The Affordable Health Care Act And The Republican Party

The cost of health care insurance, health care itself and the number of people with out health insurance has increased and became a problem many years before President Obama took office in 2008.  Employers, employees and those retired have felt the effects long before the President's election.  The republican party in congress has vowed to defund and actually voted to repeal "Obanacare" (their term) 40 times in the U.S. House.  Recently they have even talked about shutting the government down if Obamacare is not defunded.

Prior to President Obama's election the republicans controlled the White House and the country 20 of the previous 28 years.  Reagan 8 years, G.H.W. Bush 4 years, Clinton 8 years and G.W. Bush 8 years.  During the 20 year reign of republican control no President submitted a plan to congress to address the health care issue or the escalating number of people with out health insurance.  They said they knew how to handle the problem but never had a plan or policy.  And as of this writing they still do not have a plan or a policy even though they say they do.

President Clinton assigned his wife to handle health care reform during his term in office and the republicans killed that idea and it went no where.  President Obama in the election of 2008 campaigned on health care reform, was elected and his administration passed the AHCA.  The republicans said it was unconstitutional, took it to court and the Supreme Court ruled otherwise in favor of the administration.   So now, 32 years later and the republican party still has no plan or policy for health care reform nor can they articulate how they would replace Obamacare and deal with the issue.  The T.V. talk shows who play to the republicans on the subject matter never question them about their lack of a plan during the 20 years of republican rule.

The republican record of failure concerning health care is a mirror image of those same three republican Presidents who said they would balance the federal budget and then gave the country and its people 20 years of record deficit spending and debt.  Those who follow politics and the facts understand why the republican party troday are a sorry bunch.  The leaders of the party today could not have been a part of the greatest generation of WWII.  They would not have fit in.  The unAmerican conservative ideology they preach today has overwhelmed their sense of decency, compassion for their fellow man and their ability to work with democrats on the tough issues facing the country and its people.  They make it a priority to use divisive issues such as abortion, religion, the gay community and etc., instead of talking about those issues that unite us.

Yes, there was a time in America when the republican party put the country and the people first.  That was a time when good things happened.  It is getting harder to remember those good things because the tea party has moved the republican party more and more in the direction of the extreme right and there is no republican willing to stand up and say enough is enough.  Obamacare is just another phony talking point that make up a phony republican agenda.  Government is not the problem.  The problem is elected officials who run government with an unAmerican conservative ideology.  Our leaders and the people of the greatest generation would never have put up with such an ideology, and neither should todays generation.


This commentary written by John Lucia

The State of Louisiana Files Suit Against Texas Brine

Texas Brine was sued by the State of Louisiana for environmental damage concerning the sinkhole in an area around Bayou Corne which was discovered on August 3, 2012.  The suit was announced by Governor Bobby Jindal and Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell.

Patrick Courreges, a spokesman for the Department of Natural Resources said Texas Brine has not reimbursed the state for any of the $12 million already spent responding to the disaster.  Jindal said the suit is just the next step in making sure Texas Brine does the right thing and properly addresses the mess it caused.  The governor seems to have taken a cue from the suit filed the week before by the Southeast Flood Protection Authority-East who filed a law suit against a number of Oil and Gas companies over the environmental damage caused by their operations in the state. 

It took Jindal one day shy a year to file the suit against Texas Brine to hold them accountable but has done nothing to hold the Oil and Gas industry accountable in the four plus years he has been governor.  Maybe, just maybe Jindal and Caldwell will join the "Authoritys" suit against the industry and finally hold them accountable.  The people in Louisiana should support both lawsuits because businesses do not live up to their responsibilities on their own when they damage the environment and as a general rule hate regulations.

Hopefully, the "Authority" has started a trend and will make government take care of its obligations in enforcing state laws.


This commentary written by John Lucia

Steve Scalise and Chris John: The Latest Mouth Piece For The Oil and Gas Industry

Louisiana's U.S. Representative Steve Scalise is the latest elected official to take a swipe at the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East (SLF-PA-E) suit against 97 oil, gas and pipeline companies to restore damages to wetlands in Louisiana.  In a Times Picayune article of July 2, Scalise is trying to demand transparency from SLF-PA-E concerning the lawyers hired to handle the suit and said the Levee Board could be forced to sell flood protection assets in order to pay for the suit.

John Barry, VP of SLF-PA-E said no flood protection assets are in jeopardy and that the whole point of the suit is to get the money needed to protect people from hurricanes.  The choice really is simple:  Protect oil companies from having to keep their written word and also obey the law, or protect people's lives and property from hurricanes.  It really is that simple.  Mr. Barry put Scalise in his place and shows how silly he really is. 

What Scalise and other elected Louisiana officials are afraid of and see in the lawsuit is the state of Louisiana's failure to hold the industry liable for the destruction of wetlands, marshes and coastal area's.  Scalise, like others who served in the state legislature while the damage was being inflicted were silent and done nothing to hold the industry accountable and all the while accepting campaign contributions from the industry.  Scalise is still accepting campaign contributions from them. 

Chris John in a "point of view" article in the Times Picayune of July 2 says the oil and gas industry has the states best interest at heart and trys to deflect the issue by talking about the industry's dollar investment and job creation in the state.  John also said, we will continue to be part of the solution, a solution that puts Louisiana first, working together with the state leaders and the industry as a whole for a better sustainable Louisiana coast, not sitting in a courtroom for the next several decades.  I believe the public knows pretty well that the industry continues to be part of the problem and not the solution. 

That statement of John's is so self serving it belongs in a fairy tale.  A note at the bottom of the article in fine print says John is President of The Louisiana Mid Continent Oil And Gas Assoc.  In other words he is a mouth piece for the industry.  What John did not say in the article is that he and his family owns and operates an Oil Field Trucking business in Louisiana that has been in operations for over 30 years.  This writer worked in that industry for over 34 years so I can verify that. 

Unlike President Obama's action concerning the BP blow out, Scalise and othr elected officials in Louisiana has turned their backs on the environmental damage done by the industry on state land and it has been an ongoing problem for many years.  The lawsuit brings front and center just how beholden Louisiana's elected officials have been to the industry.  Former governor David Treen had the answer to the problem with CWEL but our elected officials looked the other way, they wanted no part of it. 


This commentary written by John Lucia

Crybaby U.S. Senator David Vitter of Louisiana

Senator Vitter signed onto a letter that threatens to shut down the federal government unless Congress votes to defund the Affordable Helth Care Act (AHCA) that was passed by Congress and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.  Ditto head Vitter joins 11 other republicans who signed onto the letter that was sent to democratic senator Harry Reid, the majority leader in the U.S. Senate.

Republican senator Tom Coburn said Vitter and others failed to realize the GOP lost the 2012 election to President Obama and that the people do not want the federal government to be shut down.  Republican senator Bob Corker said it was a silly idea and that those who signed the letter do not have the courage to participate in the debate on the issues facing the country.  At least Coburn and Corker refused to be ditto heads for the republican party on this issue and that is to their credit.

Crybaby and ditto head Vitter is a good example of a Louisiana elected official who not only has no original thought and political courage he is willing to allow himself to be motivated by a conservative ideology that continues to be unAmerican in nature.  The conservative approach to governing is that the republicans can pass any legislation they want too and then deny the same legislation ability to the democrats.  Conservatives think of themselves as elite and that is why during election campaigns they can not tell the public what they stand for and instead run campaigns of personal attacks. 

The AHCA is working and it is really a disgrace that Vitter and his stupit party opposes the President's every move that has brought the country back from the second great republican depression of 2008.  Vitter and his ditto head buddies have nothing to offer the American people that moves the country forward and the President needs to slap their little boy faces.  Democratic administrations have the best record of balancing the federal budget, creating a lasting economy, job creation, smaller increases in federal spending, better living conditions and increased income for the middle class and a host of other advances in the past 52 plus years. 

Medicare, medicaid and social security are democratic programs that work and the AHCA is working for the benefit of the country and its people.  That is really what is behind the opposition of Vitter and the republican party.  The party that cries the loudest is the party of no record of accomplishments.  It is a mirror image of Fox News who feel they have to repeat over and over they are fair and balanced when they know they are not.  And that really says it all.


Commentary written by John Lucia

Hooray For The Lawsuit Filed By The Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East.

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The lawsuit by the Authority is aimed at forcing dozens of Oil and Gas companies to repair damage to a buffer zone of wet lands and ridges as reported in the Times Picayune of July 24.  The lawsuit was filed in state court because the on shore operations of those oil companies comes under state regulations.  The
destruction of Louisiana's environment by the industry's operations for the past 40 plus years has been given lip service by past governers and state elected officials that make up the legislature and they have failed to hold the industry accountable for the massive damage done to the environment.

Louisiana's officials get an F for their failure to act and now they want BP to pay for the damages caused by the industry over the years.  And of course Louisiana's elected officials are still receiving big bucks in campaign contributions from the industry and they still fail to hold the industry accountable as of this very writing.  President Obama stood tall after the BP well blow out that took the lives of 11 rig workers.  A moratorium was instituted against Gulf drilling until some answers could be found as to the cause and his administration has held BP accountable for their actions.  Many of Louisiana's representatives opposed the moratorium just like they opposed to enforce Louisiana's regulations concerning the destruction of the environment because of drilling, production, pipe line and dredging operations.

The federal government stepped up to the plate concerning the BP situation.  Louisiana's elected officials have been AWOL for the past 40 plus years on the environmental rape of Louisiana's wet lands and marshes.  Former governor David Treen had the answer with his proposal called CWEL (Coastal Wetlands Environmental Levy) which he spoke about many times over and was the subject of a letter to the editors to the editors of the Times Picayune published on 3/9/09.  The Times Picayune also ran an article dated 9/19/09 concerning a Pipeline Volume Tax.  Those ideas went no where in the state legislature because of the industry's financial clout.

So now, the Authority who filed the suit has done what Louisiana's elected officials should have done long ago to bring the industry to justice.  This writer has written several past commentaries here in PolitiDose concerning the subject matter and CWEL.  Governor Treen saw the problem and had a valid answer that should have been given serious thought and debate over the years especially since the damage continues to take place.  But our state officials have a better idea and answer, let BP pay for it all.  That really says it all.


This commentary written by John Lucia

Charles Krauthammer's Silly Editorial

Charlie boy's editorial titled "A Modest GOP Agenda For 2013" is another example how conservative journalists and republicans in congress are so culpable in their own stupid party and unAmerican conservative ideology.  His recomended Modest Agenda for the GOP is as follows.

1) Oppose further expansion of the entitlement state.  2) Reform the tax code.  3) Secure the border.  4)  Demand clarity on Afghanistan.  First of all there has been no expansion of the so called entitlement state.  Charles boy is talking about the AHCA but that is needed because the states have failed to take care of the problem within their own borders.  Federal spending under Obama has increased at the smalest rate since the Clinton administration.  The administrations of Reagan and Bush 43 had the largest increase in federal spending in the past 32 years.

Reform the tax code by the republican party is a joke and Charlie knows that because of the republican's relationship with the wealthy and special interest groups.  Charlie also knows that the republicans controlled both house of congress during most of the Bush 43 years in office and had an opportunity to reform the tax code then and failed to do so.  If tax reform takes place one can be sure it will happen on a Democratic President's watch.

Secure the border for immigration:  The republicans had a chance to do that under Bush 43 also and failed.  They flipped flopped then and they are currently doing the same thing.  Demand clarity on Afghanistan:  President Obama has already done that and announced the date of the U.S. withdrawal.  Obama has already put to bed Bush's war with Iraq over WMD that did not exist.  When it comes to Afghanistan, Charlie boy is thinking of Bush's mishandling in fighting that war and had no clarity on the subject matter when he left office.  He just turned it over to the President. 

Charlie is well aware that the GOP in congress has had a Modest Agenda since the President was elected in 2008 so what is new.  That Modest Agenda was to not lift a finger to work with Obama because they want to see him fail and take the country along that path.  Their agenda has not changed in 2013.  Charlie as a journalist, the republicans as a party and conservatism as invoked by the leaders of the party in and out of congress have no positive accomplishments that move the country and its people forward.  They are really chapped that once again it is a democratic administration that has moved the country forward out of the second great republican depression that was caused by Bush's policies.  And that says it all Charlie boy.


This commentary written by John Lucia

Creating a Fair U.S. Tax Code

Don't listen to congress when they say the tax code is a mess and has to be dealth with, corrected and made more simple because they are the ones who wrote the tax code to begin with.  The Tax Code is a mess because Corporate America and the wealthy dictate what should be in the tax code and they use their campaign contributions as influence.  That is why the code is swamped with tax exemptions, loop holes and exceptions that protect and help corporate America and the wealthy. 

Make no mistake about it, the code can be simplified very simply with various tax brackets and no exceptions.  Everyone should be expected to pay his or her fair share in taxes that finance the needs of the country and its people.  Under the present system the wealth of the middle class in America has been transferred to the wealthy with trickle down economics and special tax breaks for corporate America and the wealthy. 

Tax brackets can be done in a fair way when special interest are eliminated.  And a minimum tax rate can be fairly established for those with a minimum income.  The tax code change should be done with the country's priority being to establish a lasting economy that will put the country in full employment mode.  Full employment was accomplished during the Clinton administration.  Full employment and a fair tax code will allow our people to earn a good salary and at the same time pay taxes that keeps everything going.  When the tax burden is shared by all, all will prosper.  When the tax burden is shared by the few who happen to be the middle class, the economy, jobs and the American way of life detoriates.

Yes, the tax code can be made fair for all, absent all the loopholes and etc.  Tax brackets can be drawn fairly for all income levels by putting America first.  At the present time special interest is put first and the country and its people are paying the heavy price.


This commentary was written by John Lucia

The Latest Economic Jobs Report For June

The Labor Department announced that the economy created 195,000 jobs in June, much more than was being predicted and that the unemployment rate remained at 7.6% because more of the unemployed was seeking work with the uptick in the economy.  Those not seeking work are not counted by the Department.

They also reported that job creation for the previous three months was greater than they reported at the time and that for the first 6 months of the year the economy created an average of 202,000 jobs per month.  That is a healthy number despite the lack of republican help and their goal of wanting to see America and its people fail.  The republicans hate to see history repeat itself that confirms democratic administrations always out perform republican administrations concerning the economy and job creation. 

And once again it is worthwhile to repeat as I have done so before many times over here in "politidose", if the U.S. House would have passed Obama's job's program that they have been sitting on for over a year and a half, our country would be at or near full employment by the end of the year.  The republicans in the U.S. House are a pitiful lot and do not represent what America is all about.  In fact they lack the basic self respect of what is expected of congress.  And they get paid for this inaction.


This commentary written by John Lucia

The Abandonment Of The Algiers Ferry and The People of Algiers

Leave it to some politicans who have no courage to live up to their responsibility as elected officals and those who pushed to end the bridge tolls on the CCC to show their true colors and selfish ego's.  Those people had no back up plans to keep the Algiers ferry in operation full time that the people have depended on for over 70 plus years, especially those who live in Old Algiers. (Algiers Point)

The vote to lift the tolls took away the financing of the Algiers ferry and eliminated millions of dollars in revenue for the state.  All we heard from those who wanted the tolls to end was the excuse that the toll money was not being properly used.  Never mind holding our elected officials accountable for the money to be spent wisely if it was not, they just wanted the tolls to go.  They did not care about the people of Algiers who depend on ferry service to downtown New Orleans and the burden that would put on them.

The states elected officials should have made the decision themselves on the tolls instead of putting it up for a vote by the people, but that would have taken courage which is in short supply.  So people who use neither the CCC or the ferry decided the fate of the people of Algiers.  Free bridges, free streets, free ferry, free municipal services and free infracture repairs, let some one else pay.   Now the people of Algiers have to pay the price because no one had a plan in place that would finance the ferry for full time operations immediately if the tolls were voted off.

Many of those who pushed the no tolls did not even bother to check the history of the Algiers ferry service and the positive role it played in the lives of the people in Algiers.  And as of this writing there is still no financing available to keep the ferry in operation full time.  Sadly, that really says it all.


This commentary written by John Lucia

LSU, The College World Series And Paul Mainieri

The dust has settled from LSU's early exit from the College World Series and in this writer's view sports journalists who cover LSU and the Series have yet to touch upon Mainieri's failure as a manager and coach in both of LSU's losses and especially in its opening game against UCLA. 

LSU's failure to sacrifice bunt after lead off hitter Katz was walked to put him in scoring position on second base in the bottom of the ninth was a major blunder on Mainieri's part.  LSU was only one run behind at the time with no outs.  Instead of the sacrifice bunt the batter hit into a double play which virtually gave the game away with two out.  Mainieri's failure to call the sacrifice bunt during both LSU games when needed showed he lacked the basic fundamentals of the game.

UCLA's manager and coach understood that his pitcher and LSU's pitcher were not going to give up many runs and there fore it was important to have runners in scoring posititon once they reached base.  Their coach used the sacrifice bunt on several occasions to move the runners in scoring position and it worked.  It mattered not if his runners scored on a hit or an error, it still counted and UCLA's winning run in that game came on an LSU error.

Mainieri's failure to use the sacrifice bunt at the most critical time in the game must have left former LSU manager and coach Skip Bertman fit to be tied.  There is no doubt in this writers mind that he would have called for the bunt in the bottom of the ninth if he were the coach.  Skip Bertman did not win 5 National Championships only because he was a good coach and because he had good players.  He won because he was aware and understood that executing the fundamentals of the game was the key to winning.

Mainieri's decision to have his batter hit away with Katz on first deprived his pitcher and team of a chance to win.  His starting pitcher and team deserved better.  So what did we hear from sports journalists who covered LSU.  The same worn out hype: they won the SEC and the SEC Championship:  they won more games than any other LSU team and etc, and etc.  To them every thing was just fine and after all Mainieri did win a national title several years ago.  The feeling being past performance will automatically win another national championship.  LSU fans and the team deserve an objective report from sports journalists instead of excuses.

This writer has been a long time fan of LSU sports but in the last several years I have learned to expect the worst instead of the best in the so called big games because of poor coaching decisions in both football and baseball.  LSU's two and out in the CWS should be Mainieri's rosetta stone to executing the basic's of baseball next season and beyond.  Mississippi State won no titles this baseball year but they did make it to the CWS championship game.  That should be enough to motivate Mainieri and sports journalists also.


This commentary written by John Lucia