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

The LSU 2023 Football Regular Season Comes To An End.

 The LSU Tigers football regular season came to an end on Saturday defeating their rival SEC opponent Texas A&M 42-30.  The season closed out on a positive winning note unlike last years team and ended with a 9-3 won-loss record, same as last year.  So, now is the time once again to evaluate the team's performance.

This writer believes the program took a step backward this season and did not make progress.  The won-loss record was the same;  LSU defeated only one team with a winning record in SEC play, Missouri;  LSU defeated only two teams with an overall winning record, Missouri and Texas A&M;  LSU was defeated by Ole Miss and Alabama, two teams they defeated last year.  LSU finished third in the SEC west, a division they won last year.  LSU defeated only one of the top four teams they played, Missouri and were defeated by Florida State, Ole Miss and Alabama.  LSU's defense dropped off big time and their failure to stop their opponents on third down situations was glaring.

None of this was expected by the Baton Rouge sports writers and finally realized after LSU's defeat by Bama, they would not win the SEC west again and started to push Jayden Daniels for the Heisman award.  That award is about an individual's stats and not the ability a team needs to compete for a national championship. 

This writer in a PolitiDose commentary of last November that wrapped up LSU's first football season under a new head coach gave the opinion that last year's record would not be an indication of what this year's program would bring and was just a one year record.  That turned out to be the case.  To read the full commentary log onto politidose.blogspot.com.

Now, LSU awaits a holiday bowl invite.  Some sports writers are saying it will give the Tigers another opportunity to have a 10 win season, but that is a stretch and moving the goal posts because in the past only the regular season record was used to brag about a 10 win season.  What will a third season bring under coach Kelly will be discussed in a future commentary.    

What This Writer Would Like To See President Biden Do.

 With a new year fast approaching, this writer would  like to  see President Biden announce that he has selected former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu as his Vice Presidential running mate for the 2024 election.  If the President changes his mind about running for re-election, I would like to see Mitch Landrieu announce that he would be a candidate for the Democratic party's nomination. 

Mitch would be the ideal candidate for either job.  Young, served as Lt. Gov. of Louisiana, Mayor of  New Orleans for 8 years, served in the state legislature and is a proven public servant who has political understanding that is necessary to run government.  He is articulate on the issues and talks the issues, never runs from a fight and believes in solving problems.  He understands the problems that face cities and state governments and serves as President Biden's director for the distribution of infrastructure funds approved by congress.  His office set up the program to work with the states and the cities concerning the matter that distributes billions of  dollars.

Mitch does not kick the can down the road on tough issues and knows how to work with others.  He does not rain personal attacks on others or blame others as the problem like we see some of today's so called leaders do.  He is the guy who rolls up his sleeves and acts.  This writer wrote a commentary in PolitiDose while Mitch was still serving as Mayor of New Orleans dated 2/7/2014, titled, Mitch Landrieu,  A Serious Public Servant.  Following is one of the paragraphs from that commentary that is still relevant today.

THIS WRITER BELIEVES MITCH LANDRIEU HAS A BRIGHT POLITICAL FUTURE WHEN HE FINISHES HIS LAST TERM IN OFFICE.  I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM RUN FOR A NATIONAL OFFICE AT SOME POINT BECAUSE THAT IS WHERE SERIOUS PUBLIC SERVANTS ARE SO LACKING AND HE COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE.  THE MAYOR ALSO PERFORMS HIS  JOB IN A PROFESSIONAL WAY THAT IS SUCH A CONTRAST TO THOSE LEADERS THAT ARE ALWAYS COMPLAINING ABOUT SOMETHING AND PLACING BLAME ON SOMEONE ELSE.

In this writer's judgement, Mitch Landrieu represents the future of the democratic party and the country needs someone like Mitch now to serve on the national scene to help protect the constitution, our institutions and the democratic process of our elections which are all under attack. 

This commentary written by Joe Lorio  

Columnist Rich Lowry Remains Blind Concerning The federal Budget Deficits and Debt.

 Lowry's commentary published in the New Orleans Advocate of 11/8/23 titled, "Biden blind to looming deficit risk" demonstrates his ignorance about the federal budget deficits as he joins Trump, the GOP and their love for mis-information and lies.  Confessed conservatives like Lowry and his pundits are comfortable with their feelings of being inadequate and their inability to compete with the truth so they stop being real men of character and courage.  Instead they live the life of mis-information and untruths.

The first sentence of his commentary started out with a lie that Biden's last year deficit was $2 trillion.  Fact:  The U.S. Treasury reported that last fiscal year which ended 9/30/23 the deficit came in at $1.69 trillion.  Lowry's second lie was when he said the deficit doubled to $2 trillion.  Fact:  The deficit for the previous fiscal year ending 9/30/22 came in at $1.38 trillion, no where near doubling as Lowry reported.

Lowry's next lie said the national debt increased about $7.8 trillion during Trump's administration.  Fact:  the national debt increased $8.2 trillion during Trump's 4 fiscal years.  It was $28.4 trillion at the end of his last fiscal year and $20.2 trillion at the beginning of his first fiscal year.  That $8.2 trillion increase in the national debt was the largest increase of any President's 4 fiscal years.

The federal  deficit at the end of Trump's third fiscal year was a whopping $3.1 trillion, the largest yearly increase in the federal deficit of any President.  The federal deficit at the end of Trump's last fiscal year came in at $2.7 trillion, the second largest single year deficit of any President.  So yes, President Biden's administration in his first two fiscal years decreased the federal budget deficits from what it was on Trump and the GOP's watch.  And to top it off, another GOP President George W Bush gave the country it's very first ever single year trillion dollar deficit when it came in at $1.4 trillion at the end of his final fiscal year.  

Lowry could not bring himself to talk about Trump's record debt and deficits because he and his ditto  heads feel so inadequate they cannot bring themselves together and report the facts.  They are truly a sad, sad bunch.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

Note:  All above numbers provided by this writer taken from U.S. Treasury and CBC historical records.   

Alabama Defeats LSU 42 - 28.

The Crimson Tide from Tuscalousa on Saturday night prevented the Tigers of LSU from successfully defending their SEC West title this 2023 football season.  The game was a track meet between two talented quarterbacks with exceptional talent.  Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe had the least playing experience of the two but in the end his team won the game.

No one knew it at the time, but Alabama won the game after the Tigers took the third quarter kick off and marched to a touchdown putting them in the lead 28-21.  Alabama came roaring back scoring three unanswered touchdowns on their next three possessions and took the  lead for good 42-28.  The Alabama defense then took over and shut out the Tigers the rest of the game.

LSU's Daniels rushed for 163 yards on 11 carries and Milroe rushed for 155 yards on 20 carries.  LSU's other rushers rushed for 43 yards on 13 carries and Alabama's other rushers rushed for 133 yards on 23 carries.  Daniels scored one rushing touchdown while Milroe scored four rushing touchdowns.  

The outcome of the game and the way things played out should be no surprise to LSU fans who are objective in evaluating the chances against the Tide.  LSU's defensive problems have been there all year long and gave up big points.  Also, LSU has only beaten one team with a winning record as of this date, Missouri.  Also, every SEC team they have beaten this year had either a losing record or a break even record in SEC play.  The two SEC teams left to play are Florida and Texas A&M and neither have a winning record in SEC play as of this date.

It was notable that three of the four Baton Rouge sports writers for the Advocate in Saturday's edition picked Alabama to beat LSU, however, their reporting during the season talked about LSU winning the SEC west again and making the BCS playoffs.  Saturday's loss to Bama eliminates LSU from the BCS playoffs again this year, the last year of the present set up.  So, in the 10 years of the present playoff system, LSU has made the playoffs only one time in 2019 when they won it all.  

What is left now is to see how LSU and the coaching staff handle the final three games.  This writer commented in PolitiDose commentary after last season was over that the results of the first year under new head coach Kelly would not indicate what the 2023 season would bring.  That turned out to be accurate,

This commentary written by Joe Lorio