Thank you, Congressman Cao, for opposing cap-and-trade.  In a district which is +28 Democrat, you stood your ground and risked your seat for what is right.

Thank you.

Republican Congressman Joseph Cao (LA-2) is still on the fence over the cap-and-trade bill being voted on today.  I don’t know why this is such a struggle for him.  The economy of Louisiana is based in energy, and this cap-and-trade bill is guaranteed, by President Obama himself, to levy massive taxes against the energy industry which will cause our energy bills to “skyrocket”.  President Obama even recognizes that the energy companies will pass these costs on to customers (us).

The Dead Pelican reports that Rep. Cao received a personal phone call from President Obama himself, urging him to support the cap-and-trade bill.  “Well-placed insiders” say that Cao will vote “no”.

I’d give him a call anyway and make sure that is the case.  Joseph Cao (LA-02): 202-225-6636

RedState.com believes Congressman Joseph Cao is in danger of voting for cap-and-trade which will cost millions of jobs and vastly increase the cost of energy.  (You think bills are high now during the summer, just you wait!)

So get on the horn and make sure that newly elected Congressman Cao will vote AGAINST cap-and-trade HR 2454.

Our State legislators whine and complain about the waste of tax dollars, the lack of funds to pay for higher education and law enforcement.  They found enough taxpayer dollars to pay for the time in the LA House for Hurricane Chris to display his R-rated “talents”.

She fine den a bitch, ass and her tits Thick in tha hips every nig want her Call her Halle Berry, Halle berry Halle Berry, Halle berry Take time to watch it - it is worth it. Thanks to wesawthat.

H/T to My Bossier (click for video)

This morning I received a speedy response from Mayor Glover.  I’ll let you read it, then I’ll post my comments below.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I would encourage you to continue your writing, you obviously have a flair for the dramatic. I’m not a lawyer, nor am I a constitutional scholar. However, I do know that when I have been lawfully pulled over by a police officer for a potential offense my right to continue to proceed down the road has been suspended. I know that my right to refuse to provide my driver’s license, insurance and registration without sanction has been denied. I also know that my right to continue to holster my pistol or otherwise have it within my reach and control has been suspended in the interest of my safety, the officers and the public. Are any of these permanent? No. Are there other words to describe the above? Possibly, but I’ll leave that to you. You are a better writer than I am. Kindest Regards,

Cedric B. Glover
MAYOR

Mayor Glover is correct in that the right to drive away is suspended, and that a driver must surrender their license and registration.  It must be remembered that driving is a privilege, not a right.  For a police officer to remove a weapon from your person is allowable, except in the case of the caller on Gun Talk, the motorist was standing in front of the squad car and the gun was inside his vehicle, out of his control and reach.  You can read the statues below.

“Art. 215.1.  Temporary questioning of persons in public places; frisk and search for weapons”

“A.  A law enforcement officer may stop a person in a public place whom he reasonably suspects is committing, has committed, or is about to commit an offense and may demand of him his name, address, and an explanation of his actions.”

“B.  When a law enforcement officer has stopped a person for questioning pursuant to this Article and reasonably suspects that he is in danger, he may frisk the outer clothing of such person for a dangerous weapon.  If the law enforcement officer reasonably suspects the person possesses a dangerous weapon, he may search the person.”

“C.  If the law enforcement officer finds a dangerous weapon, he may take and keep it until the completion of the questioning, at which time he shall either return it, if lawfully possessed, or arrest such person.”

“D.  During detention of an alleged violator of any provision of the motor vehicle laws of this state, an officer may not detain a motorist for a period of time longer than reasonably necessary to complete the investigation of the violation and issuance of a citation for the violation, absent reasonable suspicion of additional criminal activity.  However, nothing herein shall prohibit a peace officer from compelling or instructing the motorist to comply with administrative or other legal requirements of Title 32 or Title 47 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950.”

Added by Acts 1968, No. 305, §1.  Amended by Acts 1982, No. 686, §1; Acts 1983, 1st Ex.  Sess., No. 32, §1; Acts 1997, No. 759, §3, eff. July 10, 1997.

(On a side note, weapons have no capacity of being dangerous in and of itself.  If you put it on your kitchen table, take a seat, and stare at it, the weapon will do nothing.  It won’t sprout legs, turn, and go bang, it just sits there motionless.  The same is true with a weapon in the hands of a responsible person.  It is not a danger.  The danger comes when the weapon is in the hands of a dangerous person, like a criminal.)

In the end, it seems that Mayor Glover was correct that you may not continue to have your pistol holstered.  However, you don’t give up all of your rights when you are pulled over.  Mayor Glover may want to sharpen his communication skills to avoid such great misunderstandings.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has formed a group called “Mayors Against Illegal Guns”, of which Shreveport’s Mayor Cedric Glover is a member.

A citizen of Shreveport was pulled over by an officer who disarmed the citizen by what seems to be an illegal search and seizure.  You can get the scoop here by listening to the first hour of Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk.

Anyways, as you will read below, Mayor Glover believes that he has the authority to let police “suspend” the rights of anyone who is pulled over.  You can read my letter to Mayor Glover below.

Mayor Glover,

Shortly after your election as Mayor of Shreveport, I read an interview you gave in The Forum magazine.  If my memory serves me well, I recall you said, to paraphrase, that the problem with being the first black mayor is that all of the white people think their lives will become worse and all the black people think their lives will become better.  You have proven half of this prophecy wrong.  Everyone, black and white, have a reason to believe their lives will become worse.

I listened to Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk radio show on the evening of Sunday, June 14th.  A caller stated that he may have been the victim of an illegal search and seizure by a Shreveport Police officer.  The caller called your office and recorded the phone conversation, including your statement that when pulled over by a Shreveport Police officer, “Your rights at that point have been suspended”.  The actual wording of the question and answer were as follows:   Caller: “So I can be clear about this, when a citizen is pulled over by the police, they have absolutely no rights.  Is that what you’re saying, right or wrong?” You responded, “Their rights have been suspended.”  Again the caller asked, “As a citizen, when I’m stopped by a police officer, I don’t have any rights?”  And again you responded, “Your rights at that point have been suspended.”

As I said before, everyone, regardless of race, has a reason to believer their lives will become worse.  I don’t live in Shreveport, but my office is in Shreveport.  As the mayor, your job is to serve the people of Shreveport within the context of the law.  Your statement that a person’s rights are suspended when pulled over is a blatant violation of both the State and U.S. Constitutions and you do not have the authority to violate the laws of our state and country and “suspend” the rights of anyone, Shreveport resident or not.

I urge you to rethink your position on the rights of man and the rights of your constituents.

Thank you for your time.

Here’s a comparative look at the numbers involved in what our government has already spent, and its proposed future spending.  Sobering.

Representative Cedric L. Richmond (D-101) has proposed HB 387, a ban on so-called “assault weapons” or as the bill is defined as semi-automatic “military style” weapons.

The bill cites that “between 1998 and 2001, one in five police officers slain in the line of duty was killed with an assault weapon.”  I hate to break it to Rep. Richmond, but guns in the hands of law abiding citizens don’t kill people, guns in the hands of murderous criminals kill people.  Also, these statistics taken between 1998 and 2001 were DURING the Clinton gun ban which was enacted in 1994 and expired in 2004.  The ban was enacted, yet didn’t protect police officers from being murdered with the weapons.

Furthermore, the bill seeks to prohibit POSSESSION of assault weapons without a license.  They want registration of your firearms.
Did you know that the most popular rifle in America, the AR-15, is included on this list?  It is the #1 rifle purchased for home defense.

Gun bans don’t keep criminals from getting guns, they prevent law abiding citizens from getting guns.  If a criminal want a gun, they’ll go buy a gun off the street, not from a licensed dealer.  If you want to keep criminals from getting guns, make the penalties for illegal possession by a felon much more harsh.

Please contact the members of the House Committee on Administration of Justice and respectfully urge them to oppose HB 387. To contact them, please call (225) 342-6945 or find their e-mail addresses listed below.

Chairman Ernest D. Wooton (R-105)
larep105@legis.state.la.us

Vice Chair Damon J. Baldone (D-53)
larep053@legis.state.la.us

State Representative Roy Burrell (D-2)
larep002@legis.state.la.us

State Representative Gregory Ernst (R-94)
larep094@legis.state.la.us

State Representative Elbert L. Guillory (D-40)
larep040@legis.state.la.us

State Representative Mickey J. Guillory (D-41)
larep041@legis.state.la.us

State Representative Lowell C. Hazel (R-27)
hazelc@legis.state.la.us

State Representative Frank A. Howard (R-24)
howardf@legis.state.la.us

State Representative Joseph P. Lopinto (R-80)
lopintoj@legis.state.la.us 

State Representative Barbara M. Norton (D-3)
nortonb@legis.state.la.us

State Representative Jonathan W. Perry (R-47)
perryj@legis.state.la.us

State Representative John M. Schroder, Sr. (R-77)
schrodej@legis.state.la.usv  

State Representative Gary L. Smith, Jr. (D-56)
larep56@legis.state.la.us

State Representative Ricky J. Templet (R-85)
templetr@legis.state.la.us

State Representative Mack “Bodi” White, Jr. (R-64)
larep064@legis.state.la.us

Representative Peterson has proposed May 13, 2009 as Planned Parenthood Day for all the good work Planned Parenthood has done for the State of Louisiana.

6 WHEREAS, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America is a trusted health care
7 provider, an informed educator, a passionate advocate, and a global partner helping similar
8 organizations around the world; and
9 WHEREAS, Planned Parenthood delivers vital health care services, sex education,
10 and sexual health information to millions of women, men, and young people; and
11 WHEREAS, for more than ninety years, Planned Parenthood has promoted a
12 commonsense approach to women’s health and well-being, based on respect for each
13 individual’s right to make informed, independent decisions about sex, health, and family
14 planning; and
15 WHEREAS, Planned Parenthood is America’s most trusted provider of reproductive
16 health care, and its skilled health care professionals are dedicated to offering men, women,
17 and teens the highest quality of medical care and the most affordable products; and
18 WHEREAS, one in four American women has chosen Planned Parenthood for health
19 care at least once in her life;…

It fails to include that Planned Parenthood works to undermine the rights of parents by fighting Parental Notification and Parental Consent laws, has been proven to help minors get abortions without reporting the possible abuse or statutory rape.

The “more than ninety years” portion fails to mention that PP was started by Margaret Sanger for the purpose of using contraceptives and abortion for eugenics against minorities.

Take a gander over at the Planned Parenthood site and see what they teach kids.  Last time I checked, they had a sex encyclopedia that would make even the most worldly person blush.

As for their healthcare,  sure they may have some good ethical programs, but abortion is their big product (Hitler had good healthcare too).  It’s sick that they consider abortion to be healthcare.

Please please please call your Representative and tell them to oppose Planned Parenthood Day.

Until our legislators learn to cut spending, the State of Louisiana will experience financial hardship and a dwindling population. I’m not talking about cutting education or road and highway funding, I’m talking about earmarks.

Last years budget contained dozens of earmarks and projects that should be of no concern to the State Government.  These earmarks included things like $150,000 to the State Programs Programs to fund key programs, and this year plans to spend $5 million for unplayed golf games to keep the PGA tournament.

Thanks to our good buddy, Bob Odom, aren’t the taxpayers of Louisiana are paying $45 million for the Lacassine syrup plant that went under?  Didn’t the State back the loan, on which the syrup plant defaulted and now the taxpayers are stuck with the bill?

So how does the State Government plan to pay for these (and other frivolous) expenses?

This morning I read a story on 2theAdvocate about some State Legislators who want to force Governor Jindal to accept every bit of the $8 Billion in “stimulus” from the Federal Government.  Governor Jindal has already made the case that the money will create long-term programs but will only fund for the short-term, leaving the taxpayers of Louisiana to pay the bill.  How is this a good idea?  These legislators spend like sailors in a whorehouse (no offense to sailors) and expect the taxpayers to pay for it.

Again I ask, how do we pay for all of these programs?

This afternoon, Governor Jindal was scheduled to speak at the “Whited Room” at Centenary College in Shreveport to speak with young professionals about ideas for keeping young people in Louisiana.  However, according to the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce website, the event has been postponed until further notice.

What does this have to do with the state of our State economy?  Well, the solution offered by our legislators is the very problem which chases young people from our State to places like Dallas and Houston.  Taxes.

Why would young people want to stay in Louisiana, a State which is infamous for its crooked politicians, bad schools, high crime, and high taxes?  Louisiana has a State income tax, so as soon as a young professional receives his or her check from the IRS, they turn around and send it to the Louisiana Department of Revenue.  On 710Keel, not a week goes by that I don’t hear about how a legislator will propose a new tax on TVs and video games, to fund a program called “No Child Left Indoors”, a plan to fight obesity.  I call BS.  There’s also a legislator, Herbert Dixon of Alexandria, who will propose a 4 cent per gallon tax hike on gasoline.  (The State already takes 20 cents, so this is a 20% increase in gas taxes.)

We’re in a recession, a major economic decline, and all our State legislators can do is raise taxes and create more long-term government programs that we can’t afford.  Why would any young person want to stay in Louisiana when Texas is 20 minutes away, and cities like Dallas and Houston have so much more to offer with less of government tax and spend?  Not a day goes by that I don’t think about moving across the border to a small town with a bigger house for the same price, where I won’t have to pay a State income tax, and won’t have to worry about our out of control legislators spending our future generations into bankruptcy.

On a side note, I’ve heard a bit of talk about drafting a new Louisiana State Constitution.  (Wouldn’t that make number 12?)  Let’s take a note from the State of Texas and make it so the State Legislature only meets every other year.  Seeing as how our State legislators continue to file more restrictions and more taxes against the people of Louisiana, the every other year session would probably solve most of our problems.

Wake Up Louisiana!  Tell your State Reps and Senators to fight to cut taxes, not increase them.  You can’t spend your way out of debt or tax your way into prosperity.  Texas knows this and the people flourish.  We need a tea party on the steps of the Capitol Building on opening day of the session.  Our legislators need to know that we oppose higher taxes and massive programs that strangle our economy.  We need to put an end to our failed policies.