Editorial
Democrats bite Dems
You expect Republican politicians to criticize Democratic administrations and vice versa. But when Democrats start criticizing Democratic administrations, that is news. Someone once said that the h...
Aug 09, 2010 | 0 0 comments | 5 5 recommendations | email to a friend
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Pense Donc!!
A recent AARP Bulletin included a chart showing the average auto insurance premium in 2010 for each of the nation’s states. The rates were calculated for more than 2,400 vehicles for model year 201...
Aug 09, 2010 | 0 0 comments | 6 6 recommendations | email to a friend
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There is a certain number of Americans who feel any criticism of the Obama administration’s policies are actually a personal affront upon the President himself.<!--break--> Their claim is often that such disapproval is, at its best, merely partisan or, at its worst, racist. Last September, former President Carter said as much, saying that “an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man…” From time to time, pundits and pontificators suggest the same of other critical thinking Americans, from the Tea Party to the Grand Old Party. Nevermind that a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll last week indicated that 60% of Americans believe that the country is off on the wrong track. Or that only 17% of Americans approve of how lawmakers in the Democrat controlled Congress are doing their jobs. Or that 50% of Americans would vote to defeat every single member of Congress, including their own representative. So, with all that pushed aside, and for all of those Americans who believe that criticism of this administration reveals some psychological deficiency, within the rest of us, let’s try illustrating how you can be quite disagreeable with someone’s actions, even if you don’t know their political party, race, or even gender. Let’s take the apolitical and mun-dane kitchen trashcan for illustration purposes. From time to time, this trashcan in the break room overflows. And instead of some folks simply emptying the trashcan, they seem content to just stack their garbage upon the already piled high garbage; like they are playing a rancid game of Jenga. And if your trashcan has one of those pivoting top lids, this adds a whole other level of complexity to the matter. Folks come by and shove empty pizza boxes, their 64 oz. foam drink cups, and their to-go box of seven-day old kung pow chow chicken into the already filled trashcan, wedging it all into the little remaining space beneath the pivoting top lid. And when these folks decide that they cannot continue building the tower of trash to stretch any taller to the ceiling, these same folks will begin placing more trash around the trashcan; almost as if they are paying homage to the trashcan. At this point you wonder why someone just didn’t empty this overflowing trashcan, instead of just jamming more trash into it. It’s unsightly, and sometimes smells. This illustrates the point that any opposition to this unsanitary condition has nothing to do with the personality of the person who contributed to it. It does, however, have everything to do with their position on cleanliness, which according to an ancient Hebrew proverb, is next to godliness. Now, you may simply not be in favor of participating as a bystander to this mess and want to clean it up yourself. You may speak out, post a memo in the breakroom, or send out an e-mail to everyone in the company. In fact, Americans are responding the same way to the direction our country is moving, but not because of the personality, color, or political party of our President…it’s about the effect of his policies on our country’s future. You see, I am opposed to the effect of Obama’s policy initiatives, not Obama’s personal characteristics. Just like I am opposed to the policy some folks have of not emptying an overflowing trashcan. I guess folks view emptying an overflowing trashcan as someone else’s responsibility). They seem unconcerned how their obliviousness will affect the next guy who comes along. This is like Obama’s 2010 budget that, over the next decade, would raise taxes on all Americans by nearly $3 trillion and increase each American household’s share of the publicly held debt an additional $74,000. And I guess folks may simply not have the time to properly dispose of their trash, like the members of Congress who were too busy last year to read the details of the $789 billion stimulus bill (before voting for it). Perhaps your co-workers intended to return and fix the mess that they left behind. The problem is, like Congress’ intentions to fix this, or that, tomorrow never comes, does it? This year, Social Security will pay out $29 billion more than it takes in. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office reported last week that Social Security will now be in the “red” in perpetuity. But we’re still expanding government. You see, despite those who say criticism of the White House is rooted in racism, or animosity towards the President, they're wrong. The particulars of anyone who won’t take the time to empty an overflowing trashcan is insignificant, but it’s not about their personality, skin color, party affiliation, etc… It's about the effect that the actions of a few will have on the many. And if we can have such fundamental differences regarding a relatively insignificant matter as the breakroom trashcan, then for goodness’ sake, we can have the same fundamental differences on important policy initiatives set forth by this administration…and without being labeled or admonished for having them. <em>Louis R. Avallone is a Louisiana contractor and attorney. He is also a former aide to U.S. Rep. Jim McCrery and editor of The Caddo Republican. Follow Louis on Facebook, on Twitter @ louisravallone, or by e-mail at louisavallone@mac.com.</em>
Ideas are not enough
Campaign season has begun. And whether they are running for mayor of Shreveport or Crowley, or for Richland Parish school board, or U.S. Senate, each candidate is communicating their ideas. Good id...
Aug 04, 2010 | 0 0 comments | 6 6 recommendations | email to a friend
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How smart are we?
Many of the wonderful-sounding ideas that have been tried as government policies have failed disastrously. Because so few people bother to study history, often the same ideas and policies have been...
Aug 04, 2010 | 0 0 comments | 5 5 recommendations | email to a friend
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Pense Donc!!
As if the oil in the Gulf and the drilling moratorium are not bad enough, St. Martin Parish was dealt another blow with the closure of Louisiana System Built Homes located in the old Martin Mills ...
Aug 04, 2010 | 0 0 comments | 5 5 recommendations | email to a friend
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Pense Donc!!
More of Oregon – We pick up our fabulous trip through Oregon still in the Bend area with a visit to the Newberry National Monument that includes Lake Paulina, Mount Paulina and an immense Obsidian/...
Jul 30, 2010 | 0 0 comments | 7 7 recommendations | email to a friend
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Race Card Fraud
Credit card fraud is a serious problem. But race card fraud is an even bigger problem. Playing the race card takes many forms. Judge Charles Pickering, a federal judge in Mississippi who defended t...
Jul 30, 2010 | 0 0 comments | 6 6 recommendations | email to a friend
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1989 Revisited
I will never forget the year 1986. I was general manager of a dynamic Chamber of Commerce in the thriving community of Lafayette, Louisiana. Promoting Lafayette was one of the easiest jobs in the w...
Jul 30, 2010 | 0 0 comments | 7 7 recommendations | email to a friend
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Pense Donc!!
NO MORE OIL . . .?! BP last week finally managed to stem the flow of oil from its blown out well in the Gulf. Let’s hope the fix holds.
Jul 23, 2010 | 0 0 comments | 7 7 recommendations | email to a friend
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Signs of the Times
If you could spend vast amounts of other people’s money just by saying a few magic words, wouldn’t you be tempted to do it? Barack Obama has spent hundreds of billions of dollars of the taxpayers’ ...
Jul 23, 2010 | 0 0 comments | 5 5 recommendations | email to a friend
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Something Has to Give
Something has to give. The federal government has run up obscene budget deficits, yet Congress and the Obama administration continue to push for more spending. State and local governments are finan...
Jul 23, 2010 | 0 0 comments | 7 7 recommendations | email to a friend
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