New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees understands
discretion is the better part of valor, even if by practicing that it empowers
an ignorant and reductionist sports mob.
This week, a finance website highlighted comments
Brees made about kneeling during the playing of the national anthem as a form
of protest. He spoke consistently about that act he had criticized four years
ago when a handful of National Football League players hopped on that trend,
saying at
the time
… there's plenty of other ways that you can do
that in a peaceful manner that doesn't involve being disrespectful to the
American flag.
The great thing about this country is that we have
the freedoms that allow you to speak out openly about any issue. So, I’m not
commenting on the issue itself because any person has the right to speak out on
any issue they want. That’s the great thing about being an American. But the
American flag is what represents those freedoms. It represents the very freedom
that [gives such protesters] the opportunity to exercise by speaking out his
opinion in a peaceful manner about that issue ….
It’s time to see whether Louisiana Republican legislative
leaders, especially GOP House Speaker Clay Schexnayder,
truly are serious about what they call a top legislative priority of this year
and if they wish to supplant Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards as
the lead policy-maker in the state.
The fate of SB 418 by
Republican state Sen. Kirk Talbot will
answer both questions. The bill reforms
the tort system in regards to vehicle insurance, making Louisiana look much
more like other states with far lower insurance rates.
Described
by Republican legislators as a leading issue of the session in light of the
economically depressive impact of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, Edwards has
threatened to veto the measure, and even after its
passage in a watered-down form wouldn’t commit to desisting on that account.
It passed the Senate, first in its original form then as part of a conference committee
compromise, with more than enough votes to override any veto, but in the House
while the version that went to conference passed with two more than the 70
votes required, the compromise version garnered only 66.
One historic session
of the Louisiana Legislature down, one to go – and historic for more than
one reason.
After enduring a regular session interrupted for
about a month-and-a-half because of gubernatorial restrictions due to the Wuhan
coronavirus pandemic, the Legislature launched itself into a special session potentially
a month long. It’s only the second time it has done so, and the first time it
hasn’t restricted itself to a narrow agenda.
Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards did
take issue with the generality of the call, implying that it
tried to do too much, although his claim rings a bit hollow. Of the 41 items,
14 deal with budgeting matters, some of which the chambers resolved in the
regular session but left most hanging because of the shortened nature of the
session. Another nine address the impact of Edwards’ actions because of the
pandemic. A dozen concern tax matters, which in this even-numbered year the
body couldn’t address during the regular session. Outside of these areas that timing
has prevented to date their resolutions, just a handful of issues remain, and
one named – tort reform – the Legislature successfully completed in the regular
session.
Two (or two-plus) bills essentially addressing the
same subject, but with two different outcomes in the Louisiana Legislature;
why?
SB 418 by
Republican state Sen. Kirk Talbot
passed both chambers three votes higher than a supermajority. The bill
would reform extensively tort law dealing with vehicular accidents in a way
that, if the history of similar laws in other states provides any guide, will
reduce both insurance rates and the size of court-ordered judgments, which
garnered opposition from the trial lawyer lobby.
Those opponents include Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards, on
whose behalf a political action committee devoted to opposing tort reform in
all of its forms spent $13.5 million that resulted in his narrow reelection.
Edwards is using every last bit of his leverage to dilute the bill in any way
possible, by promising not to veto the measure even as he doesn’t stand much of
a chance in having such a veto stick, in order to save face. An overridden veto
will reduce his governorship going forward to a cipher and even the smallest
change that he could cajole from a conference committee picked by legislative
Republican leaders would allow him with a straight face to refuse conceding
defeat and to sign the bill.
