Bossier City voters must reject stealth tax hike

The timing is bad, but the idea worse, for a Louisiana local government like Bossier City to ask for a tax hike on citizens.

Next Saturday elections will occur in most parishes in Louisiana three months later than intended. Almost all of these feature local runoffs, tax renewals, or requesting new funding for a bond issue. Uniquely among large jurisdictions, Bossier City asks for a property tax increase.

Not that city politicians wanted to make that obvious in order to increase the chances of the measure passing, as the ballot wording indicates: should the city

Edwards wants taxpayers liable for his mistakes

With news of a federal government deal on unemployment benefits in the offing, Democrat Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards went to the liberal playbook to pull out a classic tactic to cover up for his mistakes.

Congressional House Democrats and Senate Republicans with GOP Pres. Donald Trump have agreed in principle to slather on more taxpayer largesse soon after the extra $600 a week in unemployment benefits expire at the end of this week. Currently, that means in Louisiana someone who asserts he is looking for work – which by the numbers includes people who weren’t until the bonus became law – can make as much as $847 a week for idleness, which is 92 percent of the state’s median household income for 2018.

The current approach theoretically, as well as anecdotally, has a tremendous moral hazard problem of essentially creating a universal basic income at a relatively high level. This creates a disincentive to work that has caused employers to shut down permanently as well as spawned resentment among those still working.

LA Democrats extend non-labeled strategy

Reviewing Louisiana’s contests this fall for the Supreme Court and Public Service Commission, whether to act as a stealth Democrat and whether that will cost a candidate are questions that will be answered.

A growing trend in Louisiana, which first began in local contests in the northern part of the state but increasingly has become visible statewide, is for Democrats to run for office without a party label or as an independent, or even calling themselves Republicans. This way, they try not to turn off potential voters who increasingly register as Republicans that turn up their noses at any Democrat while using labelling or other means to signal to faithful remaining Democrats that they are safe to vote for.

In some places, that tactic is irrelevant. For the 7^th Supreme Court District contest to replace retiring Democrat Chief Justice Bernette Johnson, which comprises Orleans and some of Jefferson Parish, with a large black and Democrat majority only a Democrat can win. It has three largely interchangeable black Democrat women jostling to replace Johnson – Appellate Judge Sandra Cabrina Jenkins, Orleans Civil Judge Piper Griffin, and Appellate Judge Teri Love.

CD 5 tight; other LA federal races snoozers

It looks like all but one of the federal election contests in Louisiana will turn out to be electoral yawners, although with more drama spread around.

There’ll be no drama, but déjà vu, in the First Congressional District, where Republican Rep. Steve Scalise will meet two retreads, and win just as decisively as always. Second CD Democrat Rep. Cedric Richmond also drew a retread and also several newcomers among them two Republicans challenging him for the first time in eight years, but he’ll still win easily.

Third CD Republican Rep. Clay Higgins also doesn’t look to encounter much trouble. Democrats didn’t want to let the outspoken disruptor go without more than token opposition so enter pastor and nonprofit manager Braylon Harris, who has a slick web presence but little in the way of resources. Still, if any congressional incumbent gets held below 60 percent, it likely would be in this race given Higgins’ bombastic style that might turn off some voters and the presence of two other minor candidates in the contest.

NW LA contests to test partisanship power

While the judicial cycle has come around to tag onto this time the presidential contest, state and local races in Caddo Parish have a bit of intrigue that will reveal the power of partisan perceptions.

Every six years all state district court and some appellate court jobs come open. Additionally, local justice of the peace, constable, and many municipal judgeships also are contested. Thus, every other time they compete with the presidential race, in contrast to only House contests (and Senate races two out of every three times).

Regardless, Bossier Parish and Bossier City, the land of the super-apathetic citizenry, displayed its typical slate of nearly-universal uncontested, Republican-incumbent contests. None of the six 26^th District (the district also incorporates Webster Parish) divisions had anything but a GOP incumbent running, nor did Republican District Attorney Schuyler Marvin pick up an opponent.