Good News for The City of New Orleans and The New Orleans Police Department.

 In a New Orleans Advocate story of February 22, the City of New Orleans received some good and positive news from the Judge over seeing the Federal consent degree the city has been operating under for the past decade.  The Federal court said it was clear that cooperation improved dramatically and progress accelarated dramatically the past few months due to the hard work of people in the courtroom and other officials.  

According to the article, NOPD's new superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick was given credit for the department working closely and together with the Federal monitors for the improvements.  Because of the plan by Kirkpatrick and her deputy Chief Nicholas Gernon, compliance with the degree is a step closer.  This writer believes what we have here now is elementary, that means the right people are in the right positions to handle a problem that has been long running.

That piece of good news for the City and NOPD goes hand in hand with a earlier January report in the Advocate where the murder rate in New Orleans in 2023 fell 27% from 2022 and that the down trend began 3 months before the New Year.  That downward trend was the subject of a PolitiDose commentary in January.  And once again this writer reminds it's readers that the improvements and good news began months before Jeff Landry was elected governor, months before Landry appointed a New Orleans Crime Commission and months before Landry authorized the State Police to work with New Orleans.  

Why is it important to remember that?  Well, it's because the GOP has a history of trying to take credit when good things take place on the democratic watch.  

This commentary written by Joe Lorio   

Louisiana's U.S. Representative Garret Graves: Sour Grapes Comments About His Own Party.

A New Orleans Advocate report by Mark Ballard of 2/13 titled, "Lies Kept House GOP From Wins" tells the story of Graves comments in a speech before the Ripen Society, a GOP think tank when he says his own party misled the American people with lies and mis-information that took off in social media.  Those lies and mis-information by his own party also took place on Fox News, the GOP's leading source of lies and mis-information.

Graves indictment of his own party comes too late and his party is still engaged in such actions and still support Trump's lies and mis-information on a daily basis.  His party, 3 years after the 2020 election still can not say in public that Joe Biden won the Presidential election and the legal President of record.  This writer does not recall Graves challenge to his party's position of election fraud and in fact the same lies and mis-information Graves talks about were spread on social media against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Presidential election while Mr. Graves was silent.

Graves comment that the GOP controlled House's failure to enact successful legislation incrementally because they have the attitude of "all or nothing" is really one of their staple positions and nothing new.  Maybe if Graves would have stepped up to the plate earlier, he could have done something about it, especially if he would have said it on the House floor to his own members and for public consumption.  The party has been Trump's party for the past 8 years and no one in the GOP has the character to call him out for what he is.  

Nothing will change with the GOP being the party of lies and mis-information until the party dumps Trump and the Fox News as being their spokesperson.  The GOP allowed Trump to kill the democratic process and become the un-American party and it is being played out in the Courts.  And recently, the public was exposed to the dangers of Trump and the GOP, when Trump told his GOP stooges in congress to kill the latest immigration reform legislation that was surely going to pass.  And his ditto head stooges did just that.  

The GOP is a sick party and the sickness grows every day.  PolitiDose commentary back in 2016 pointed out that Trump and the GOP were one and the same.  The general news media never recognized that fact and the party's lies and mis-information was never challenged by them.  Mr. Graves violated his own expressed concern about the GOP not accepting incremental wins when he voted against President Biden's infrastructure legislation, a good piece of legislation for America and for the people of Louisiana who Graves represents.  The legislation did pass congress despite Mr. Graves no vote.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio  

The U.S. Economy, Job Creation and the Unemployment Rate for January 2024.

The U.S. Labor Department reported that the economy created 353,000 jobs in January and that the unemployment rate came in at 3.7%, same as it was in December.  It was the 36th straight month of positive job growth and the 24th consecutive month of unemployment in the 3% range.  The last time that took place was during the Kennedy-Johnson administration.  The Department also reported that wages were up 0.6% in January over December and that year to year were up 4.5%.  The Department also noted that November and December's job numbers were increased 129,000 from the previous reports.  The economic pundits were wrong again when they predicted January's job numbers to be around 170,000. 

When the Labor Department announced the numbers some of the negative voices of doom and gloom had to admit and eat their words and said this is a good economy and the numbers were amazing.  The negative voices never bothered to check out the economic facts all along since Biden took office.  They were only concerned with dealing out mis-information to influence the voting public.  

Why did so many express shock at the good January job numbers?  After all in January of 2022 513,000 jobs were added to the economy and in January 2023, 510,000 jobs were added to the economy according to the Labor Department reports.  President Biden's administration has accomplished in 3 years what past democratic administrations accomplished in creating a good economy, job creation and lower unemployment.  They set a precedent of good government that enabled the voters to expect progress and that is what President Biden has done since day one.

The business community's ad advertising for job openings are still holding steady and have actually increased lately in an earlier report.  In other words, the business community are still hiring and obviously pay no attention to the negative voices of doom and gloom.  The media seems to be changing its tune on the economy also.  They are responsible for enabling the negative voices for the past two years and lack understanding of the economic facts.  They should be ashamed of themselves and their failure to inform.

And for the past three years, PolitiDose commentary has been there reporting on the economic facts before they unfold and thereafter.  The same is true on economic facts the past 10 years and counting.  So stay tuned to PolitiDose, your daily dose of political commentary.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio