Orleans Parish School Board Denied A Tax Break For Bollinger Algiers

The school board voted to reject Bollinger Algiers application for a 5 year property tax exemption under Louisiana's Industrial Tax Exemption Program.  The board said they rejected the request because the application did not meet two of four rules for tax break approval by the board.  The story was carried in a Times Picayune article of 10/14.

The school board did not have the power to review industrial tax exemptions until Governor Edwards changed the process.  It was the right thing to do because before he acted other state boards could make the decisions that would cause school districts to lose out on taxes that support public education without having a say so in the matter.  It should be obvious that local government should have a say so in tax matters that affect them.

Bollinger, like other business received a 14% federal tax break when Trump and the GOP lowered the corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%.  But the business community is never satisfied.  They always want more from the states and the federal government.  The Baton Rouge area is facing the same kind of tax relief filed by EXXON for the tax exemption.  And all know EXXON is one of the largest corporations in the world and very profitable.  The school district in that area should reject EXXONS request.  Louisiana needs the tax revenue, EXXON does not need the exemption.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Times Picayune Opinion Writer Tim Morris: It Now Becomes Clear

Morris, in his opinion column of October 14 writes it has become clear former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal does not have the character or instincts to be a successful politician on the national level as compared with Nikki Haley, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.  Really???  Morris, like other conservative writers in Louisiana loved Jindal when he served as governor and supported Jindal's policies.

Very few good things happened in Louisiana under the Jindal administration and Morris never did allow himself to realize that Jindal never had the character to be a successful governor.  Morris finally opened his eyes after Jindal left office when he could finally see clearly.  Conservative opinion writers never see the light of day when republicans are in office, they rather blame democrats for every thing.  Ideology can be blind.

Morris takes it to a new low in another column dated 10/12 titled, Our Political Choices Are Now Between Anger and Depression.  No Tim, the column describes republicans only.  Because the people do have a better choice in the November elections with the democratic party, the party of progress, accomplishments, the rule of law that respects our constitution and our institutions.  When conservative writers have nothing positive to write about republican administrations, they always try to link democrats with the republican failures.

As for Nikki Haley, she will be remembered as the U.S. Ambassador who carried out Trump's rage before the United Nations and then resigned after two years in Trump's cabinet so she could
 put some distance between her and Trump for the sake of her future political ambitions, hoping people have a short memory.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The United States, Mexico and Canada Trade Agreement

President Trump earlier this month with Corporate America, his Treasury Secretary and trade representatives at his side announced that the U.S., Mexico and Canada had agreed to a new trade deal to replace NAFTA, the much maligned agreement.  Trump painted a bright picture for the new agreement and like a little kid took the opportunity to bash past administrations decisions on trade.

But the American people were not told that it will take several years before we actually know the results of the new trade deal if in fact turns out to be better than NAFTA.  Congress will actually hold hearings on the issue next year and that is when we will learn what the fine print says.  In the mean time Trump's commerce secretary said America's trade imbalance with Asia and Europe will probably be the largest at the end of this year than in the last 10 years even though Trump raised tariffs on trade originating in those countries.

Trump's trade war of words with China is not going well and Trump is back tracking.  His economic advisor Larry Kudlow said last week Trump is now trying to arrange a meeting with China in November at the G-20 Summit in Buenos Aires where the U.S., China and other nations will meet.  China cancelled the last trade talk meeting with the U.S. that was set up and said they would not be intimidated by Trump's threats.

Transparency concerning the agreement will not beknown until next year when congress meets to take up the issue.  And even than, if republicans are still in control of congress, the American people may still be in the dark.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The Appointment Of Judge Brett Kavanaugh: Trump's Malignancy Spreads To The U.S. Supreme Court

A malignant President is the way journalist Carl Bernstein described President Trump in an on air appearance  on CNN last year.  And after 20 months in office the malignancy continues to spread and this time to the Supreme Court with Trump's appointment of Brett Kavanaugh.  It also infected the republican controlled Judicial Committee that handled the confirmation hearings.

It is the latest malignancy and the worse so far because it has infected the highest court in the land that has the final say so on the rule of law that Trump attacks and undermines every day.  This writer can not remember another Supreme Court appointee taking the bench so tainted by his own actions and testimony.  We know that the republican controlled congress and Trump's cabinet are ditto heads who have accepted and supported Trump's malignancy and in the very near future we will find out just where the majority stands on the U.S. Supreme Court.

As this writer said in a previous commentary, it only takes one so called conservative justice to neutralize the Kavanaugh malignancy.  And time will be the judge.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Republican U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski Stood Tall

Lisa Murkowski, the republican Senator from Hawaii stood tall as a member of the republican controlled Senate Judiciary Committee during the confirmation hearings of Judge Brett Kavanaugh.  She voted against cutting off debate that her party was successful at doing, and then she opposed the confirmation of Kavanaugh when the full Senate cast their vote which approved the appointment.

As the lone republican Senator  to oppose Kavanaugh she towered over her remaining male republican Senators who all voted yes and had the wisdom to use the judicial reason to do so.  After listening to Kavanaugh's hysterical testimony on Sept. 27 before the committee and his alleged claim against the democrats and the Clintons, Senator Murkowski referred her colleges to Rule 1.2, the code of judicial conduct and said Kavanaugh did not meet the standard.  This writer believes Kavanaugh's testimony failed the test of being impartial and lacks the temperament to seek the truth which comes with the responsibility of a judge.

Senator Murkowski did not feel the need to use Dr. Ford's testimony one way or the other to make her decision.  She knew what the judicial test was and why it mattered and was established and based her decision to oppose the Kavanaugh nomination on that basis.  The Senator represented her state and the nation with character and integrity.  Her republican colleges just wanted to confirm Kavanaugh for the political reasons of ideology and their leadership took the position that they would confirm Kavanaugh no matter what.

Yes, the lady Senator from Hawaii was a true lady.  And she is also a better person than her republican colleges.  And that really says it all.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

 

Trump And The Republicans Blame Game In Full Campaign Mode As The November Elections Near

Less than a month before the November 6 congressional elections, Trump and his ditto head party are sending out emails blaming the democratic party for everything negative that is taking place on their own watch.  They are doing what they do best, lie  They read the latest news where their party is behind in the Iron Belt states that Trump won in the 2016 election.

Regardless how the elections turn out, Trump will not be the cause.  Congressional elections are local and in general voters are not thinking about national or international matters but look to what is taking lace in their state.  Plus and a big plus, is the fact that most voters do not have a handle on the issues.  They either like the candidate or they don't.  A good example:  Voters think President Reagan balanced the federal budget.  (He did not, not even one);  The democratic party are the big spenders; Republicans are best at creating jobs;  Republicans are best at keeping America safe;  But the facts tell the opposite story.

But this writer believes there may be a key element in this election with women and the young first timevoters.  If they turn out in numbers like they say they are going to do and actually believe in what they have been protesting their vote may be the determining factor on November 6.  That is when the news media starts its non stop reporting and tries to tell the people what really took place and why.  The spin will take over and distort it all.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

U.S. Job Creation Fell Back In Septembr

The U.S. Labor Department announced that the economy created 134,000 jobs in September and the unemployment rate fell to 3.7%.  It was the 96th straight month of positive job growth for the economy.  September was the lowest job creation month since March 2018 when 103,000 jobs were reported created.  Economist predicted 185,000 jobs would be created in September.

So far, in Trump's 20 months in office 3,632,000 jobs have been created for a monthly average total of 181,600 jobs created per month.  In President Obama's last 20 months in office 4,007,000 jobs were created for a monthly average total of 200,350 jobs created per month.  In other words, there is no job creation boom from the tax cuts like Trump brags about.  What the country is enjoying is the economic expansion that began on President Obama's watch and in its 9th straight year of expansion.

And just think, when President Obama took office the economy was losing 700,000 jobs a month thanks to the record recession of President Bush  When Trump took office the economy was creating and adding approximately 200,000 jobs a month and positive job growth had taken place for over 70 straight months.  The next comparison can be made when the CBO releases the final budget information and numbers on Trump's first fiscal year budget which ended September 30.  And PolitiDose will be there to keep the pubic informed.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The U.S. Senate Confirms Brett Kavanaugh For The U.S. Supreme Court

The republican controlled Senate on a 50-48 vote  confirmed President Trump's nominee Brett Kavanaugh for a seat on the United States Supreme Court.  Will the vote put an end to the issue, fuel other protests or continue the debate and divide the country.  Will the legal profession who took the position that Kavanaugh disqualified himself with his out bursts and accusations at the September 27 hearing and will they continue to express their concerns.

Will Kavanaugh be a tainted Supreme Court Justice that ends a judicial system that is overall thought to be fair and respected.  This writer thinks the big question will fall to the present four so called conservative justices including the chief Justice John Roberts.  Will one of the four be a true conservative and not let the court be swayed by Kavanaugh's extreme views about the constitution.  It would only take one conservative vote to break away from Kavanaugh's views to keep him in check and keep the court's decisions truly in line with the constitution.  This writer believes there has to be a conservative on the court who understands what Kavanaugh's extreme views could do to the court's image and would not let Kavanaugh's views remake the court in his own image.

Although conservatives on the court today do not compare to the ones before the Gingrich era which served the country well with the democratic party, there still has to be one today on the court who puts America first.  The four most talked about decisions by the Supreme Court in the last 64 years were:  Brown vs. Board of Education;  Miranda;  Roe vs. Wade; and the Affordable Care Act.  All four decisions were led by republican appointed chief justices who voted with the majority.  Those conservative justices put the constitution and facts first above the politics of their party.  That should be a clue to the conservatives who sit on the Supreme Court today and how to deal with Kavanaugh.

Note:  Brown vs. Board of Education ended public school segregation in the 1954 decision.  The vote was 9 - 0.  Chief Justice Earl  Warren was appointed by President Eisenhower and voted with the majority.

The Miranda decision gave those arrested the right to remain silent in a 1966 decision.  The vote was 5-3.  Chief Justice Earl Warren voted with the majority.

Roe vs. Wade  (The abortion decision) was decided in 1973.  The vote was 7 - 2.  Chief Justice Warren Burger was appointed by President Nixon and voted with the majority.

The Affordable Care Act:  Up held by the Supreme Court in 2015 and was found constitutional.  The vote was 6 - 3.  Chief Justice John Roberts was appointed by President George W. Bush and voted with the majority.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Amazon Will Raise Its Minimum Wage To $15.00 An Hour

Amazon, the largest U.S. Corporation announced it would raise its minimum wage to $15/hour to be effective next month.  The raise would cover 350,000 plus workers including full time, part time, temporary and seasonal workers.  Amazon's actions were looked upon as a major victory for the $15/hour movement.  Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said we listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do and decided we wanted to lead.  Amazon also said it would push congress to increase the federal minimum wage that now stands at $7.25/hour.

Amazon is the company President Trump tried to ridicule because it has a contract with the USPO at a discount rate to handle its shipments.  But the Post Office struck back and pointed out that the business with Amazon is profitable.  Trump's real reason for his hit on Amazon is that its founder, Jeff Bezos also owns the Washington Post which has run a number of stories concerning Trump' lies and his campaign's involvement with Russia.

Amazon's actions long with the many states that have raised their minimum wage will go a long way to keep the ball rolling for employees to be paid a decent wage and share in the profits   CEO's and their executives have been enjoying for the past 30 plus years.  Just think,  American bread and butter industries could have been doing this long ago but ignored the average worker big time.

PolitiDose will be watching to see who follows Amazon's actions.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Another Big First For PoitiDose: Judge Brett Kavanaugh's Hysterical Testimony Of September 27,2018

PolitiDose called the shot with one of the first, and maybe even the very first to recognize that Kavanaugh's hysterical testimony under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the above date was more than enough to disqualify him for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.  And it was especially his out burst against an alleged rigged hearings by the democrats and invoking the Clintons into the subject matter.

Now we have several reported stories by the news media concerning a letter signed by 500 law professors, including 8 law professors from Yale University (Where Kavanaugh earned his law degree) that condemn Kavanaugh for a lack of judicial temperament.  The letter was sent to the U.S. Senate to say that the volatile temperament Kavanaugh displayed on Thursday (Sept. 27) as he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee disqualifies him from sitting on the nations highest court.  We regret that we feel compelled to write to you to provide our views that at the Senate hearings on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018, the honorable Brett Kavanaugh displayed a lack of judicial temperament that would be disqualifying for any court, and certainly for elevation to the highest court of this land.

The signees also criticize the judge for indicating that he believes allegations made by professor Christine Ford and other women are "a calculated and orchestrated political hit" by members of the democratic party rather than acknowledging that the Senate must try to understand and investigate the facts surrounding the allegations.  Instead of trying to sort out with reason and care the allegations that were raised, Judge Kavanaugh responded in an intemperate, inflammatory and partial manner, as he interrupted and, at times was discourteous to questioners."  The law professors site two statutes governing bias and recusal, that require a judge to step aside if he or she is at risk of being perceived as being unfair.

Readers of PolitiDose would note that some of the comments this writer made in the article written and published on 9/28/18, the day after Kavanaugh's testimony are very similar to what the law professors letter conveys almost a week later.  It becomes obvious every day that the Senate Judiciary Committee does not need Dr. Ford's testimony to find President Trump's nominee, Brett Kavanaugh unfit to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States.  And as strange as it may seem, Kavanaugh's hysterical testimony supplied the proof.

The full U.S. Senate in their meeting tomorrow should vote to reject the Kavanaugh nomination.


This commentary written by Joe Lorio