popular of the GOP contenders in the state. And his 4% standing at least puts him in the top 10 in Iowa and ahead of main stagers Kasich and Christie. We'll see whether this boost for him is a broader thing or just Iowa.

How is Bobby doing?

Well let's see, he picked up an important endorsement from one Republican.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s presidential campaign has won a key endorsement from a high-ranking Iowa Republican.

Iowa Speaker Pro Tem Matt Windschitl, R-Missouri Valley, said in a statement Monday that he has decided to back Jindal because of his “strong Christian principles” and conservative positions on issues like guns and abortion.

“After much thought, prayer, research and discussions with my wife I have decided to make an endorsement in the presidential race,” Windschitl said in a statement.

Oh but wait, another prominent Republican says she favors Bush. 

As for Jindal, “he would be a terrible president,” she said. “He’s virtually paid no attention to our state in the last four years and simply promotes himself.”

But (Mary)Landrieu did have some kind words – for other GOP candidates.

She said she was impressed with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

On Rubio: “I think he embodies that kind of spirit of hopefulness that American really longs for in their leadership.”

On Kasich: “I like John Kasich … He’s not a Republican that pretends there are no poor people in America.”

But she had the kindest words for Bush.

“I always have been impressed with Jeb Bush. He’s been really a phenomenal leader on education reform,” she said. “I think he would be very good as a leader because the country really needs that kind of thought.”

Win some, lose some, I guess.  

Note: Mary Landrieu is a professional lobbyist for the Walton Family Foundation. Education privatization reform is their specialty. It's also Jeb Bush's pet issue.

Moistness of Water/Catholicism of Popes Dept.

Yeah, democracy, whatever.

The idea that U.S. presidents look out for the wealthy and powerful over the mass of ordinary Americans is nothing new. But a new study claims to confirm that assumption with hard data while seeking to spur a conversation over the flagging health of American democracy.

Echoing a much-discussed paper out of Princeton last year that argued the U.S. is no longer a proper representative democracy, the book, "Who Governs?" is an exploration of presidents, public opinion, and manipulation.

James N. Druckman from Northwesten University and Lawrence R. Jacobs from University of Minnesota make the case that presidents from both Republican and Democratic parties mainly serve and are guided by the wishes of the wealthy and political elites and exploit public opinion in order to serve those ends.

The duo turn to previously confidential documents from presidential archives, interviews with White House officials, and previously unquantified data to argue that "elites do most of the deciding," since presidents purposefully aim to "shirk citizen control."

This research focuses specifically on the Presidency. But you may have noticed your local governance mileage does not vary. I've rambled on at length twice this week already about the ways in which the Katrina recovery has been an exercise in wish fulfillment for political and economic elites.

Nowhere has the neoliberal agenda been more fully realized locally and nationally than in the realm of education reform. David Sirota wrote this two years ago but it lays things out pretty plainly.

For education, technology and charter school companies and the Wall Streeters who back them, it lets them cite troubled public schools to argue that the current public education system is flawed, and to then argue that education can be improved if taxpayer money is funneled away from the public school system’s priorities (hiring teachers, training teachers, reducing class size, etc.) and into the private sector (replacing teachers with computers, replacing public schools with privately run charter schools, etc.). Likewise, for conservative politicians and activist-profiteers disproportionately bankrolled by these and other monied interests, the “reform” argument gives them a way to both talk about fixing education and to bash organized labor, all without having to mention an economic status quo that monied interests benefit from and thus do not want changed.

That sounds like a policy designed to benefit wealthy elites at the expense of middle class workers like teachers not to mention the damage to a public service as fundamental to democracy as public education.  How much political muscle can you muster for that sort of enterprise?  A lot, it turns out.

A few weeks ago we learned that Mary Landrieu is going to work for the Walton Family Foundation promoting more charters. 

In an interview, Landrieu, who lost her bid for a 4^th term last December to Republican Bill Cassidy, said the position will enable her to continue advocating for one of her priorities as a senator -- helping encourage school reform. Landrieu points to the creation of dozens of charter schools in New Orleans as an example of "positive reform" that generates innovation and more learning options for students.

Mary's brother Mitch often talks up the "success" of the New Orleans charter movement during his many travels.

When Bobby Jindal takes a break from his many travels to announce his Presidential campaign in New Orleans this month he will likely emphasize his support for the charter movement. He has called it a "lasting legacy" of his tenure as Governor.  It's also a "lasting legacy" of perhaps more serious Presidential candidate Jeb Bush's time as Governor of Florida.

So the charter movement is pretty much the "bipartisan" feel-good issue of our time. At least for our ruling elites it is.  And, of course, they are the only people who count.

Bobby is doing OK

People think nobody likes him. But that's only really true in Louisiana and, as Bobby clearly demonstrates that he knows, Louisiana doesn't really count.  

Two new polls out this week on the race for the Republican Party’s 2016 presidential nomination offer a mixed bag for Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

In New Hampshire, a Public Policy Polling survey found Jindal had one of the best favorability ratings of all the possible candidates that respondents were asked about.

“He may be someone to keep a closer eye on moving forward,” PPP concludes.

Think about it in terms of this analysis of Hillary vs the GOP field from earlier in the week.

The ones who are at least relatively well-known are much less popular. The ones who are close to her net approval are close to unknown. The best takeaway for the GOP is that Rubio and Walker are basically unknown and thus don't bring a lot of negatives with them. But still, for an age of extreme partisan polarization, Clinton is pretty popular.

It's becoming more widely understood now that Jeb Bush is in no way a foregone conclusion for the GOP nomination.  Walker and Rubio have more room to grow as they get a chance to introduce themselves. They have their weaknesses, of course. Rubio is not exactly popular with hispanics outside of the Florida Cuban exile community.  Walker is a tremendous douchebag. But neither of them is really any better off than Jindal excepting the fact that their names are slightly more familiar nationally right now.  That can and will change once the campaigning begins in earnest. (Hell, Bobby hasn't even announced his candidacy yet.)
 
Not saying Bobby is gonna win the thing. Just that he's doing pretty okay right now.

I know I keep saying so but I swear I've got a lot more on this soon. 

Tough anti-immigration candidate receives endorsement from prominent hispanic

This quite a coup for Senator Vitter's campaign.

Jeb Bush is backing David Vitter in Louisiana's governor race this year and will appear at a New Orleans fundraiser for the Louisiana Senator April 15.

"I am confident Senator Vitter's conservative credentials and reform-minded principles will make him a successful governor. He will ensure states' rights are protected, enact pro-growth policies and be a tremendous advocate for the people of Louisiana," said Bush in a written statement released through his staff.

I wonder if he knows, though.