David Vitter: Blog of New Orleans, Gambit

Poll: Congress less popular than cockroaches, traffic jams, Nickelback

Kevin Allman — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:49:55 -0600

While we're used to goofball "polls" from men's magazines and PR firms on topics like "America's Drunkest City" or "City With America's Biggest Penises" (New Orleans is No. 1, by the way), it's not often that a legit firm like Public Policy Polling compares Congress' popularity to things like colonoscopies and Nickelback. But a survey of 830 American voters held a few days ago found that the Senate and the House of Representatives are less popular than either of those things:

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.…
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Happy Birthday, Y@ Speak!

Lauren LaBorde — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 09:18:00 -0600

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the beginning of Y@ Speak, in which we capture notable 140-character bon mots, newsworthy items, gaffes by Saints players and local politicians and whatever else pops up on the New Orleans Twittersphere. To celebrate this occasion, I've rounded up some of my favorite or most memorable tweets — like a multi-layered digital birthday cake of sorts — and divided them by categories: we got NFL players saying dumb stuff, #neworleansproblems, anguish over the Saints' challenging year, reactions to the Times-Picayune cutbacks, interesting celebrity encounters, deep thoughts from Ray Nagin and so much more.…

Y@ Speak: USA! USA!

Lauren LaBorde — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 10:33:00 -0500

Pres. Obama greets supporters.…
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Sen. David Vitter urges Newhouse to sell The Times-Picayune

Kevin Allman — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 15:57:00 -0500

Sensing a trend today? On the heels of Tom Benson releasing a letter to Steven Newhouse asking Newhouse to sell The Times-Picayune (and getting an immediate no), now Sen. David Vitter has released his own letter to Newhouse — and specifically criticizing NOLA.com yes he went there.…

Y@ Speak: Health care, Hornets and confetti guns

Lauren LaBorde — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 12:04:00 -0500

This week the Supreme Court upheld the individual mandate portion of President Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and America has officially gone the way of Europe. I'm currently writing this from a park where I'm enjoying a baguette and Brie to celebrate the completion of my grueling two-hour work day.…

Sens. David Vitter and Mary Landrieu honored by Humane Society

Kevin Allman — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:29:34 -0600

It seems Louisiana's senators can agree on one thing besides oil and gas: animal welfare. The Humane Society of the United States has named Sen. David Vitter as one of its two 2011 "Humane Legislators of the Year" for his work on animal-related legislation:

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).…
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David Vitter named one of 10 "Most Conservative Senators" by National Journal

Kevin Allman — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:39:23 -0600

Sen. David Vitter isn't just conservative; he's super-duper conservative, and he wants you to know it. This afternoon Vitter took to Twitter to announce:

And here's the article, in which National Journal names Vitter alongside such conservative stalwarts as Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla. and Sen. Jim DeMint, R.-S.…

Poll: Majority of Catholics believe employer health plans should cover contraception

Charles Maldonado — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:53:46 -0600

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.…

CNN asks Sen. David Vitter about his "serious sin"

Alex Woodward — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:10:00 -0600

Following a weekend at the Monster Jam and a live-tweet sesh (both the Grave Digger's paint job and the Robosaurus were "awesome"), Sen. David Vitter appeared on this morning's edition of CNN's Early Start. Host Ashleigh Banfield diverted from discussing the Republican primaries and brought up Vitter's issues with prostitution in 2007.…

David Vitter and Steve Scalise withdraw their cosponsorship and support of SOPA/PIPA

Kevin Allman — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:10:22 -0600

Statements:

Sen. David Vitter:

I won’t be supporting the Protect IP Act (PIPA or SOPA as it's called in the House of Representatives) because, though I've been pushing hard on both internet freedom and national security concerns, they still haven't been fully addressed. It's a real mistake to press forward with a flawed bill now.…
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SOPA/PIPA makes for strange bedfellows in Louisiana

Kevin Allman — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:32:00 -0600

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.…

Mary Landrieu gets with the Twitter

Kevin Allman — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:40:57 -0600

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.…
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Nungesser, Vitter plan Election Eve state blitz

Kevin Allman — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:39:27 -0500

Lieutenant governor hopeful Billy Nungesser and his Senate champion, David Vitter, are planning a seven-city blitz of the state that will take them from Shreveport and Monroe all the way down to New Orleans in 10 1/2 hours. The duo (along with entertainer and former lieutenant governor candidate Sammy Kershaw) will begin at 8 a.m. in Shreveport ("Corner of Bert Kouns and Youree Dr. [look for the giant elephant with Nungesser signs on it]") before hitting Monroe, Alexandria, Lake Charles, Lafayette, Baton Rouge and finally "New Orleans" (actually, Metairie).…

Landry, Vitter meet with oil regulators on drilling

Alex Woodward — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:35:00 -0500

When Rep. Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia, was denied last month from meeting with officials from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), he said the agency was acting "like the CIA and the Gestapo." He later defended his choice of words, and today, Landry, along with U.S. Sen. David Vitter, got that meeting — an almost two-hour long discussion at the agency's office in Elmwood.…

BP dollars closer to Coast, while oil regulators are "Gestapo"

Alex Woodward — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:26:45 -0500

In July, a bipartisan group of Gulf Coast senators introduced the RESTORE Act, which, they promised, would ensure 80 percent of the fines BP incurs from Clean Water Act violations for the Gulf oil disaster would be divvied among states on the Gulf Coast — rather than the feds.

The act passed the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, chaired by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and now makes its way to the Senate floor.…

Sammy Kershaw is Billy Nungesser's latest endorser

Kevin Allman — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 13:28:05 -0500

Last October, after he placed third in the primary race for lieutenant governor, entertainer Sammy Kershaw threw his support behind Jay Dardenne, the first-place finisher, rather than Caroline Fayard, the Democrat who placed a close second.

That was last year.…

The Vitter Reid Obama Saints saga: the reviews roll in

Kevin Allman — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 17:48:33 -0500

Sen. David Vitter's political reinvention from Family Values Crusader (d. 2007) to The Anti-Obama (2007-current) has served him well with his voting base: conservative Louisianans and Tea Party types. It hasn't always played well with the public at large (not that he particularly cares), but this week's anti-Obama stunt — proclaiming his intention to skip the president's jobs speech in favor of the Saints season opener, then being publicly truculent when Sen. Harry Reid pulled the rug out from under him — has earned him some unfavorable headlines far beyond the usual sphere of progressive and Democratic websites.…

David Vitter really wants you to know he doesn't want to watch the Obama speech

Kevin Allman — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 14:16:47 -0500

Sen. David Vitter's plans to ignore President Barack Obama's jobs speech by flying home to have a Saints party in Metairie have now been dashed, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has now called for floor votes around the time of the speech. And just as he took to Facebook yesterday to announce his Saints party, now Vitter is back with a status update for Who Dat Nation:

Typical Harry Reid.…
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Vitter to host Saints party rather than attend Obama jobs speech

Kevin Allman — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:32:45 -0500

Sen. David Vitter is a New Orleans Saints fan — and his fandom reached its apotheosis in this completely spontaneous image from the Vitter family's 2009 Christmas card, which was good enough to squirrel away for safekeeping:

(Did the Vitters ever upgrade from that 20-inch portable TV? Turn over the stacks of cups?…

Gulf senators: Send BP dollars to the coast

Alex Woodward — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 17:54:22 -0500

A bipartisan group in the Senate today called for Clean Water Act fines for last year's oil disaster be distributed among Gulf Coast states. The RESTORE Act, they proposed, would set up a Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund, backed by 80 percent of the penalties paid by BP and other responsible parties in the oil disaster.…

Politico: Charlie Melancon leaves lobbyist job after fewer than 4 months

Kevin Allman — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 13:34:40 -0500

Chris Frates, Politico:

Well that was fast. Former Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) is leaving his spot as the International Franchise Association’s top lobbyist, a position he took in February, “to pursue business opportunities related to his broad experience in Washington and Louisiana,” IFA spokeswoman Alisa Harrison told PI in an email.…
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WWL-TV: Vitter 50%, Melancon 38%

Kevin Allman — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 09:37:49 -0500

A telephone poll of 700 likely voters conducted last Thursday through Sunday by WWL-TV found that David Vitter is leading Charlie Melancon by more than 10 points in the Senate election to be decided Nov. 2:

Vitter received 50 percent of the vote, to Melancon’s 38 percent. None of the other 10 candidates in the race scored more than one point.…
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Debate club!

Kevin Allman — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 14:17:25 -0500

Hey New Orleans voters! Have David Vitter and Charlie Melancon's dueling ads left you confused?…

Vitter's latest attack ad

Alex Woodward — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 11:47:42 -0500

Republican Sen. David Vitter, taking a cue from Sharon Angle, introduced his latest ad ("Welcome Prize"), targeting democratic opponent Charlie Melancon on immigration. From Team Vitter:

I launched a new TV ad highlighting Charlie Melancon’s record of voting to make it easier for illegal immigrants to get taxpayer-funded benefits and welfare.…
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Independent Tea Party candidate challenges David Vitter to a cage wrestling match to "restore the honor of Louisiana"

Kevin Allman — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 22:13:13 -0500

Take it away, The Lafayette Advertiser:

Independent U.S. Senate candidate Mike Spears this afternoon challenged incumbent Sen. David Vitter to a mixed martial arts cage match next month in Lafayette.

Spears issued the challenge at a press conference to announce USA-MMAS “Return of the Champions” on Oct. 16 at the Cajundome.

Citing the 2007 scandal in which Vitter was linked to a Washington D.C. prostitution ring, Spears billed the bout as a modern-day duel.

“Sen. Vitter’s behavior – his admission to breaking the law in 2007 – has insulted the honor of Louisiana and the Louisiana Senate seat,” Spears said.

“I’m in this race, and this fight, to restore the honor of Louisiana and of the nation as well.”

Gambit profiled Spears back in April, writing about his side business as "The Dog Designer," creating custom canine couture in the five-figure range for Yorkies and other pocket pooches. (The website for the side business, Molle Tache, has been disabled in the meantime.)…