Mary Landrieu
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Former La. Rep. Jeff Landry forms SuperPAC
Posted by Kevin Allman on Tue, Apr 9, 2013 at 12:18 PM
Restore Our Republic, which Politico calls a "hard-core PAC for hard-right Republicans," aims to raise money to support fiscal and social conservatives in races for the U.S. House of Representatives, though it hasn't announced formal support of any candidates yet.
Landry, who expressed his disgust with Washington on his way out the door (some of his fellow legislators say the feeling was entirely mutual), told the media his first priority upon returning to Acadiana was getting back to duck hunting. That didn't stop speculation that Landry might stand against Sen. Mary Landrieu in the 2014 election, a notion that Landry himself has never quite discouraged. But Politico speculates the establishment of the SuperPAC makes a Landry candidacy less likely:
Friday, April 5, 2013
And then there were four: Sen. Landrieu among Senate Democrats opposing same-sex marriage
Posted by Alex Woodward on Fri, Apr 5, 2013 at 4:55 PM
Last month, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu addressed her position on same sex marriage as the U.S Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. U.S. Senate Democrats had only a handful of marriage equality opponents — Landrieu among them. Today, Indiana's Joe Donnelly and North Dakota's Heidi Heitkamp came forward in support.
Donnelly wrote the following on Facebook: "With the recent Supreme Court arguments and accompanying public discussion of same-sex marriage, I have been thinking about my past positions and votes. In doing so, I have concluded that the right thing to do is to support marriage equality for all."
"After speaking with North Dakotans from every corner of our great state, and much personal reflection, I have concluded the federal government should no longer discriminate against people who want to make lifelong, loving commitments to each other or interfere in personal, private, and intimate relationships," Heitkamp wrote. "The makeup of families is changing, but the importance of family is enduring."
Landrieu has not outright opposed the concept — she even has acknowledged the "progression" of public opinion and its influence. Last month, Landrieu told Buzzfeed that she feels "very strongly that people should be allowed to love who they love," but added, "unfortunately my state has a very strong ban against gay marriage constitutionally."
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Poll: Congress less popular than cockroaches, traffic jams, Nickelback
Posted by Kevin Allman on Tue, Jan 8, 2013 at 11:49 AM
When asked if they have a higher opinion of either Congress or a series of unpleasant or disliked things, voters said they had a higher opinion of root canals (32 for Congress and 56 for the dental procedure), NFL replacement refs (29-56), head lice (19-67), the rock band Nickelback (32-39), colonoscopies (31-58), Washington DC political pundits (34-37), carnies (31-39), traffic jams (34-56), cockroaches (43-45), Donald Trump (42-44), France (37-46), Genghis Khan (37-41), used-car salesmen (32-57), and Brussels sprouts (23-69) than Congress.
The good news for Congress: America's august legislative body is more popular than telemarketers, North Korea or gonorrhea. So there's that. But overall:
Congress’s overall favorability rating stands at just 9% favorable and 85% unfavorable. Women (13-81) view Congress slightly more favorably than men (6-89), as do Democrats (13-82) than Republicans (9-87), perhaps reflecting Democrats’ higher level of satisfaction with the recent fiscal cliff deal.
Get the full details here.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
The Daily Beast congratulates Mitch Landrieu on school reform
Posted by Stephanie Grace on Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 8:48 AM
There’s just one catch: The innovation that earned him the prized spot on the roster, the dramatic transformation of the city’s public schools, wasn’t exactly his.
“Under Mayor Mitch Landrieu, the Crescent City has aggressively embraced education reform,” the piece says. “The result is a sea change in public education. Consider this: nationwide, just 4 percent of students attend charter schools. In New Orleans, nearly 80 percent of parents choose charters. Seven years after Katrina, the dropout rate has been cut in half, while test scores have soared by double digits.”
The specific actions that Landrieu is described as taking are actually correct, and there’s no evidence that his team oversold his role. The piece rightly points out that City Hall doesn’t control the school system, and that Landrieu has championed charters, campaigned for “reform” candidates, fought for a ground-breaking $1.8 billion lump sum from FEMA to rebuild facilities, and pursued philanthropic support.
But to make him the face of the movement — or suggest that the epic changes originated in the city and not in Baton Rouge — is as misleading as handing that honor to Gov. Bobby Jindal, another ambitious supporter who also gets plenty of national attention for his role.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Y@ Speak: A 'more robust' edition
Posted by Lauren LaBorde on Tue, May 29, 2012 at 12:14 PM
Excuse me while I get personal for a second. As someone who grew up here (in Metairie, specifically), the Times-Picayune has been one of those inextricable aspects of my life that I, admittedly, have taken for granted at times. Having the paper around the house was how I learned to read. It's how I learned I wanted to be a writer. It's also how I learned there was no such thing as Santa Claus — from a Living section article titled, I'm pretty sure, "How to tell your child there's no such thing as Santa Claus' — because I was a bit too precocious a child. This weekend, my dad — an avid consumer of local news — made a joke that when he dies, "he's not going to find out about it until Wednesday."
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Sens. David Vitter and Mary Landrieu honored by Humane Society
Posted by Kevin Allman on Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 10:29 AM
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., was named the Humane Senator of the Year for his leadership on securing needed funding to strengthen USDA enforcement of key animal welfare laws, as well as on bills to require licensing and inspections of puppy mills selling directly to the public via the Internet or other means (the PUPS Act, S. 707) and to prohibit interstate and foreign commerce in nonhuman primates for the pet trade (the Captive Primate Safety Act, S. 1324). Sen. Vitter helped get a bipartisan group of 34 Sens. to join in seeking funding for USDA to improve its oversight of puppy mills, laboratories, zoos, circuses and other regulated facilities; rein in the illegal “soring” of show horses (where trainers inflict severe pain on the animals’ legs and hooves to make it hurt them to step down, so they will exaggerate their high-stepping gait and win prizes); strengthen enforcement of the humane slaughter law; prevent illegal animal fighting; ease a shortage of veterinarians in rural areas and USDA positions through student loan repayment; and help address the needs of animals in disasters. Sen. Vitter also has been a champion over the years on legislation to require accurate labeling of fur apparel regardless of dollar value, to crack down on dogfighting and cockfighting, to ban the creation and distribution of obscene animal torture (“crush”) videos, and to strengthen the law against shark finning (cutting the fins off and throwing the rest of the living animals back in the water).
Vitter announced the news himself on his Twitter feed, noting "My fmly adopted rescue dog-Elle-in '09."
Last month, the Humane Society named Sen. Mary Landrieu its "Humane Horsewoman of the Year":
because of her tireless efforts to introduce and gain support for the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (S. 1176/H.R. 2966) in the U.S. Senate. We also recognized her successful efforts as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee to help secure a 40 percent increase in funds for the enforcement of the Horse Protection Act to crack down on criminal soring of Tennessee walking horses in show competitions."
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Poll: Majority of Catholics believe employer health plans should cover contraception
Posted by Charles Maldonado on Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 10:53 AM
Catholic Bishops, including New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond, say a federal ruling that will require religious-affiliated employers — hospitals and colleges but not places of worship — to provide employee insurance that includes contraception is “an unprecedented attack on our religious liberty, which is a founding principle of our nation.” (Interestingly, here in New Orleans, the Catholic Loyola University now offers contraceptive coverage in its employee health insurance plan, according to the benefits handbook posted on its human resources web page.)
Their parishioners, however, feel differently, at least according to survey results released today by the Public Religion Research Institute. 55 percent of total respondents — and 58 percent of Catholic respondents — told PRRI they believed that employers should provide contraception coverage. When it comes to religiously affiliated hospitals and schools, only 49 percent of total respondents felt the same way. Among Catholics, however, 52 percent again said they felt those institutions should be required to cover birth control as part of their employee insurance.
Louisiana Sen. David Vitter (a Catholic) has signed on as a cosponsor of a bill, filed by (Catholic) Florida Republican Marco Rubio, that would extend conscience based exemptions to the requirement to any employer, not just religious institutions. Vitter didn't respond to Gambit's request for comment on the issue.
But here's what (Catholic) Sen. Mary Landrieu had to say:
“According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 87 percent of Louisiana women of all faiths have used preventive birth control methods — including preventive birth control medication — at some point in their child-bearing years. It is important that these women continue to have access to affordable, preventive birth control under a doctor’s supervision. Equally important, I am sensitive to the position and beliefs of the Catholic Church on this issue. I am taking this issue under advisement, and will be open to views from a wide variety of organizations and individuals.”
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
SOPA/PIPA makes for strange bedfellows in Louisiana
Posted by Kevin Allman on Wed, Jan 18, 2012 at 1:32 PM
By now you're certainly aware of the day of protest over SOPA and PIPA, the House and Senate bills that aim to squelch Internet piracy by, well, squelching the Internet. When you've got both The Hayride and Michael Moore objecting to the bills — for the same reasons — well, Congresspeople, to quote Bill Engvall, here's your sign. Seriously, the Hayride's essay is an excellent one:
Who decides what’s objectionable? Who decides which cases have merit? Who decides when to pull the plug on a site? What are the criteria? Just losing money isn’t enough — we have civil law suits for that.Remember; all the while you hunt the wolf; he hunts you. You could be the next to suffer some bureaucrat’s knee-jerk reaction to a perceived slight.
I know personally how badly loss of copyright sucks. But loss of the rights to read controversial copy and ideas sucks worse. It’s CENSORSHIP. It’s a bad thing.
Meanwhile, as the SOPA/PIPA protest goes into the afternoon, GOP heavyweights like Fla. Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. John Cornyn have backed off their initial support of PIPA (Rubio had even been a cosponsor) — which puts them, like it or not (and they won't) on the side of the Obama administration.
More strange bedfellows: Up in Minnesota, the liberal Democratic Rep. Al Franken is all for SOPA (though his constituents on his Facebook page are most definitely not), while the conservative GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann is against it. So: If you're opposed to SOPA/PIPA, you're on Bachmann's side. And Bachmann is on Nancy Pelosi's side. My head is spinning just typing that sentence.
In Louisiana, the strange bedfellows go in reverse. Both Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu and Republican Sen. David Vitter — who are often at odds both professionally and personally — are not only both supporting PIPA, they're both cosponsoring it. Landrieu provided us with a statement; Vitter's office has ignored our request for one. (That hasn't stopped angry constituents from flooding his Facebook page with comments.)
In the Louisiana House delegation, Republican Rep. Jeff Landry is foursquare against SOPA (he provided us with a two-sentence statement: "This is ridiculous. When is this government intrusion going to stop?"), while his ideological soulmate, Rep. Steve Scalise, is cosponsoring it. Meanwhile, where does Democratic Rep. Cedric Richmond stand? He's supposed to get back to us this afternoon (and we'll update this post when he does).
Cats and dogs lying together! Legislators who usually vote in lockstep in fervent disagreement! Bachmann and Pelosi!!!! What's going on here?
Under the cut, Sen. Landrieu's statement about why she's cosponsoring the legislation — in which she seems to be leaving herself some wiggle room.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Mary Landrieu gets with the Twitter
Posted by Kevin Allman on Thu, Dec 1, 2011 at 4:40 PM
Sen. Mary Landrieu has lagged far behind her GOP counterpart, Sen. David Vitter, in one respect: Landrieu hasn't been down with the Twitter tubes. (Though lately the Vittertwitter has been mostly football-centric, with controversial tweets like "Let's geaux Tigers!" and "Who dat!")
Back in July 2009, I dropped a note to Landrieu's Washington office, asking if she'd ever be joining Twitter, and got this response:
Kevin — The Senator is indeed on Facebook, Flickr and YouTube. The Senator’s presence on each of those social networking sites is currently being beefed up. However, there are no plans for the Senator to begin tweeting.
Someone must have given in or changed their mind, because in mid-November, @SenLandrieu made its debut:
And her famous brother, @MayorLandrieu, encouraged his followers to follow his sister the day after the first tweet appeared.
Landrieu is currently at 712 followers, while Vitter is at 12,286. Advantage Vitter — though, as we've noted in this space before, the junior senator has a way to go before he completely masters Facebook.
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