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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (12616)	10/17/2003 10:54:44 AM
From: carranza2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793921

Mr. Cannon said part of his discomfort with the large financial package stemmed from seeing so much need at home. Louisiana, still feeling the effects of thousands of job losses over the past year, is facing projected state budget deficits. According to a variety of indicators, the state's public school system ranks near the bottom in the country in math and science proficiency. I've heard a story from reliable sources relating how a corporate bigwig intent on doing business in New Orleans was met at the airport by New Orleans' politicos. On the ride downtown, the bigwig had the limo turned around so he could immediately return. The reason? The politicos told him who to hire, who to pay off, etc. The job losses in Louisiana are directly related to several things, namely, a regressive tax system, public education that is the pits, and corruption. The $87 bn aid package to Iraq is simply not an issue. We need to clean our own house. I sometimes get involved in lawsuits dealing with NO School Board renovation projects. The waste is simply unbelievable. Recently, an investigation determined that about 1,000--yes, one thousand!--School board employees were being paid for work they did not do. The father of the previous School Board head was a janitor at one of the schools, making upwards of $70,000 a year because of overtime he obviously did not work. I often think that education is so poor here because that's the way the powers that be want it to be. There is a new political class in NO (primarily a black elite) that seems intent on keeping the way they are because the status quo is immensely profitable to it. Any attempts to change things for the better are automatically labeled as racist, a powerful calling card that reflexively leads most of the voters to vote against change or against candidates who might challenge this nascent elite. An educated stock of voters might see how they are being manipulated so the educational system is deliberately sabotaged. I know this sounds a bit wacky, but I can't think of a better explanation. As I see it, this is no different than when the Irish ruled NYC politics. Each ethnic group as it makes headway economically and politically manipulates the system in ways that favor its own interests. I thought, naively, I suppose, that we were beyond that. If Jindal wins, we might see a lot of conflict between him and the black political elites in NO. It will be an interesting battle.