tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10214951.post3570828204981706362..comments2024-03-17T08:07:12.695-05:00Comments on Between The Lines: Regional, partisan imbalance in the new Legislature?Jeff Sadowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03972004592729833310noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10214951.post-36617376966869853922007-12-22T21:12:00.000-06:002007-12-22T21:12:00.000-06:00I agree that North Louisiana came out all right, b...I agree that North Louisiana came out all right, but it was North EAST Louisiana, nothing meaningful was given to North West Louisiana.<BR/><BR/>This is particularly critical in redistricting. Either Jefferson/Melancon or McCrery's successor/Alexander will be merged into each other. Hopefully its the 3rd and 1st not the North Louisiana Districts, we saw what happened last time with cleo fields as the congressman for part of shreveport until that district was ruled illegal. <BR/><BR/>All i'm saying is that when it comes down to it, if south louisiana insists the district be cut from up here then who will get screwed--certainly not the NE side considering they have the chairmen of both redistricting committees (grambling and monroe). <BR/><BR/>Also, while I agree that Adley may not be ideal on every issue, he was a good vote on taxes. He nearly single handedly got through stelly relief for us, and he said he was for complete repeal but that idiot blanco would've vetoed anything larger. Now we can try to do some more on that front. <BR/><BR/> Adley certainly would have been worlds better at 'returning the peoples money' than Marrioneaux. Adley at least got us back some of our stelly deductions, marrioneaux was opposed to that though most of the process. <BR/><BR/>We've got a trial lawyer anti-business guy in charge of tax policy, Adley was almost always a loyal vote for business and would have surely been an improvement on marrioneaux.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10214951.post-72895132112761563392007-12-21T20:59:00.000-06:002007-12-21T20:59:00.000-06:00Good analysis, IMHO. Here's an interesting topic ...Good analysis, IMHO. Here's an interesting topic for conversation, though I can't say that I have a strong opinion one way or another.<BR/><BR/>I haven't been here all that long, so I haven't followed how many legislators from up here have been term limited out.<BR/><BR/>I know that the folks from Washington Parish loved Sen. BB Rayborn, one of the last of the old school Longites. He could do no wrong because his seniority allowed him to bring home the pork in a big way. He was chair of the Senate Finance Committee for years before he got caught up in some sort of Video Poker scandal and was defeated (if memory serves).<BR/><BR/>Washington Parish has virtually no votes. Without legislators with a lot of seniority, they have little influence in state govt. The courthouse gangs and probably some of the people knew this, so they kept sending the same people back to BR.<BR/><BR/>Have terms limits worked to the detriment of North LA? Seniority in the legislature might compensate for less total votes? Is the tradeoff (more equality upon legislators?) helping state govt?<BR/><BR/>I generally oppose anything that limits the will of the people, and term limits seem to fit that category. We would seem to be saying, "We don't trust our future judgment, so save us from ourselves."<BR/><BR/>But term limits might work for the good of the state as a whole, even if they might work to the detriment of certain areas. <BR/><BR/>Or was it just a tool of the Republicans to get Dems out of the legislature, nothing more?<BR/><BR/>I would be interested in your thoughts.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com