Deal is getting worse all the time

Yesterday the mayor made kind of a big deal out of his move to broker a "compromise" on the short term rental question. But when the compromise is structured such that we're still turning entire apartments over to tourists all over the city, it's difficult to see just what residents are gaining from that.

But Landrieu for the first time said Monday in no uncertain terms that he would not support the most controversial type of rentals, of whole homes in residential areas. Thousands of such rentals are listed on websites such as Airbnb and HomeAway.

"That's going to be off the table. That's not going to happen," Landrieu said.

At the same time, Landrieu and Deputy Mayor Ryan Berni — who has served as the administration's point man on the issue — said workable regulations will have to allow for other types of short-term rentals. Those likely would include renting rooms and half-doubles, renting full condos or apartments in commercial and mixed-use complexes, and time-limited rentals of full houses for up to 30 days a year.

That's kind of giving the whole game away, dude. But okay. "Whole home" is apparently "off the table" by some tortured definition.

Or maybe not.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu declared on Monday that full-time, whole home short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods were "off the table" for his administration.
It turns out, a lot depends on how you define "full time."

A pair of ordinances the administration submitted to council members Monday afternoon -- after consultation with sites like Airbnb and Homeway -- would allow anyone who owns or leases a property in a residential area to rent it out up to 15 times each year for as many as 120 days. That essentially means residential properties could be turned over to short-term visitors for a total of four months while still being considered a "temporary" rental.

In other words, yeah, we're just gonna keep letting them do it.  Again, not sure exactly, who is on the other end of this "compromise."  It's definitely not New Orleans renters. Oh wait here it is. 

But a key element in crafting the proposal appears to be getting buy-in from the sites that host listings for short-term rentals. In his email, Berni said, "If this framework is put in place, the major platforms have agreed to voluntarily collect taxes on behalf of (short term rental) permit holders, pay a fee into the (Neighborhood Housing Improvement Fund) for affordable housing and provide certain pass-through data to the city on a quarterly basis, including the names and addresses of operators and the number of nights each operator has rented on the platform for the previous 12 months.

"This industry participation is critical to making anything work," he wrote.

LOL they wrote an ordinance based on that Airbnb told them they wanted. Way to look out for us, guys.  Thanks a lot.

Anyway, City Council takes this up on Thursday.  Can't wait to see how that goes. 

Tuesday Night Debateball

(Some of) Your 2016 Louisiana U.S. Senate Candidates take the field tonight in Ruston. The debate is carried by LPB and you can (probably) stream it here. I suppose this means we should note a few recent developments in the race this week to get ourselves hyped up.

First of all, there is this JMC poll out. More than anything else, it appears to show a little Campbellmentum.



There are people (real people... seriously reputable people.. not just me) out there who have been speculating for months about the possibility of sneaking two Democrats into the runoff somehow. Theoretically, this still might might be ever so slightly mathematically possible if we assume enough of that 16% undecided vote are Democrats.  It's hard to know just what the electorate will look like in this crazy year. But we do have this tantalizing take on the scenario via this week's Gambit cover story.

That outcome would be a nightmare for the GOP, and the chances of that nightmare becoming a reality increase as front-running Republicans play it safe on the issues in order to protect their respective bases around the state. For example, all are pro-life, pro-gun, pro-oil, anti-Obama, anti-Hillary Clinton, anti-union and, of course, pro-Trump — though some may be less enthusiastic in their support of the GOP presidential nominee after his latest pronouncements.

  The same could be said of the leading Democrats, except there are only two of them to divide the 40-42 percent of the electorate that reliably votes "D" in national elections. On the Republican side, at least four major candidates — plus at least two more with 5-8 percent of the vote on average — will be competing for the other 58-60 percent of the vote. Add to that another 5 to 8 percent gobbled up by the 15 or more also-rans and it's easy to see how "jungle" is an apt political metaphor in Louisiana this year.

One thing else to consider here is this particular national election could skew the electorate slightly more Dem than usual given waning enthusiasm for Trump among "moderate" (I know, I know, just go with it) Republicans combined with the much stronger and more professional "ground game" operation on behalf of Hillary and the general understanding... even among Trumpistas... that the election is pretty much over at this point.   Given all of that, it is conceivable that the Democrats get a significant edge in turnout. Consider also that the Republicans who do turn out are likely to be  Trump true believers who split more of their vote somewhere along the Duke-Flemming-Maness end of the field and you can still sort of see that Double D runoff happening.

Of course it's a long shot.  For what it's worth, JMC's own analysts  don't think it's worth mentioning in their narrative.  According to them, the demographic trends don't look favorable for Fayard.

Four candidates now have a viable path to the December runoff. Democrat Foster Campbell essentially has clinched one of the runoff spots, while Republicans John Fleming, John Kennedy, and Charles Boustany are competing for the second runoff spot.

Foster Campbell is essentially a lock for the runoff because his lead among black voters has expanded from 33-24% to 48-18% over Fayard; if undecided “leaners” are included, his lead among this demographic expands to 52-18%

Meanwhile, as for the Republican front-runners, there's a bit of news about them this week as well.  Hillariously, NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune endorsed Boustany. Their editorial board writes that Boustany  is "poised to play a significant role in reforming the Affordable Care Act."  Actually he wants to repeal it and has boasted of the 60 times he voted to do just that. They also praise his work to "stop China from unfairly subsidizing shrimp to undercut U.S. producers."  But they don't mention his work to help his friends in the Louisiana seafood processing industry to "compete" with imports via the use of virtual slave labor.  But oh well.  Of course, we all remember last year when the T-P endorsed David Vitter for Governor. Maybe they just like candidates who prefer a certain kind of lifestyle.

Speaking of David Vitter, today's Stephanie Grace column is about the similarities in style and strategy between last year's failed Vitter campaign and this year's John Kennedy operation. 

But with Kennedy facing tough competition from fellow Republicans Charles Boustany and John Fleming for a spot in the December runoff, he's clearly hoping the plan that helped Vitter ward off GOP rivals Jay Dardenne and Scott Angelle will work for him as well.

The strategy that Vitter's affiliated Super PAC used, its executive director Joel DiGrado explained at a post-gubernatorial election discussion at LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication, was to make sure that neither of the other Republicans emerged as the single alternative in voters' minds. So when one seemed to be rising in the polls, the group would target that person for attack.

“Every week, we had to reassess who we’re beating up,” said DiGrado, who likened the exercise to playing “whack-a-mole on a balance beam.”

Kennedy also has an affiliated Super PAC, called ESAFund, It's ostensibly independent even though most of its money came from Kennedy's state campaign fund, and it just so happens to be run by Vitter's former campaign manager, Kyle Ruckert. And it too is running harsh attacks against fellow Republicans, with an obvious eye toward keeping either of Kennedy's main GOP rivals from edging him out or joining him in an all-GOP runoff, when he'd clearly prefer to face a Democrat.

This, of course, is the part of the plan that worked for Vitter. His Super PAC's brutal attacks against Dardenne and Angelle may have kept either from catching up to him at the polls.

But being a big aggressive asshole to Dardenne and Angelle came back to haunt Vitter in the runoff when both of those guys were all too eager to hit back at him. Even at the height of his power, it was pretty much a given that Everybody Hated David Vitter. But they were also afraid of him. That worked for a long time. Until it didn't.  Everybody may hate John Kennedy too before this is over but I don't think anybody is all that scared of him.

Anyway, happy debating, kids.

Update: Sorry. I missed this little intrigue today between fringe Trumpista Rob Maness and The Man Who Would Be King Of All Fringe Trumpistas John Flemming. 

Louisiana Senate candidate Rob Maness said Tuesday he was asked to drop out of the race and throw his support to GOP opponent John Fleming in return for significant funding in a future race.

Maness told The Advocate that he met Paul Dickson over coffee at Abita Roasting Company in Madisonville on Monday afternoon. There, Dickson, who identified himself as the person “running the John Fleming PAC” and a decision maker with the Louisiana Committee for a Republican Majority, offered support to Maness’ future political endeavors, he said.

“He told me that he would provide opportunities for my future, if I left the race for Senate and endorsed John Fleming. But, if I didn't do it before (Tuesday night’s statewide televised) debate, I'd be finished as a politician,” Maness said. “Although I'm not naive, the unethical threats and power play by the thugs behind the John Fleming campaign against me was shocking even by Louisiana standards.”

It's certainly a believable story. But then again, Maness is kind of a nut so who knows? Also, isn't there usually a private investigator filming surreptitiously whenever these little coffee shop meetings happen?  Maybe a tape will turn up.

Disruption

This is about as deeply as our mayor cares to appear to think about anything. 

Landrieu said during an editorial board meeting on Monday with NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune that he is believes that online short-term rental platforms like Airbnb fall under the category of "disruptive technologies" that are nearly impossible to put an end to altogether. As a result, Landrieu said he wants to see clear regulations imposed on short-term rentals that would allow them under "reasonable" conditions.

That would mean allowing short-term rentals that are clearly regulated and enforceable, and would generate enough money so that the city could pay for enforcing the regulations. Landrieu said he also wants to use money generated by short-term rental platform operators to help address the questions opponents often raise about affordability and the depletion of housing stock.

The kids and their disruption and their magic apps and stuff. No need to bother with the quaint old ways like enforcing laws or whatever if people don't want to follow them. The free market has spoken.  You'd think this means we don't need to cut every city department five percent in order hire more police, then.  But you'd be wrong about that. You'd also think that maybe we'd be less zealous about this.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu is proposing to nearly double the number of traffic cameras in New Orleans early next year, adding 55 new devices to watch for speeders and red-light runners.

The plan was announced as officials began rolling out the city's $614 million budget for 2017 early Monday. The proposal came during the city's Revenue Estimating Conference, which determines how much money the city has to spend.

Leave aside for a second the fact that traffic cameras are basically crooked tax farming operations that primarily benefit for-profit private contractors. Leave aside also the fact that cities across the country are growing so weary that they're no longer really considered "best practices" by any but the most regressive minded governments. Instead let's just ask what the heck is the point if we're no longer in the business of enforcing laws people are just going to "disrupt" anyway?

But there is that thing in there about "cost of enforcement." Apparently that's the threshold for determining where to focus the machinery of state now.  As long as there's revenue that can be gotten in a way that hurts poor people instead of our wealthier friends, we're all for it. But when poor people are being taken advantage of by those same wealthy friends and relatives, well there's nothing we can do. 

Tiny suppressions

George Orwell on humor:

A thing is funny when — in some way that is not actually offensive or frightening — it upsets the established order. Every joke is a tiny revolution. If you had to define humour in a single phrase, you might define it as dignity sitting on a tin-tack. Whatever destroys dignity, and brings down the mighty from their seats, preferably with a bump, is funny. And the bigger they fall, the bigger the joke. It would be better fun to throw a custard pie at a bishop than at a curate.

And now every "tiny revolution" has to be put down. 

By Monday morning, however, the satirist’s joy at confusing enraged conservatives reached new heights when his tweet was reported as genuine by the right-wing blogger Jim Hoft, who demanded to know if someone in a position of authority would “follow up on this.” It apparently never occurred to Hoft that he could have followed up himself, by attempting to contact the Californian who posted the tweet, or by scanning the rest of his Twitter feed, which is devoted to political comedy.

After Hoft’s post was linked to from the home page of the Drudge Report, it was shared more than 90,000 times on Facebook and Twitter.

Within hours, the fictional story had also been discussed, as fact, by Rush Limbaugh, and prompted investigations from both the United States Postal Service and the Secretary of State of Ohio, Jon Husted.

Something is going on here beyond just elites and authorities being stupid or having no sense of humor. It's more insidious. The new thing is a pose. Every joke or piece of satire is taken at face value.. not by accident.. but specifically with an eye toward suppressing dissent. And it's not strictly a right-wing phenomenon. It's also well-practiced by Hillary wing Democrats. Whining about "the tone" is the last refuge of every scumbag. But the scumbags are in charge. And this affected humorless passive aggression is their m/o.

Remember, "Remember me" hits?

They sure did nail the hell out of Cam a lot on Sunday.

The pass rush allowed the Saints to build a 21-0 lead as the Panthers' first four drives ended with three punts and an interception. All of those hits, even if they don't end up resulting in sacks, have a cumulative effect on the quarterback.

"There's an attrition in regards to the quarterback," Payton said. "You get a pass that's thrown quicker than it needs to be, because there's a clock in the quarterback's head that begins to change, and that's every one of them. ... You can't help but be affected when you're getting hurried or hustled or hit."

Has Goodell seen this quote?

Governor Landry wins a round

The judge says, actually,  Governor Landry can overrule Governor Edwards if he wants to.  

Attorney General Jeff Landry can reject dozens of state legal contracts because they include language preventing discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people -- among other reasons, according to a Baton Rouge state court ruling Monday (Oct. 17).

Judge Donald Johnson, of the 19th Judicial District Court, determined Gov. John Bel Edwards does not have the right to sue Landry and force the attorney general to approve legal contracts with a LGBT nondiscrimination provision Landry finds objectionable.

The judge said state law is hazy about whether Landry or Edwards has the final word over legal contracts, which made granting the governor's wishes for forcing the Landry's hand on the contracts difficult.

"I believe that the law is uncertain -- and it does not provide the court with a clear path," Johnson said from the bench, adding: "The court denies the request of our governor."

The governor's office said they will either appeal the court's decision or file a new lawsuit that might use a different type of legal angle to get the contracts past the attorney general. Either way, they don't plan to take LGBT workplace protections out of legal contracts until other avenues have been exhausted first. But the process could take months, bringing some areas of state government to a grinding halt.

A "grinding halt." Just because Governor Landry and friends feel like being mean to teh gayszz.  Earlier today, Governor Landry's pals signed a letter attesting to their own status as deplorable basketcases themselves. There's a list of them here. It includes two of the highest ranking Republicans in the legislature.

Two of them are members of the House Republican leadership. State Rep. Lance Harris, R-Alexandria, is head of the House Republican caucus and Rep. Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

And "lesser evil" is still evil

Hillary Clinton is definitely going to be President.  Shouldn't we start talking about how objectively bad that comparatively less bad thing will be?

Since primary season, we have heard variations on a theme from self-styled progressives: Clinton isn’t perfect, but a Donald Trump presidency would be so disastrous that we have to elect a safe, centrist candidate to stop him. Therefore, they had to put aside their critiques of Hillary in favor of preventing the rise of the Third Reich in America.

Now that we’re all but certain that Trump will not, in fact, win, they should feel liberated.

They can stop focusing on how terrifying a potential Trump presidency would be and begin to focus more honestly on how terrible Clinton’s track record has been and likely will continue to be at home and around the world. Every liberal and progressive who has held back on criticizing Clinton’s close ties to Wall Street, or the disturbing revelations of the content of her speeches to Goldman Sachs, or her incredibly destructive foreign policy past from Libya to Honduras and her all-but-assured hawkish foreign policy future, or her role in pushing welfare reform, or her palling around with ghoulish war criminals like Henry Kissinger, and her pride at winning the endorsements of neoconservatives whose hands are dripping with blood like John Negroponte.

But strangely, it’s been over a week since the tape was released, and we haven’t heard from much from those supposedly reluctant Clinton supporters suggesting any kind of shift

Wonder what gives with our so-called liberal Hillary Dem friends. Maybe the problem is they really do believe in this stuff. The lesson of 2016 is either that or that they hardly believe in anything at all. I'm still trying to work out which is worse. Gonna have at least 4 years to figure it out.

Populist football

There are a lot of compelling aspects to the DACOACHO storyline taking place in Baton Rouge this year. There's the obvious hometown boy facet. There's the improbable coincidence of Orgeron finding himself in the same situation at LSU he once was in at USC.  But the best story is probably the "second chance" narrative about a man who has gotten his break once and failed coming back a little wiser this time.

Specifically, Orgeron's story is about learning to be less of a dick.

At USC, he would do simple things like cater Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles for his players and have people like Dr. Dre and Ray Lewis talk to the team. He gave hand-written notes to every member of the USC band, thanking them for what they do.
Trojans safety Dion Bailey spoke in 2013 about how refreshing Orgeron was:

He really emphasized that this time around being a head coach he wants to do it the right way, he really learned a lot from his time at Ole Miss, he asked us our input about a lot of things on the team, and he really inputted our input into the schedules and event-planning, things like that. He's always looking out for what's better for us, what makes us comfortable, taking care of our bodies. That really made us appreciate him, and from then on, guys have been behind Coach O and would run through a brick wall for him.

At LSU, he’s using those same practices.

“Let ’em have their cell phones and headsets,” Orgeron said in a recent interview with SB Nation. “Let ’em dress the way they want! Let ’em be who they are, as long as it’s respectful. Don’t put shackles on them. And I know it works. I know it works. I had kids at USC hugging me, crying, when I left. Begging me, ‘Don’t leave.’"

In that same interview, he added that part of being both a good and impactful head coach starts with showing players that you actually care about them.

“Before, I didn’t let them know I cared. I was the D-line coach. You can’t coach a receiver like a D-lineman. I just realized, here are some of the things I’ve got to change. I started writing, and I came to a realization: If I treat these boys like I treat my sons, I think we’re gonna be fine. How do you treat your kids? When my boys come home, I cook ’em a steak.

“That’s my motto now: Treat ’em like you would your sons. And hey, I’m Cajun. We eat a lot."

There you go, Coach. Give the people what they want. A steak in every pot.. or something like that. We can get behind that. 

With this going on at LSU and the Saints seeming like they're at least going to be interesting to watch as they struggle to 7-9 or thereabouts, football season is suddenly looking fun again. 

Year of the bang

It's city budget season, y'all.  There's an unveiling scheduled for the mayor's 2017 proposal at a press conference today. But voters have an opportunity to significantly alter the outlook by passing the a millage on the ballot next month (CORRECTION:On the December ballot) to shore up funding for the firefighters' pension settlement. We rejected that the last time around because it was tied up with a second tax meant for hiring more police. Those issues have been separated but the mayor is still intent on punishing us for not giving him his NOPD money. At least that's what this sounds like.

The main question hanging over the budget is how the administration will respond to an April vote of the people rejecting two property taxes that would have funneled $26.6 million a year to the New Orleans Police Department and the firefighters' pension system.

While the city is hoping to bring in some new revenue from other sources, without the defeated police tax the budget will include cuts aimed at providing more money to pay for NOPD expansion as well as other key priorities, Deputy Mayor Ryan Berni said.

They're also, as is their habit lately, talking about squeezing more money out of us via regressive fees much the way they did last year when they boosted rates and hours at parking meters. This article doesn't have specifics on that but its author is reporting from the revenue estimating conference this morning where we are getting some hints.

More traffic cameras

Landrieu will propose more than doubling the number of traffic cameras in the city, adding 45 fixed cameras and 10 mobile ones

— Jeff Adelson (@jadelson) October 17, 2016

A liquor tax

Landrieu administration also expecting $1.5M from enforcing an existing (but unused) tax on high-alcohol content beverages

— Jeff Adelson (@jadelson) October 17, 2016

They mention permit fees from the WTC development although that project is still in legal limbo for now.  Also there is this.

There is also one new stream of money that's already been approved. Officials expect a change in state law this year allowing sales tax to be collected on purchases at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome could bring in about $1 million.

I'm going to have to look this up when I have time later. But the way I remember this happening last year was the legislature almost accidentally violated Tom Benson's lease on the Superdome by making concessions there taxable during the Spring special session.  Later they had to scramble back and restore Benson's privileges. So I don't know if this new change in state law referred to above is in compliance with that fix or something different.

Update: Nevermind. Got the answer via Twitter. Athletic events are excluded from the sales tax. Figures.

Anyway, we await the mayor's budget launch speech.  His hype man says it's gonna be big.

The city is expected to provide more details on a $2.5 billion plan to repair or rebuild a substantial portion of the city's roadways over the next eight years. Much of that money will be contained in the capital budget, a separate document that outlines infrastructure spending.

"2017 is going to be the year that kicks off with a bang," Berni said.

A whole year

The bending reality shtick is not entirely original to our show but it doesn't make it any less of an achievement. We like to think of it as a sign that we've arrived. Anyway it's been fun and we think we're finally getting the hang of it. Thanks to everyone who has listened, contributed, and corresponded with us this year. We're going to try and have more guests on in the future... provided we can ever arrive at a more regular recording schedule.

Anyway this one has an exclusive interview with Coach Orgeron so that's a good start. It's also got the Senate election, the requisite football talk, and a little book talk as well. Plus... extras, as always. Enjoy.

QOTD

Ed Orgeron:

Orgeron hasn’t engendered a wisp of criticism since taking over for Miles, but his tenure won’t have as much to do with the court of public opinion as the field of cold, hard numbers. Win enough games, though no one knows how many that would be, and he gets to crumple up the interim tag next to his name.

He couldn’t ask for a tougher gauntlet, with five ranked SEC teams lying in wait, all preceded by months of unbelievable drama.

Somehow, Orgeron has embraced it all.

“You know, whatever,” he said. “This is college football. Whatever the day brings, we’re going to face it and be positive about it and go after it and adjust on the move.”

Maybe not the most profound thing. But you do have to respect a guy who subscribes to "You know, whatever," as a guiding principle. 

So who bought out Stuart Fisher?

Can't imagine he's walking away without having received something for his $10 investment.

The lawsuit that has held up redevelopment of the old World Trade Center building in New Orleans for more than a year has taken a bizarre turn, with the head of the company that filed the suit abruptly stepping aside and his former legal team asking to be removed from the case.

After a competitive review process last year, the city chose a team of developers who plan to turn the former office tower at the foot of Canal Street into a Four Seasons Hotel and condos. However, one of the losing applicants, Two Canal Street Investors Inc., has been trying to block those plans, arguing the city broke state law in making its selection.

At the center of the dispute has been Stuart "Neil" Fisher, who bought TCSI after its proposal already had been rejected. He’s been accused of pursuing a frivolous lawsuit with the hope of scoring a quick payday in the form of a settlement with the city.

But Fisher stepped down as president of TCSI earlier this month and says he no longer has any stake in the company, though he insists that others will carry on with the lawsuit in his place.

Actually it's not entirely clear that he's walking away.  Something has changed, obviously. But that something is not necessarily the end of this lawsuit. 

Neither side would comment on the lawyers’ decision to pull out of the case, a step that still needs approval from Civil District Court Judge Tiffany Chase, who told both sides in a status conference this week that she plans to proceed quickly with a trial over the suit.

Fisher said Friday that a new team of lawyers and a “nationally famous litigator” could be coming aboard to handle the lawsuit, but he would not name them.

Fisher has "stepped down," and his lawyers are (maybe) off the case but he's still here hyping the mystery Superlawyer to be named later?  It's suggested by the other side that this is just a delay tactic. But if it is, then on whose behalf is the case being delayed?  This isn't the first time we've had trouble understanding just who the plaintiff is in this case.

Fisher bought the company but didn't file the lawsuit. Maybe. At some point he indicated that he wasn't even the owner of the company anymore. But we weren't told exactly who is.

In an interview in March, Fisher said he is no longer an owner of Two Canal Street Investors, but he is the president and "authorized representative of the owners, both foreign and domestic." Fisher said he has a group of new investors including a Wall Street hedge fund, all of whom he declined to name.

Now Fisher is leaving.. again? But not really? And the legal team is shifting around.. maybe. I still don't know who the actual plaintiff is in this case. And I know even less about who actually owns TCSI now. Somebody does, though. Or maybe this is just one of those perpetual motion lawsuits that keeps going under the power of its own inertia.

Correction: Misspelled Stuart in the title. That happens a lot. 

Gumbo season

It's mid-October and we're all still sweating our ballses off. It looks like we're headed for another Halloween In The Tropics this year. Not sure what that means for your Sexy Ken Bone costume.

Anyway, everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about..... (shoot me please.) So this month I've been trying to make fall happen by cooking more gumbo.  A few weeks ago this chicken, andouille, and oyster deal was a major success.  Seriously. That's my favorite one I've made since the Great Turducken Gumbo Of 2011.

This past Thursday I did a gumbo z'herbes very much like the one shouted about toward the end of this podcast episode. Because, you see, there was this local uproar about people putting kale in gumbo. But that was stupid because you can totally put kale in gumbo. People do it all the time. I put it in this one along with several other types of green as well as some smoked pig tails. 



So shut up about kale already. It works fine in the gumbo.  Meanwhile the gumbo cooking hasn't helped the fall weather roll in quite the way we'd like. But we'll keep trying.

The Joe Callahan Era

Welcome to the future 

"Why'd it take you this long?"

It was getting to be pretty depressing watching Hillary and the Democrats embrace and congratulate every craven Republican who suddenly abandoned Trump just as he finally started to crash and burn. These Republicans are thoroughly undeserving of praise, many of them having supported, passed, and signed horrifying legal actions against women in the form of health care restrictions, limits on the availability of abortion, forced ultrasounds, etc.

By and large Democrats were letting them get away with this because it was a cheap way to make their Presidential candidate look more "bipartisan" or whatever. That was stupid.  Here is a clip of the President in Ohio today doing better.

But but but... it's just risotto recipes

I'm looking forward to the end of the 2016 campaign.  It was fun during the primaries when the Democrats were actually arguing over the outsized  influence of the corporate oligarchy and the Republicans were staging a bizarre revolt against the rotten money power that controls their party. As we stagger to the finish, though, that's all well behind us.  The Democrats have fully embraced the oligarchs and what's left of the Republican Party is no longer in revolt so much as just plain revolting.

Another annoyance about this stage of the campaign is the near total absence of substance coming from either major candidate or their surrogates.  Of course when one side nominates a lecherous quasi-fascist reality TV star, that's almost understandable.  But that isn't the only source of the inanity.  It's clear now (as it should have been for several months) that Hillary Clinton is going to be President. One would think that the focus of discussion now would be on the kind of President she will be.  One would be wrong about that.

With the election reduced to fait-accompli status, it might be a good idea for the party assured of victory to start to work setting the governing agenda.  Let's talk now about what we'd like to see President Clinton accomplish in order to attach the popular mandate of the landslide election to our priorities. For some reason Hillary partisans aren't interested in doing this. In fact, they are doing everything they can to forestall that kind of talk.  Even now, as they've beaten the American voter into submission, the Hillary people aren't in the mood to take a victory lap.  Instead, they are still playing defense. Sloppily.

Take the recent Wikileaks releases of hacked emails, for example. It's understandable that the campaign itself considers them a distraction or embarrassment. But what about those Democrats who aren't employed directly by the campaign or the DNC? Or what about just the average voter? There's some stuff in there that most of us might find worth talking about.

In her speeches to Goldman Sachs, Hillary basically said that bankers are the best people to regulate bankers and that if you aren't getting rich in America, you must be some kind of loser.

At the Goldman Sachs Builders and Innovators Summit, Clinton responded to a question from chief executive Lloyd Blankfein, who quipped that you “go to Washington” to “make a small fortune.” Clinton agreed with the comment and complained about ethics rules that require officials to divest from certain assets before entering government. “There is such a bias against people who have led successful and/or complicated lives,” Clinton said.

She also admits her own position on Syrian intervention is going cost a lot of civilian lives. 

In her remarks to Goldman Sachs, Clinton pointed to the Syrian government’s air defense systems, and noted that destroying them would take the lives of many Syrian civilians.

“They’re getting more sophisticated thanks to Russian imports. To have a no-fly zone you have to take out all of the air defense, many of which are located in populated areas.  So our missiles, even if they are standoff missiles so we’re not putting our pilots at risk—you’re going to kill a lot of Syrians,” she said. “So all of a sudden this intervention that people talk about so glibly becomes an American and NATO involvement where you take a lot of civilians.”

That's actually an example of the "private Hillary" being better than "public Hillary." It might bode well for what comes after the election.  On the other hand, we're in a shooting war in Yemen now, apparently. So... well, we'll see.  Anyway, none of us are much surprised to learn also how much Hillary loves Wal-Mart but that's in there too.

There's other stuff but let's not catalog it all here.  The point is that, despite the protestations of the professional sycophants and hangers-on (lol risotto!), there's relevant information in these emails. They tell us what sort of President we're about to have and what she and the people around her believe. In a better world, this would be the most relevant election topic at this point given the inevitability of the outcome. Instead, thanks to Donald Trump, we're spending time in 2016 arguing over whether or not women are people.

Here's why it matters that we start to contemplate the Clinton Administration now.  David Dayen writes that the leaked emails also instruct us that by the time Obama took office in 2008, the opportunity to substantively shape the course of the new Presidency had already passed.

If the 2008 Podesta emails are any indication, the next four years of public policy are being hashed out right now, behind closed doors. And if liberals want to have an impact on that process, waiting until after the election will be too late.


Who gets these cabinet-level and West Wing advisory jobs matters as much as policy papers or legislative initiatives. It will inform executive branch priorities and responses to crises. It will dictate the level of enforcement of existing laws. It will establish the point of view of an administration and the advice Hillary Clinton will receive. Its importance cannot be stressed enough, and the process has already begun.

The wing of the Democratic Party concerned about personnel decisions made its opinion known almost two years ago. Dan Geldon, now chief of staff to Senator Elizabeth Warren, met with Dan Schwerin, a top adviser to Clinton’s campaign, in January 2015. According to an email follow-up with Podesta and others, Geldon “was intently focused on personnel issues, laid out a detailed case against the Bob Rubin school of Democratic policy makers.” He was also “very critical of the Obama administration’s choices.”

Dayen goes on to argue that this year the so-called "Warren Wing" has earned some clout during the election (Bernie won 42 percent of Democrats!) and deserves to be heard in these discussions. But given the condescension toward them that drips out of some of these emails, it's not clear just how much influence they'll end up having.

The governor needs to stop being "reasonable"

The state needs to just go ahead with its lawsuit against the oil and gas industry.  The opposition is dug in and is never going to meet us halfway. In this Lens Op-Ed Anne Rolfes describes the oil lobby's recalcitrance in comparison to what she terms Governor Edwards's "reasonable" though ineffectual hope for a negotiated settlement.

Edwards would rather not sue. Time and again he has said his preference is for oil companies to meet him at the table and negotiate a settlement. This is a reasonable path, but instead the industry cries war. The oil and gas group casts the governor as a villain who has set greedy lawyers upon them.  Any mention of why our coastline is destroyed conveniently omits causation. “Save the coast,” is the vacuous cry that the oil industry has heartily promoted.

Refusing to honestly address the problems oil and gas extraction has caused is a recurring theme. Ask the industry to reduce pollution and it will roll out an opinion piece, like the one in which the Louisiana Mid Continent Oil and Gas Association depicts itself as an industry hogtied by regulation and law.

In fact, the opposite is true. The laws that regulate pollution are not enforced. When the inspector general of the Environmental Protection Agency, the regulator of on-shore facilities,  reviewed enforcement of environmental laws throughout the nation, he found enforcement in Louisiana to be the worst. One of the reasons is cited on page 16: “a culture in which the state agency is expected to protect industry.”

The state's only recourse at this point is to press on with legal action against the oil and gas industry. The case has enough merit, anyway. Last week, John Barry wrote in the Advocate that "the industry has no actual defense." 

This has become laughable. The very existence of coastal Louisiana is at stake, Governor John Bel Edwards wants the oil and gas industry to restore the part of the coast it destroyed, and the industry responds by attacking the attorneys he wants to hire.

Of course that shouldn’t surprise anyone. The industry has no actual defense, so it needs to distract. Let’s look at the issue point by point, starting with causes of the problem.The industry’s minions blame levees for land-loss, and levees do cause damage. But industry has, too — and in some areas of the state industry is the biggest cause. Don't take my word for it.

Ask oil industry scientists. In 1972 a study by pipeline companies concluded that every mile of pipeline causes the loss of 54 acres of land, and industry has dredged thousands and thousands of miles of pipelines and canals. In 1989, a study by the Louisiana Mid-continent Oil and Gas Association, the trade association for major oil companies, examined the area of the state with the worst land-loss and concluded that "the overwhelming cause" of that land loss was industry operations. In 2001 the U.S. Geological Survey oversaw a study including industry scientists which concluded 36 percent of land loss was caused by industry. And many scientists believe industry caused a much higher percentage of the land loss.

Of course, if your strategy is to dig in and distract, it helps to have political players on your side. It helps when the Attorney General is willing to intervene in the process on your behalf. It helps when local parish officials are so cowed by oil money that they refuse to lend their voice to the cause. And it helps tremendously when a Democratic Senate candidate refuses to back the effort.

Caroline Fayard, also a Democrat, noted that she is an attorney but said that she doesn’t think suing the oil and gas companies was the solution to restoring lost land.

Lawsuits are expensive and time-consuming, she said, and provide no guarantee of results.

Fayard, by the way, is the daughter of a wealthy civil attorney whose fortune derives from involvement in various high profile environmental lawsuits. Specifically it derives from his ability to subtly play both sides of the fence in these scenarios. Most recently, American Zombie detailed how this worked during the BP settlement process.  The Fayards also benefit from their cozy relationships in state and national politics.  But much more on that later. Suffice to say for now that it's laughable to see Caroline positioning herself against the governor's lawsuit here. Especially so when in her campaign appearances and literature she emphasizes her role in the BP negotiations. Here, for example, is a push poll where Fayard's candidate bio describes her as "a civil justice attorney and small businesswoman who took on BP and helped negotiate the state settlement."  But  Senators have a different set of priorities than trial attorneys sometimes. Or at least they're paid differently.

In Louisiana they're also paid to deny that humans (specifically humans in the fossil fuels business) are responsible for climate change. At the forum,  according to the Advocate, "Fayard also said that climate change is real but did not pin blame." Unfortunately, as we've noted previously, this is also the governor's ridiculous position. Apparently, this is what the conventional wisdom of state politics tells us it means to be "reasonable."  John Bel really needs to stop that.

Voter suppression

Today was the last day to register for new voters looking to participate in November's elections in Louisiana. The Presidential race still isn't expected to be close here. (Which may explain why the major Republican Senate candidates, state GOP insiders, and Steve Scalise are all standing by Donald Trump even now.) But there are state and local elections to consider as well. 

So there's ample incentive to register. Unfortunately the Secretary of State's office is doing everything it can to discourage that.

Secretary of State Tom Schedler plans to give each voter a sticker of the famous “Blue Dog” saying "I voted."

Schedler and the family of George Rodrigue, the New Iberia artist of the "Blue Dog" paintings, unveiled the art for the sticker Monday at the Press Club of Baton Rouge.

“The 'Blue Dog' has become synonymous with Louisiana,” Schedler said.

Among the many Rodrigue works that include the iconic pooch is a painting President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, commissioned by the Democratic Party during their term in 1990s. Rodrigue's first "Blue Dog" was as part of a collection of ghost stories.

The Secretary of State’s Office printed about 4 million stickers, which should be enough for everyone who votes early, starting on October 25, or casts their ballot on November 8. The stickers cost $21,000 to print.

Louisiana had about 2.97 million registered voters at the end of September. Registration for the upcoming election closes Tuesday at 11:59 p.m.

Another SELA Mardi Gras

The last update from S&WB that I'd paid any attention to came several months back during the spring. At that time, we were told that the SELA drainage work on Napoleon Avenue would be completed "by the end of the year."

The long-awaited end of the Napoleon Avenue drainage-canal project is now expected to be the end of the year — all of it — and landscaping on the neutral ground should be done next year, officials with the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told neighbors Thursday night.


The section of Napoleon from South Claiborne to Carondelet Street is all but finished already, said engineer Ron Spooner of the S&WB and John Fogarty of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during a town-hall meeting at the St. Stephen Catholic Church school cafeteria. The box canal has been completely installed, and Boh Brothers contractors are now finishing up replacing curbs and sidewalks that were removed during construction.

In recent months, their progress has been evident.  Most of the culvert is finished and buried.  The intersection at Camp Street has reopened. Others are tantalizingly close to completion.  At the same time, though, they clearly have a lot of work left to do.



So today I happened to glance at the project site to find that the completion date has quietly been moved to July 2017.  Get ready for another parade season in the construction zone.

UPDATE: Thanks to the Advocate's Jeff Adelson for checking up on this. 

@skooks 2 - The July 2017 date is because they won't be laying sod on the neutral grounds until after Mardi Gras.

— Jeff Adelson (@jadelson) October 12, 2016

@skooks 3 - Waiting to do the sod means they won't have to close the neutral ground for the parades.

— Jeff Adelson (@jadelson) October 12, 2016

RIP Mike VI

Roscoe was a good boy

LSU's live tiger mascot Mike VI is dead, LSU officials announced Tuesday.

The 11-year-old Bengali-Siberian tiger died after his health declined significantly from a rare, incurable cancer diagnosed in May.

He had a friend named Jeff


 

We were trying to film our own Daisy ad

Over the weekend we had to go to Ocean City, MD to attend what, I guess, you'd have to call a destination funeral. It was a strange experience staying on the beach in a summer resort town during the fall on a less than celebratory occasion. Also there was a muscle car convention in town so, throughout the weekend, we were never far from the sound of revving engines and smell of burning rubber. Oh and on the last day the remnants of Hurricane Matthew passed over us and threatened to flood our drive out of there.

So, yeah, weird times.  On the morning after our first night in town, we did witness a nuclear device detonated just off the coastline there. Hope everyone is ok.

Columbus Day is kind of a big deal

This article is from last year but it's a great Columbus Day read. 

Columbus’ landfall in the Western Hemisphere was the opening of Europe’s conquest of essentially all of this planet. By 1914, 422 years later, European powers and the U.S. controlled 85 percent of the world’s land mass.

White people didn’t accomplish this by asking politely. As conservative Harvard political scientist Samuel Huntington put it in 1996, “The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion … but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.”

All we did was build nice things for rich people

When all you do is build nice things for rich people, you run the risk of creating a glut in the market for nice things for rich people.

That split between the high and low markets represents a key issue for the city. James Amdal, a senior fellow at the University of New Orleans' Transportation Institute who has studied the Warehouse District, said both the undersupply of lower-income housing and the oversupply of higher-end properties result from development patterns since Hurricane Katrina.

"Citywide, it seems as if affordable housing has become an absolutely critical in-demand commodity, and there just isn't any," Amdal said. "I think it dates to Katrina and post-Katrina and no one really understanding or knowing what needed to be done. Everyone decided that the low-hanging fruit was upper-middle, upper-class housing."

Not only did we focus on the upper end of the spectrum, we actually used funds designated for affordable housing development to do it.

We found short-term listings that appear to be in four developments subsidized with HOME Investment Partnership funds, one of several federal programs that fund affordable housing:

• Bienville Basin, on the site of the former Iberville public housing complex near the French Quarter
• Blue Plate Lofts, at the foot of Jefferson Davis Parkway in Gert Town
• The Muses Apartments in Central City
• A house at on Carondelet Street in Central City

Most of the listings were for an entire apartment.

This doesn’t mean that tourists are recovering from nights on Bourbon Street in low-income housing. The developments have a mix of market-rate apartments, affordable housing and, at Bienville Basin, public housing.

“My rent was $1,400 a month,” wrote Mark, an AirBnB host whose listing appears to be in Bienville Basin. “Let me know when that’s affordable.”

$1,400 is not affordable for anyone who actually lives here.  But it appears to be well below the price point at which the nice things for rich people are profitable for their management companies. In that Advocate article about the "cooling" of the rental market we find a Cotton Mill condo manager bellyaching that she recently had to take only $4,500 a month from a tenant.

Unfortunately it is this upper bound "crisis" and not the affordable housing problem that is likely to generate a policy response.  The market for nice things for rich people had been held afloat thanks to our gross public subsidy to the film production industry. It also appears to have benefited from the unrestrained encroachment of short term rentals.   One can easily envision policymakers acting to relieve the "glut" by either restoring the Hollywood South tax credit, further liberalizing STRs, or both.

As for helping the rest of us afford a place to live... well there really isn't much in the works.  The mayor's much praised affordable housing plan, for instance, is heavily dependent on so-called "inclusionary zoning" requirements.  But inclusionary zoning is an insidious and ineffective approach  based in trickle-down economic theory.  Basically it supposes the only way to build more affordable housing is to first build more nice things for rich people.

Inclusionary zoning is a fatally flawed program. It’s not just that it doesn’t produce enough units, or that the apartments it creates aren’t affordable, though both observations are undeniably true. The real problem with inclusionary zoning is that it marshals a multitude of rich people into places that are already experiencing gentrification. The result is a few new cheap apartments in neighborhoods that are suddenly and completely transformed.

Any political leader who asks us to believe in bullshit solutions like this isn't really trying to help. Instead they're looking for easy ways to appear to help which won't piss off their real friends.  Here's what happens when they actually try to help in ways that make their friends uncomfortable.

New Orleans City Councilwoman Stacy Head on Friday joined a small but growing crowd objecting to Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s plan to build a “low-barrier” homeless shelter in Central City and calling for a new location with more comprehensive services.

The low-barrier shelter concept, pitched as a cornerstone of the city’s 10-year plan to end homelessness, has evolved since it was first proposed more than a year ago.

Stacy and Latoya Cantrell (who also opposes the shelter) are worried because a charter school executive told them it's located too close to his territory.  So much for inclusionary zoning, in spirit, anyway. The homeless shelter doesn't do anything to subsidize or finance any nice new high end apartment developments so it's a no-go. We're trying to build and maintain a nice city for rich people to visit where nobody actually lives. The dip in the market for luxury housing stalls that a bit. But I'm sure the leadership team will come up with some way to help.

The city we always wanted to be

Who did we rebuild it for? 

Vacation rental services like Airbnb say they offer anauthentic experience, a chance to live like locals. In New Orleans, where rents have outpaced wages over the past decade, that means tourists can rent an apartment in a development built with tax dollars for affordable housing.

The Lens found nine rental listings that appear to be located in developments that received city funding to offer affordable housing. About half appear to be in a mixed-income development located at a former public housing site.

Unexpected travel weekend

Good luck to everyone in the path of a scary storm this weekend. Seems kind of silly they're still trying to play a football game in that as of this morning.

Normcore wars

Oh isn't it so quaint how plain and mild the VP candidates are. Except actually both of them are horrible people running on the tickets of indefensible monsters.

While Trump has favored isolationist rhetoric, both  running mates sounded distinctly neocon themes in the context of the Middle East. Lee Fang noted that “Mike Pence broke in a big way with the top of his ticket on foreign policy during the debate, declaring that his administration would be prepared to ‘strike military targets of the Assad regime.'” Zaid Jilani pointed out that Pence and Kaine “surprisingly agreed on establishing ‘safe zones’ in Syria for beleaguered civilians,” while both also “failed to mention the troop commitments such zones would take to defend.”

Kaine and Pence also agreed on some domestic issues. Alice Speri wrote about how they both enthusiastically support community policing because “It sounds great. It means basically nothing.”

We noted that, in a debate that barely focused on the two vice presidential candidates themselves at all, Kaine ended up somehow straddling some wide moral chasms: He repeatedly noted his missionary work in Honduras, while ducking Hillary Clinton’s warm relations with military coup leaders there and their U.S. enablers; he spoke about carrying out executions even though it violated his personal convictions.

Pence probably "won" the debate in the useless, perverted sense that we tend to score such things.  He needled Kaine's dorky, practiced one liners. He lied freely and assuredly while Kaine failed to seriously challenge him.  He even got to ramble on for an extended period about how his faith informs his extremely disturbing anti-abortion rights position  without facing a rebuttal from the compromised and ineffectual Kaine. 

Not that any of this matters. Most people didn't watch. And the thing most people who did even remember about it is a jokey hashtag. America's two dads can now be safely returned to their storage containers. Only a month of this depressing election to go. Hang in there.

October 20 or bust?

So they went ahead and moved the short term rental vote just as they hinted they might. 

Following years of debate and several studies, the New Orleans City Council was set to vote on a framework for regulating short-term rentals advertised through platforms like Airbnb. The vote was scheduled for Oct. 6. Today, the City Council announced it's moving the matter to Oct. 20.

But if the Council misses its Oct. 20 deadline, that could table the issue for good, at least until the next administration steps in.

What a fun thing to have as a central focus of the campaign during the next round of municipal elections. 

Coach O, we'll hardly know ya

Gonna be so sad when LSU inevitably disappoints Orgeron again because the boosters are gonna demand a Big Name Guy.

The Tigers had signed him to a football scholarship out of South Lafourche High in 1979 and brought him to training camp as a freshman lineman. But homesickness soon drove the small-town kid back to the bayou.

His father, in the construction business, put him to work the next day.

“I was digging ditches by the side of the road,” Orgeron says. “People would drive by and yell ‘You quit.’ It was the worst time of my life.”

A former high school teammate — quarterback Bobby Hebert — persuaded Orgeron to join him at Northwestern (La.) State, where they both had successful college careers.

For years afterward, whenever Orgeron drove across the Horace Wilkinson Bridge and saw the LSU campus along the river, he told himself: I’m gonna make it back there someday.

Maybe not quite as sad as having to put down Mike. But, well, it's a similar situation.

Low barrier

This week, the mayor announced plans for a new "low-barrier" homeless shelter on Erato street at S. Derbigny just uptown from the Calliope overpass. The shelter is a good idea and deserves to be supported. Not everybody thinks so, of course.

The new shelter, which Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s administration plans to build at 3101 Erato St. in the B.W. Cooper neighborhood, is just two blocks away from two public school buildings. They are Sylvanie Williams College Prep and the shuttered Booker T. Washington High School, which is expected to reopen in the near future.

Critics worry that piling many of the city’s homeless in one space could pose a threat to students and residents because the shelter would be open to all comers, including people who are mentally ill or struggling with alcohol and drug addictions.

“What we are saying is: Our children are a top priority,” said Ben Kleban, an Orleans Parish School Board member-elect and the founder of the charter management group that runs Williams. “Safety for them is a top priority. And this shelter, by design, will concentrate some of the most in need … in a neighborhood that is already in need of services.”

"Think of the children!" says Ben Kleban even though there is no reason to believe any children would be harmed by there being better services available for the homeless population.  Kleban, by the way, is an OPSB "member-elect" as a consequence of having been unopposed in one of what could have been a pivotal slate of school board races.   Yet another reason these elections matter. The barriers for entry to these offices shouldn't be quite so low.

That's not how any of this works

Here's a pretty scary Vox article about the "lack of political will" to do anything significant about climate change. 

In Paris, in 2015, the countries of the world agreed (again) on the moral imperative to hold the rise in global average temperature to under 2 degrees Celsius, and to pursue "efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees." To date, 62 countries, including the United States, China, and India, have ratified the agreement.

Are any of the countries that signed the Paris agreement taking the actions necessary to achieve that target?

No. The US is not. Nor is the world as a whole.

The actions necessary to hold to 2 degrees, much less 1.5 degrees, are simply outside the bounds of conventional politics in most countries. Anyone who proposed them would sound crazy, like they were proposing, I don’t know, a war or something.

So we say 2 degrees is unacceptable. But we don’t act like it is.

And that is legitimately worrisome. Read through the rest of that if you don't believe me. Global temperature are now the warmest they've been in 115,000 years. What Dr. Vox there is terming a failure of "political will" is likely to result in catastrophe after catastrophe over the course of the next century.   It's a systemic disaster and a moral outrage.

But is it a surprise? It shouldn't be. That is, it can only surprise you if your concept of politics adheres to the notion that "political will" can be applied to bring forth universally beneficial solutions.  But despite what someone like...say Clancy DuBos would have you believe, politics isn't about "both sides" coming together to find The Good Policy That Works For Everyone.

Instead it is about conflict. Conflict exists, not because "partisans" are cranky or tribal, but because they represent disparate and irreconcilable interests.  Politics is the process of fighting out who takes the brunt of each policy decision. In this context, climate change isn't one problem everyone will agree to solve.  It is a scenario under which we fight over who gets hurt most in which specific ways.

I've written about this before, most recently here where I argue Louisiana's coastal master plan will never be about "saving the coast" as much as it will be about figuring out who endures the heaviest cost of the retreat. In any case, there's never going to be a moment where "the political will" materializes to bring us all together to solve the problem of climate change. This isn't what politics does.

Mysteries of the #LASEN cosmos

There are more candidates running for Senate in Louisiana this year than most voters would probably care to contemplate.  Astronomers estimate the actual number may be too high to bother trying to count. The interesting thing about that, though, is that when we break out the higher mathematics necessary to describe such an election, we approach a universe where every candidate cancels some other candidate out.

“The Fleming-Maness mini-primary won’t matter unless one of them breaks away,” veteran campaign strategist Roy Fletcher said about the two major GOP contenders for the party’s super-conservative wing, U.S. Rep. John Fleming, of Minden, and retired Air Force colonel Rob Maness, of Madisonville.

That goes a long way in explaining the past week’s narrative when Fleming’s campaign touted a poll showing him up to 14 percent, nipping on the heels of the establishment Republican candidates – U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, of Lafayette, and State Treasurer John N. Kennedy, of Madisonville.

It’s a gambit that seemed to pay dividends when Fleming was included but Maness, who polled 4 percent, was left off the stage in the CABL/LPB debate that will be televised statewide on Oct. 18.

Maness might cancel out Fleming. David Duke might cancel out Maness. The two Democrats might cancel each other out. The front runners.. are there front runners? Is it possible that nobody comes out of this black hole alive?   Actually, we're saving that for a different post.  Today we learned more about what some of the lesser candidates are doing to try and defy gravity.

Troy Hebert is one such lesser candidate.  His strategy appears to involve pretending to sue people.

U.S. Senate candidate Troy Hebert, no party, said he filed a lawsuit today in state court to block one of the televised Senate debates because he said the criteria to participate was "unconstitutional.

Hebert, former commissioner of the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, sent members of the media a news release and a copy of an unofficial petition seeking a preliminary injunction. But as of early afternoon, the suit had not yet been filed, according the the clerk's office for the 19th Judicial District. 

Hebert called a press conference to talk about his not yet lawsuit which he used as a platform to talk about how badly "the system is rigged" against "the 'lil man'" which is probably true although Hebert's own standing as the "'lil man" is dubious.  Even so, despite this being an obvious stunt, he does raise an interesting point.

Last week, the good government nonprofit Council for a Better Louisiana announced it had set its criteria for its Oct. 18 Senate debate which will air across the state on Louisiana Public Broadcasting stations. Candidates had to have raised at least $1 million and polled at at last 5 percent in an independent poll.

In a way, Hebert is suing (if he actually files a lawsuit) to protest the notion of a "money primary" where candidates are determined to be viable based on the clout of their donor list.  If he were at all sincere, it might be a laudable windmill to tilt at.  Although, the Supreme Court has already ruled that money is speech so it's hard to figure he's got precedent on his side there.

What's really interesting about this is that it isn't even the only lawsuit announced by a Senate candidate today. 

Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, has sued the author of a book that contained allegations he was involved with prostitutes in Jefferson Davis Parish who were later murdered, according to his attorney, Jimmy Faircloth.

Boustany, a U.S. Senate candidate, filed the defamation suit against Ethan Brown and the New York publishing company Simon & Schuster Monday (Oct. 3) in state court in Lafayette. Brown's book, "Murder on the Bayou," cited several anonymous sources who said they had knowledge that Boustany was a client of three sex workers in Jennings. Boustany has vehemently denied the accusations and blasted his chief competitor in the Louisiana Senate race, state Treasurer John Kennedy for peddling the story to the media.

Boustany must think he is Hulk Hogan or something. Pretty sure S&S has the resources to withstand the nasty SLAP lawsuit. It probably won't get very far anyway. But that's hardly the point. Boustany, like Hebert, is just posturing.

You have to feel bad for Hebert, though. The cosmic mysteries being what they are and all, it's pretty amazing that a U.S. Senate candidate can't even announce a lawsuit on a given day without it being overshadowed by a different candidate's lawsuit. What are the odds, right? Astronomical, I'm sure. But that's another consequence of having so many people in the race. In the same way the vastness of the universe increases the probability that life exists on other planets, the size of the field increases the chances of something like this happening. Still, in either case, the evidence of intelligent life anywhere is yet to be discovered.

Programming update

City Council is talking about maybe postponing action on short term rentals that had been scheduled for Thursday. This article doesn't say exactly why. It only cites Jared Brossett saying he isn't in a hurry.

According to several council members' offices, Mayor Mitch Landrieu and his staff have taken a hands-off position recently and have not been pushing for specific policies. That could complicate efforts to hammer out an agreement, particularly since the administration would be responsible for enforcing any rules.

Brossett said he doesn't see a need to rush the process. Even though the council technically faces an Oct. 22 deadline to take action on the recommendations from the Planning Commission, he said the issue could always be brought back up again if that deadline is missed.

The mayor might be backing away in light of recent stories where members of his family have been found to be renting "whole home" Airbnbs. Or it could be something else.  There was a Twitter rumor this morning that the whole thing could get pushed back beyond the next municipal election. That sounds kind of nuts. But it would make the campaign a little more fun with STRs in the mix as a major issue.  

Selfishly, I kind of hope they do put it off this week.  I suddenly have to be out of town on Thursday and had hoped to be on hand to see the inevitable circus meeting.

13 games!!

We thought we'd open the show this week by having Lester Holt moderate a debate between former Saints head coach Jim Mora and himself from twenty and thirty years ago. It may be diddly poo but that's no worse than the actual debate was.

Nowhere to nowhere

On Monday, they're gonna go and make a bunch of speeches over the Rampart streetcar. Not much more to say besides this.

Leo Watermeier fought the streetcar idea at first, but now that it's a reality, he's softened his position.

"Hey man, I wish them well, I'm glad the construction is over," Watermeier said today. "I hope it's a success. I don't see how it is going to be a success. You know, still it is a streetcar that sort of goes from nowhere to nowhere."

We are going to lose

The short term rental controversy is a perfect illustration of the divide that exists between the elite classes in government and politics and the great majority of us among the governed.

For us, the housing crisis in New Orleans is real.  Rents are too damn high. Incomes are stagnant. We look around our neighborhoods and see more and more properties converted into de-facto hotels and wonder which bridge we're going to end up living under.

Meanwhile our "representatives" look around and see their friends and family making the most out of their investments.

Underscoring how complicated the issue has become in New Orleans, a second member of Mayor Mitch Landrieu's family confirmed that he has a short-term rental on his property, even as another Landrieu relative opposes the practice.

Mark Landrieu, the brother of the mayor, acknowledged Thursday he hosts people in a short-term rental on his property that rents for $80 a night. He also rented a home he owns near the Fair Grounds on Airbnb during Jazz Fest.

In an interview, Mark Landrieu said he's a supporter of people being able to rent out homes to people visiting New Orleans, and said he hopes the City Council will approve regulations next week that are fair to Airbnb hosts and their neighborhoods.

The political class, meaning the elected persons, their families, and their professional associates as well as the so called "business and community leaders" who move in their social circles do not identify with us. They don't know us so our voices are not the voices they hear and respond to on a day to day basis. When Stacy Head says she hears "a consistent drumbeat of requests to move tourists into other neighborhoods than the French Quarter and the CBD,” she's not lying about that.

The political class and their friends and family are fine with STR liberalization. They own property that can be Airbnbed. 

New Orleans Magistrate Judge Harry Cantrell operated two short-term rentals out of his former downtown law office that were listed on Airbnb until at least May, according to a public profile set up on the website. The rentals were illegal under the city's zoning code, as are thousands of other rentals across New Orleans.

One of Cantrell's rentals, a two-bedroom featuring four twin beds, rented for $245 per night, according to the short-term rental aggregation website Alltherooms.com. Reviews on Cantrell's Airbnb profile page indicated his other rental was a one-room studio with a small kitchen and bathroom, though it's unclear what Cantrell was charging for rent because both listings have since been removed.

Cantrell lists his name on the Airbnb website as "Hey, I'm Cantrell!" But from the reviews on the website, it appears Cantrell employed a property manager at the law office to handle visitors. The three-story building is at 309 Baronne St., about three blocks from Canal Street.

Cantrell, who is the father-in-law of City Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell, did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Our friends and family have to be shoved out of the way so they can do that. But our elected persons don't know, hear from, or care about us.  And that's why we're going to lose.

Diversifying our economy

In Louisiana we're expanding from obscene public subsidies for oil exploration into obscene public subsidies for movies about oil exploration. 

The movie “Deepwater Horizon,” which opens today in theaters across America, is a rare example of a locally shot film that actually tells a story set in Louisiana.

It's gotten kudos for its meticulous rendering of the events leading up to the 2010 explosion that took the lives of 11 men on a BP oil rig 50 miles off the coast, setting off the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.

But it is also the most expensive film ever made in the state, at least from taxpayers’ perspective. Under the state’s generous film-subsidy program, Louisiana issued tax credits totaling almost $38 million to Lionsgate, the producer.

That sum eclipses what was given to the previous record-holder, “Green Lantern.” In 2011, the year of that film’s release, the box-office flop got slightly more state aid than the University of New Orleans did.

First we pay for them to make the disasters happen. Then we pay for them to profit by exploiting the fact of the disaster. I'd say, at least the latter half is ostensibly "greener," but since we still subsidize oil production too, it's more like they're getting us coming and going.

Update: Clay saw the movie and reviewed it for us.