Way to geaux Louisiana: More fucked up shit from a shithole state

[RPM 26185]

Democrat Troy Carter wins Louisiana special election for US House seat

 

Louisiana State Senator Troy Carter, a Democrat, will win the special election runoff for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district, The Associated Press projects. He will succeed former Democratic Congressman Cedric Richmond, who left the seat to take a role as a White House senior adviser.

"I want to be clear — I welcome everyone to our tent because the election is over and I represent everyone," Carter said during his victory remarks. "Now I want to go to Washington to be your voice."

Carter was backed by Richmond and House Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn. He beat Democratic state Senator Karen Carter Peterson in Saturday's runoff after winning 36% in the March 20 primary while Peterson received 23% of the vote.

[Js1 85056]

Do you have a connection to him or....?

Because it’s a D+25 seat and was D vs D. 

[RPM 26185]

No connection, just glad to see a D from Louisiana (even if it's a refill).

[Js1 85056]

5 minutes ago, RPM said:

No connection, just glad to see a D from Louisiana (even if it's a refill).

Funny enough a Republican won this seat in a 2009 special election but it was due to a major scandal by the incumbent D. Was a warning sign for 2010 though 

[Biff Tannen 45477]

5 hours ago, RPM said:

Democrat Troy Carter wins Louisiana special election for US House seat

 

Louisiana State Senator Troy Carter, a Democrat, will win the special election runoff for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district, The Associated Press projects. He will succeed former Democratic Congressman Cedric Richmond, who left the seat to take a role as a White House senior adviser.

"I want to be clear — I welcome everyone to our tent because the election is over and I represent everyone," Carter said during his victory remarks. "Now I want to go to Washington to be your voice."

Carter was backed by Richmond and House Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn. He beat Democratic state Senator Karen Carter Peterson in Saturday's runoff after winning 36% in the March 20 primary while Peterson received 23% of the vote.

Negged for linking a fox news story.  I did not want to give them clicks.

[RPM 26185]

Just now, Biff Tannen said:

Negged for linking a fox news story.  I did not want to give them clicks.

It was the latest story in my feed. But I understand. Watching them report a D victory gives me smiles.

[henrygandorf 29174]

2 hours ago, Js1 said:

Do you have a connection to him or....?

Because it’s a D+25 seat and was D vs D. 

the wife gets very confused when we have dem on dem elections in ca.

"which one do we want here again?"

[RDCanecutter 26239]

I need to hear the candidate mumble in dialect while directing me to a buffet bar consisting solely of animals that predate the dinosaurs.

[Pancho 44358]

 

 

[Bullneck 18976]

LSU stealing signs from Auburn.

[bolverk 29360]

The article quoted in that Tweet:

Louisiana’s Governor-Elect Wants To Withhold Funds For New Orleans’ Decaying Water Infrastructure Until Women Who Seek Abortions Are Prosecuted
IN A HORRIFYING INTERSECTION OF REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, JEFF LANDRY HAS URGED THE STATE TO WITHHOLD FUNDS BECAUSE OF HIS PERSONAL FEELINGS ABOUT REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS.

In September, the city of New Orleans and some surrounding parishes in south Louisiana began to prepare for at least three months of saltwater intrusion in the local water supply. President Joe Biden then declared the crisis a federal emergency and authorized funding for FEMA and other state agencies to mitigate the burgeoning crisis.

While months of extreme, record-high heat and lack of rainfall in and around the Crescent City are responsible for the crisis, some are pointing at current Louisiana Attorney General and Louisiana governor-elect Jeff Landry as partially responsible for the city’s ability to address the now circumvented crisis, as well as the decayed state of the city’s entire water infrastructure. Landry personally solicited the Louisiana State Bond Commission last year to withhold millions in funding from the New Orleans Sewage and Water Board due to the city government’s refusal to arrest and prosecute women in the wake of Louisiana’s total ban on abortion. The New Orleans Sewage and Water Board remains in desperate need of funding to tackle necessary repairs to its four water intake structures—one of which that has been inoperable for 34 years.

Despite a race against time to keep saltwater from encroaching from the Gulf of Mexico, there has been no concerted efforts by the state to improve its most populated city’s water infrastructure. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and New Orleans Homeland Security spent weeks unloading daily shipments of 36 million gallons of fresh water into the Mississippi in an attempt to dilute the river enough to prevent any further progression of the saltwater or the growing concern of the intrusion of lead into the city’s water supply. Both Jefferson Parish and Orleans Parish are in the process of building two respective pipelines to avoid both saltwater and lead contamination in their drinking water.

This ordeal unfolding during the Louisiana gubernatorial election coupled with the ascent of two Louisiana conservative GOP extremists to the highest offices in the land has sparked conversations and frustration about the fate of a city caught in the crosshairs. With reproductive justice and environmental justice acutely intersecting, Black families are especially vulnerable.

In an email to Matt McBride, a reporter from the Louisiana Illuminator, that was later published, a spokesperson for the New Orleans Sewage and Water Board, Grace Birch, said “We are at a critical point with nearly a billion dollars in capital improvement projects slated for the next five years that are 93% unfunded,” Birch said. “We have scoured every source of City, State and Federal funding, but our customers must know that these are one-time sources that are not sustainable, and we are looking at long-term plans for capital projects, especially as it relates to water treatment and distribution.” As of October 2023, the state of Louisiana has a surplus budget of $330 million.

Throughout the ordeal, residents took to social media to express frustration at the now slow-moving but omnipresent water crisis itself as many fear the implications upon daily life– like possible school closures, food accessibility, and the ability to maintain tourism levels, a major economic driver of the city of New Orleans, ahead of the Mardi Gras season.

Some mentioned facing derision from local residents in neighboring parishes as they flock to the shelves to stock up on drinking water. Last month’s governor’s race highlighted the almost exclusive anti-abortion political arena that is complicit in the burgeoning crisis.

Louisiana is one of the poorest states in the union, and 61.4% of babies born in the state in 2020 were born under the Louisiana’s Medicaid plan. Lack of reproductive care access has sent women who can afford other options as close as Illinois–geographically the closest sanctuary state for abortion access– and as far away as New York to have their choice respected.

Since the Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization U.S. Supreme Court decision struck down the constitutionally protected right for women to obtain abortion care, multiple abortion bans have been triggered in the Louisiana legislature. Senate Bill 342, authored by Democratic representative Katrina Jackson, is one of the strictest in the nation. It mandates one to 10 years of prison time and a fine of $10,000 up to $100,000 for anyone who has had an abortion in the state of Louisiana.

The most recent legislative session saw every proposed amendment– including those that would have allowed exceptions for victims of incest and rape– struck down in bipartisan opposition. Now in Louisiana—which has the highest maternal mortality rate in the United States, and where homicide is the leading cause of death for pregnant women—women are being forced to carry fetuses without skulls to term.

However, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams, and Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson have all vowed to not seek arrest nor prosecution for pregnant persons seeking reproductive care. As a result, Landry– who suggested that anyone who does not like their reproductive care being stripped can simply “move“– has used his massive campaign backing and platform to wage a political war on the majority female state.

Throughout his campaign to be the next governor of Louisiana, Landry stood firmly opposed to any access to substantive abortion care for birthing people in Louisiana. Last fall, Landry personally urged the state treasurer to deny funding to any and all state-funded projects in the city of New Orleans until they enforced the abortion ban. A month later, Landry attended a public meeting through the Louisiana State Bond Commission to purposely delay funding to multiple city improvement projects–including $35 million to the New Orleans Sewage and Water Board–as he claimed the city had “thumbed its nose at the law” too many times. Per local news, that funding was specifically intended “for construction of an electrical substation to replace outdated, unreliable turbines that power the city’s drinking water, drainage and sewage systems.”

The New Orleans Sewage and Water Board has since made headlines for its crumbing infrastructure. The spewing and leaking of oil from its 24/7 turbines and drainage pumps (built in the 1960s) caused major damage to residents’ property in March 2023; a replacement is not expected to be in operation until the end of 2024. Now, the New Orleans water crisis highlights yet another real-world consequence of political posturing as a city of approximately 400,000 braces itself for an unknown many cannot afford to prepare for.

With Landry’s easy victory in the October 2023 Louisiana governor’s race, it can be assumed that his gubernatorial powers will be used to ensure the city of New Orleans is forced to comply with state law and enforce the prosecution of women seeking abortion care. Per the National Governor’s Association, “Governors develop and submit annual or biennial budgets for review and approval by the legislature. In a number of states, commonwealths, and territories, Governors also have ‘reduction’—most often referred to as ‘line-item’—veto power that can be used for the removal of appropriations to which they object.”

The state of Louisiana is no stranger to line-item veto powers being used by its governor. In that event, the governor’s veto can only be overridden by two-thirds majority vote of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Yet, with the state of Louisiana containing a Republican supermajority, impactful dissent to Landry’s political will is not expected. Now governor-elect, Landry has already publicly vowed to reverse the impact of his Democratic predecessor as much as possible upon taking office.

Though the saltwater intrusion threat has passed, access to clean, freshwater remains a critical and focal issue of daily life in New Orleans and much needs to be done by way of funding to protect residents safety and health. However, regardless of the outcome, residents in New Orleans will likely experience a more profound wave of retribution for its stance of protecting women once the Landry administration ascends to power in the new year.

 

[Captainant 27311]

Hey look, more anti-barabarism! Thank goodness someone is finally taking a stand against all those women exercising autonomy over their bodies. 

Besides, denying clean water isn't a violation of basic human rights or anything right?

[Biff Tannen 45477]

JFC.  He should be tarred and feathered.

[atomheartbevo 89362]

51 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

JFC.  He should be tarred and feathered.

I kinda hope he keeps this shit up into next year, so that it's fresh on peoples' minds when they vote.  If they want to make abortion an issue in 2024, and in this case, clean drinking water, let them roll the dice.

[bolverk 29360]

18 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

I kinda hope he keeps this shit up into next year, so that it's fresh on peoples' minds when they vote.  If they want to make abortion an issue in 2024, and in this case, clean drinking water, let them roll the dice.

I have a feeling New Orleans is just as, if not more, hated around Louisiana than Austin is around Texas. So, most will forget the reason and just be happy New Orleans is getting screwed.

Edited November 14, 2023 by bolverk
Because of racism