LSU Defeats Wisconsin In The ReliaQuest Bowl 35 - 31.

The LSU Tigers closed out its season on New Year's day and ended its season again on a winning note.  It was a season that duplicated last year with another 9-3 winning regular season record and a bowl win.  LSU fans and sports reporters will have much thoughts to express about the season over the next few months and this writer has some thoughts on the subject.

For the past 10 years the play off bowls have been of consequence because it is the road to the national championship.  All other bowl are of no consequence including the ReliaQuest bowl that LSU played in.  The proof of that is demonstrated by the fact that so many players opted not to play in their team's bowl game.  After all, why play in a game of no consequence and take a chance on being injured and affect their chances to play in the NFL?  What about those players responsibility to their team and university? (That will be the subject of another commentary)

The LSU defense dropped off dramatically from last year's team and no one knows what will take place next year.  There will be a new defensive coordinator but no one knows who or how the change will work out.  It was obvious Coach Kelly had no clue that LSU's defense would perform so bad and the team was not able to make the proper adjustments.  

The Offensive stats this year were better than last year's stats and the team had the Heisman Trophy winner, but completed the regular season at 9-3, the same record as last year's team.  LSU lost to Ole Miss and Alabama, two teams they defeated last year and failed to defend their SEC West title.  Daniels will not return next year so LSU will start the season with a quarterback that has not completed one full season as a starting quarterback.  That is a question mark that will be unknown until next season ends even though Nussmeier has performed well when he has played.  

In the 2022 season LSU completed its regular season with a winning record of 9-3.  That was the 4th best won-lost record in the SEC.  Georgia's won-loss record was 12-0, Tennessee was 10-2 and Alabama was 10-2.  In 2023 LSU's record was 9-3, the 5th best won-loss record in the SEC.  Georgia was 12-0, Alabama was 11-1, Missouri was 10-2 and Ole Miss was 10-2.  So Missouri and Ole Miss jumped ahead of LSU in the won-loss column this past season.  Will next season be the season LSU makes the jump, or will it be someone else that pushes LSU farther down?  How will the new comers, Texas and Oklahoma rank?  

The SEC expansion will cause a lot of headaches and so will the new playoff format of 12 teams.  No one knows where it will all end but this writer thinks neither one is a positive for college sports and especially college football.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio  

   

The New Orleans Murder Rate On A Downward Trend In 2023.

 That was the good news reported in The New Orleans Advocate of Jan. 1 and 3rd.  It reported a 27% decrease in the murder rate compared to 2022.  There were 193 murders in 2023 compared to 265 in 2022.  The article's chart that list the historical murder rates in New Orleans shows the highest total took place in 1994 when there were 424 murders.

And as usual no one really has a reason for the reduction in the numbers.  Certainly most people know that the Mayor was blamed for the increase in the rates early on but don't look  for those same people to give the Mayor some credit for the fallen rates.  The numbers have been so far on a steady decline for months and if the proper steps continue to be taken, the good reports should continue into 2024.

This writer believes one of the major factors in the decline results from the City and NOPD working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, plus the FBI that helped remove the dangerous elements off the streets and also hundreds of guns off the street, especially those felons who never turned their weapons in as required by law.  It is very elementary to understand if you remove the guns off the streets there will be less crime and less murders.

The City also has a new Police Chief who has the support of the Mayor and the City Council who have committed to support the Chief's and the City needs to get the job done and keep it going.  Recent reforms have already been in effect and the new Chief promises more to come to address the situation.  Hopefully, the people of the city will remember that the crime rates started to come down long before Governor elect Jeff Landry was elected and took office and before his appointed New Orleans Crime Commission ever took any action.  I say this because the Republicans have a history of trying to take credit for the good things that take place on the democratic watch.  PolitiDose will be watching.

Food for thought:  President Kennedy said in one of his many speeches that "our problems are man made, therefore they can be solved by man."  President Kennedy knew politics plays a role in everyday life but this writer believes Kennedy knew that man himself had the ability to solve problems and that problems were never solved by a political ideology which is why the GOP is a failed party.  All one has to do is to look at the party now.  

This commentary written by Joe Lorio   

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation (CIRL): The Story That Never Ends.

 The democratic party by its own actions favor such legislation.  The republican party by its own inaction are opposed to it and the media has failed to report on it properly.  Yet, CIRL is the only answer to the problem because immigration has so many different issues it can only be addressed by CIRL.  More than one President over the years have issued executive orders on the issues but the problem is still there because of the many immigration issues not addressed.

In the year 2013 the democratic controlled U.S. Senate during the Obama administration passed CIRL with republican support.  It was a good overall bill that would have gone a long way to address the many problems of the subject.  The Senate vote was 68-32 and fourteen republicans joined the majority democratic vote.  The George W. Bush Institute sad the legislation was bullish on the U.S. economy.  The bill was sent to the republican controlled U.S. House for their action and they just let it die without even introducing the bill for debate or a vote.  

During the 2016 Presidential campaign every GOP candidate in their own debates said the number one issue if elected President would be immigration reform.  Well, Trump won the Presidency and the GOP controlled both houses of congress the first two years yet CIRL was never introduced or debated.  The GOP also controlled the Senate all 4 of Trump's years in office and they too did nothing on CIRL.  Trump built a partial wall and separated children from their mothers at the border and did nothing for immigration reform.  In fact a U.S. Judge ordered the U.S. to reunite those children with their mothers and that fell to the Biden administration to do since Trump was long gone.  And of course, Trump said Mexico would pay for his wall and Mexico told Trump what he could do with his wall.  

Today the U.S. still has an immigration problem that has yet to be answered because the full congress has not acted on the total immigration problem.  This writer is of the opinion that President Biden will address the issue in 2024 and make CIRL a legislative fact.  The GOP can no longer deny the problem and their lack of responsible actions.  They are doing their best to make immigration  a democratic issue and are trying to cover up their failed past of addressing the situation.  The time is ripe to come together and it will take place on the democratic watch.

The democratic party actually have a record of supporting CIRL with legislation and a actual vote, the GOP does not.  Instead the GOP try to use a government shutdown concerning only one part of immigration that they failed to do under Trump's administration.  The President will hold them accountable and CIRL will become a fact.  

Note:  John Boehner was Speaker of the U.S. House when the House refused to take up CIRL that the U.S. Senate passed in 2013.  A few years after he retired he said the GOP never did want to pass comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation.  And that really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio  

President Biden's QUIET Administration Is A Holiday Gift Among The Toxic Rhetoric And A Enabling Media.

Sanity in politics is the best gift a politician has to offer, especially during an election being pushed too early by the negative voices and a enabling media.  President Biden understands the situation and will not prematurely entertain the negative voices and their toxic rhetoric.  And as of this writing there is no GOP nominee for him to campaign against.  It should be noted that the negative voices with their toxic rhetoric on the President's policies were predicted in PolitiDose commentary before the President took office and also soon after he took office.   

The year 2024 will be another story when the President lays out his agenda for the new year.  It will be with policy that continues the economic progress of the past 3 years and policies that will answer the issues to continue to move the country and its people forward to future progress.  Sadly the people will hear the negative voices throughout the new year and the media will be there to enable their negative voices.  

The year 2023 will come to a close like the year 2022.  The economy is strong, creating jobs, unemployment is at historical low levels, consumers are still spending and the President is still a strong leader at home and abroad while promoting democracy.  Those negative voices who were predicting recession for 2022 and then 2023 and now 2024 were and are still wrong about the economy.  The inflation rate never came close to what it was in 1980 when it came in at 13.5%.  And in 1981,1982 and 1983 the 30 year home mortgage rate averaged 15.2% for those 3 years.  Yet, the negative voices called the recent inflation and mortgage rates for the last 2 years whooping increases with the media's blessings.  The year 2024 will also see more infrastructure legislation kick in to assist the economy in its progress.

The SANITY and QUIETNESS of the present administration is a welcome relief from the negative voices who have no record of accomplishments.  And to top it off, the administration has moved the country in the right direction under our democratic system and the rule of law that our founders would be proud of.  

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

Oil Industry Firms Settle Law Suit With the State of Louisiana and Cameron Parish.

 According to a report in the New Orleans Advocate of 12/12 several firms settled the law suit brought against them concerning the state and Cameron Parish for environmental damage caused by the firm's operations.  Jury selection for the trial was going to begin the following week.  The bottom line to this issue is very elementary to everyone concerned.

The issue was a state issue and not a federal government issue as the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed when they refused to hear the case.  (2)  The suit was narrowed to state issues which means that the state of Louisiana could have moved against the oil industry years ago for the destruction they caused to the environment.  (3)  State regulators failed to do their jobs and enforce the provisions violated by the oil industry.  (4)  The oil industry paid no attention to the state regulations that governed their responsibilities and continued to violate the state's environment with their operations and also failed to restore the land.  (5)  Louisiana's elected officials who backed the oil industry just because they created jobs cared nothing about the state, it's people or the environment.

Louisiana's voters should never forget the oil industry's environmental damage and their daily denial of doing so.  The voters should also never forget the state's failure to enforce its regulations and hold the industry accountable long ago.  The 50 plus years of environmental damage supports the notion that the industry has not been a friend to the state, the people or the environment.  The settlement also proves a failed political system without checks and balances and a failed government-business partnership that resemble the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico when many elected officials in La. and the industry opposed President Obama's actions to hold BP responsible for its own actions.  

Will this settlement and future settlements bring change to the status quo of the last 50 plus years?  The people need to make their voices known and let the state and industry know the failed past will not be tolerated in the future.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Another First For PolitiDose Commentary Concerning The Administration Of Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards.

Now comes a New Orleans Advocate commentary by Tyler Bridges dated 12/24 concerning the accomplishments of Governor JBE's administration as he prepares to leave office next month.  It is a well written article and a highly deserved one of the Governor's performance and especially the progress made on fiscal matters, health care, jobs and lower unemployment.  

PolitiDose commentary predicted the positive changes would take place even before JBE took office and several times early after he took office.  It could be predicted because democratic administrations govern with plans and policies to address the issues and problems while the GOP administrations govern with an extreme ideology and therefore never address the real issues or problems.  

PolitiDose commentary did the same thing on the national level how President's Obama and Biden would reverse the carnage left by the George W. Bush administration and the Donald Trump administration.  Those commentaries were also written before they took office and early after they took  office because of precedent.

The general media lacks the character and will to report on precedent during election campaigns to give the people insight to what might be.  They are more interested in the every day sound bites of the campaign that misinforms instead of informing.  It's a tit for tat of each candidate's rhetoric when there exist an actual record of what is likely to take place.

A good example can be found in the media's love for the negative voices who have been preaching doom and gloom for the economy with a recession since early last year.  That story is at the top of their agenda while the good economic news is seldom told.  PolitiDose commentary has told the true story according to facts, so tune out the misinformation media and stay tuned to PolitiDose, your daily dose of political commentary.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio   

What Will The New Year Bring For The Country and It's People?

 The only thing that separates us from the time we are born until the time we no longer exist is TIME.   No one can see TIME but we know how to measure it on Earth.  The 24 hour clock, the week, the month and the year.  The passage of TIME exposes the facts, the truths, the lies and the misinformation.  When the year 2023 ends, will the TIME'S that passed portend what the TIMES of 2024 and the future will look like?

Will the media in general continue to enable the Trump/GOP and the negative voices lies of doom and gloom on the economy, recession, massive layoffs and high unemployment continue their toxic rhetoric.  Will they still promote an economic recession that they have been predicting for the past 20 months spill over to the new year.  Will Trump and the GOP's anti-American and anti-democratic attacks on the constitution, the DOJ, law enforcement, the democratic process and etc., etc. be the leading story once again in 2024.  

The media has already made it clear, Donald Trump will be the GOP Presidential nominee because of the garbage polls they report on.  And they have also made it clear they will be reporting in a negative way the economy just like they have been doing this year despite the good economic numbers the economy has posted, low unemployment, a reduction in federal spending and smaller deficits.  And despite their doom and gloom reports about a slow holiday season, the reports are already positive about retail sales for this holiday season.  PolitiDose commentary predicted early on when President Biden was elected President how the GOP would keep up their negative barrage about the President beginning day one and never let up.  And that is exactly what has taken place and unfortunately the media has been their enablers afraid of correcting the GOP's lies and misinformation.

TIME has a way of exposing the lies and the truths and this writer does not believe Trump is a shoo in for the GOP nomination.  The odds are he will be convicted and serving time in prison before the election.  The future of 2024 looks good for the economy, the country, the people and so does our national security because the country has a sane President in the White House.  Progress will continue and comprehensive immigration reform legislation will begin to take place.  Do not expect any change from the Trump/GOP and their ally negative voices nor from the media that enables them.  

Consumer spending represents 70% of the U.S. economy and the people are still spending.  That indicates confidence and a understanding that the economy is doing well.  Something all Americans should be proud of.  But a corrupted Trump/GOP alliance hates a successful democratic administration that has managed to be above it all with policies that have worked for the people and the country.  And that really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

PolitiDose Picks The Four Finalist For The BCS Football Playoffs Of 2023.

 The BCS football playoff committee made its choice for the four top spots in this year's championship playoff for the national title.  They ranked Michigan #1, Washington #2, Texas #3 and Alabama #4.  Both Michigan and Washington were undefeated and deserved to be in the playoff.  Texas and Alabama each had one loss and all four teams won their conference championships.  

PolitiDose disagrees with the rankings and believes the top four should be as follows:  Michigan #1, Washington #2, Florida State #3 and Alabama #4.  This writer is of the opinion that Florida State, who finished the season undefeated, won it's conference championship and was 13-0 should make the playoffs and should be an elementary decision.  How can you leave out an undefeated team from the final four?  It goes against everything.  The reason Alabama should stay #4 and Texas should be out is also elementary.  They beat Georgia, the #1 ranked team that was undefeated. won 28 straight games and two consecutive national championships.  Alabama also won the SEC conference and won  12 straight games after losing to Texas in the very first game of the season.  Alabama's win over Georgia, over shadowed their loss to Texas early in the season.

PolitiDose commentary has taken issue concerning past BCS final four rankings and how they were selected.  And next year's format will make things worse.  One can imagine the 11th and 12th ranked teams and beyond with the same won loss record and the scramble to decide who gets the 11th an 12th spot.  The committee now uses nit-picking issues to settle the question and is a horrible situation.  A good example is ranking Texas ahead of Georgia in the final poll.

The question  that should be asked and answered is:  Have all the changes to college football in the last several years made college football better or more competative as a whole?  This writer thinks not.  And next season the SEC will  do away with the East and West divisions and  have only one division.  In other words like it was years ago.  

This writer is of the opinion that college sports was more enjoyable before it developed into a game of money.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

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

 The U.S. Labor Department reported that the economy added 199,000 jobs in November and that the unemployment rate came in at 3.7%, down from the 3.9% in October.  It was the 34th straight month of positive job growth and the unemployment rate has stayed in the 3% range for the past 24 months, the longest consecutive period in any Presidential administration the past 72 years according to the Labor Department's historical records on unemployment. 

And once again the negative voices were shocked that their predictions were wrong once again.  Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen took the so called economic experts to task for predicting unemployment would explode and layoffs would be great.  Those negative voices are now pushing for a recession sometime in 2024, a far cry from the second quarter of 2022 when they first reported the recession would take place.  

There has actually been no data to support a recession and or massive layoffs as predicted by the negative voices for the past 18 months.  They are just bent on seeing the President and the country fail because they oppose his policies, especially those that transition from fossil fuels to a green economy.   The economy has handled the negative voices well which indicate how strong the economy really has been.  

What the media should do from now until November of 2024 is inform the people how well the economy has performed despite inflation (which is on its way out) and buzz off the negative news that they have enabled like they enable Trump and the GOP.  

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

What Will The New Year Bring For Louisiana And It's People?

 A triple history will take place in 2024 for Louisiana and it's people.  A new year will begin, a new Governor will take the oath of office and the GOP will control the state legislature and a majority of state offices.  Will those changes signal a new beginning of progress or a return to the failed policies of past GOP administrations.  The answer can be projected because of precedent and past actions.  Democratic administrations govern with plans and policies to address the issues while the GOP govern with an extreme ideology that never address the issues.

It is accurate to report that the GOP are not conservative on fiscal matters.  The Jindal administration left the Edwards administration a fiscal deficit of $2 billion that Edwards had to deal with.  The state is now reporting when Edwards last fiscal year ends on June 30, 2024 there will be a budget surplus of several million dollars unless the new GOP administration blows it.  Governor Edwards brought fiscal stability to Louisiana's fiscal house after Jindal failed to balance one state budget in his eight years in office, despite the fact that former Democratic governor Blanco left him a $700 million budget surplus.  

We know that governor elect Landry supports the ideology of Trump and the GOP's divisive policies and personal attacks against others.  Landry, who supports Trump's attempt to  overturn the 2020 Presidential election, supports the state's telling the people what they can and can not read in public libraries and believes the state should control people's lives.  We know that in the past 28 years, the state has progressed more on the democratic watch of Blanco and Edwards, compared to the years of Foster and Jindal.

This writer believes when one examines the past 28 years in Louisiana and the present make up of the GOP nationally and in the state, their extreme ideology and anti-American attitude come the conclusion that the future of Louisiana under the new GOP administration will be like the failed GOP past.  

Food for thought:  The powers that be in Louisiana, including the media, like to remind us that Louisiana is a Trump/GOP state like that is something to be proud of.  This writer believes just the opposite and why the future of the new GOP administration will be a failure like the failed past.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio