The Inquisitor Column, Jan. 31, 2020

No need to halt annexations or study issue further
https://www.theinquisitor.com/columns-opinions/no-need-halt-annexations-or-study-issue-further

Links:
https://www.ktbs.com/news/city-councilwoman-wants-to-halt-annexations-for-a-year/article_c8a35e76-415a-11ea-84a6-4f4b23ec384e.html
http://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=89389
https://library.municode.com/la/shreveport/codes/unified_development_code?nodeId=ART20ANST

Schexnayder money panel picks calm concerns

It’s one thumb up so far for Louisiana House Republican Speaker Clay Schexnayder, with the possibility of more to come.

Schexnayder courted controversy by nabbing the speakership by picking up every non-Republican vote in the chamber but a minority of his own party. Also, his GOP supporters, while conservative on fiscal issues, tended to be less so than those who voted against him. This led to questioning just how much support he would give to conservative issue preferences in cobbling together committees.

He began answering that question earlier today by releasing the compositions of the two most important committees in the chamber: Appropriations, which makes budgetary decisions; and Ways and Means, which deals with tax matters. He installed on them as chairmen two strong fiscal conservatives, Republican state Reps. Stuart Bishop and Zee Zeringue, respectively. Moreover, he placed Republican majorities on each about reflecting the nearly two-to-one advantage the GOP has in the chamber.

Sketchy report reveals duping LA taxpayers

It might a snow job, but a special committee established by Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards today laid bare an inconvenient truth Edwards would rather not see the light of day.

Outmaneuvered last year when the Republican-led Legislature passed a bill that addressed what would happen if the misnamed Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) dissolved at the hands of the federal judiciary, after initially opposing it Edwards swallowed his pride and signed it. But to save face, he created using taxpayer dollars a task force stacked with his appointees to try to make the effort look as bad as possible.

Putting on it individuals representing organizations that benefit from the estimated $128 billion in extra federal taxpayer spending nationally on coverage for 2019, joining a couple of legislative Edwards allies Democrat state Sen. Regina Barrow and Republican state Rep. Joe Stagni, they approved the final report, after hearing almost exclusively from Obamacare advocates in its compilation. Unsurprisingly, it alleged an alarmist scenario of nearly 500,000 people losing insurance coverage with $536 million needed to continued subsidization of existing individual coverage and much more to continue Medicaid expansion (which it claims would cost $3.5 billion, which perhaps runs a bit a high as 2018 data suggest a total closer to $3.1 billion).

Self-inflicted CA loss provides lesson for LA

Want another cautionary tale about how state and local government regulation kills quality of life and economic development that Louisiana needs to avoid? We were warned.

Last week, official professional road cycling at its highest level commenced for 2020 with the Santos Tour Down Under. Traipsing around South Australia’s wine country and breathtaking coastline, the American team Trek-Segafredo won the six-day race with Australian Richie Porte. Not only did the event provide entertainment to locals and tourists, but also through television broadcasting to nearly 200 countries it showed off the area as a tourist destination.

The stage race closest to the TDU in the world in many was the Amgen Tour of California. The vineyards and coastal views match, although the TOC also featured much higher mountain crossings as opposed to the short but sharp and few climbs available in South Australia. The TDU and TOC were the only stage races at the highest level that took place outside of Europe and Asia.

Column shows thinking that holds back LA

Part of the reason why Louisiana politics have struggled to evolve from a government-centric focus to a people-centric focus is an old-school mentality. One such example from the media came into view recently.

For a couple of decades the late John Maginnis purveyed a column on state politics to several print media outlets. Eventually, he brought in Jeremy Alford to assist, and Alford took over the effort upon the unfortunate demise of Maginnis.

Maginnis wrote and Alford writes from the left side of the political spectrum, although typically in watered-down, even obscurant fashion in order to make the column more sellable to a wider audience. Still, sometimes that bias comes out, as it did in Alford’s piece that went out last week.