Especially journalists and republican supporters who follow politics. Landry is a mirror image of Newt Gingrich, Donald Trump and the republican's ideology of using personal attacks against democrats to divide the country and carries that ideology to the extreme on the immigration issue. Every one should be familiar with Landry's personal attacks against former President Obama and Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards. And like Trump and his party, the only record Landry has on immigration is rhetoric and lies.
Now comes a report that a company owned by Landry and his brother brokered with another party to supply Mexican workers to help build a natural gas plant in Cameron Parish which resulted in millions of dollars of revenue for the company. At the same time the Plant's owner was set to receive the industrial tax exemptions the state offers for such new or expanding plants. In other words double dipping is going on here. The plant's owner is exempt from taxes and uses low wage imported labor from Mexico and shuts out Louisiana workers who are the ones deserving of the jobs.
Landry's past hypocritical rhetoric against Mexico workers taking jobs away from Louisiana workers constitutes the usual Landry fraud on the subject. And he used his political position to harm Louisiana workers by bringing in imported workers from Mexico. Its time for Louisiana to roll back the industrial tax exemption and make sure Louisiana workers are employed on new plant
construction. Those in politics who say Louisiana does not have the skilled workers available should remember if that is truly the case they should be called out for not having a state program for addressing the problem. After all, companies have been building plants in Louisiana for over 50 years.
Jeff Landry, Louisiana's attorney general should resign from office over the issue he and his company created. The state and its people deserve better, especially those Louisiana workers who should have been employed at the plant site. The greed of republicans and the business community can never be satisfied. It is also past time for the state to re-evaluate the industrial tax exemptions and in the mean time make sure Louisiana labor has to be used in the construction of new plants.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
