FRIDAY THE 13TH OF JUNE, 2008: THE DAY THE LA. LEGISLATURE SOLD OUT THE PEOPLE

As Moon Griffon said, on the morning of June 13, 2008, the Louisiana Legislature is giving the people of Louisiana a new state bird to replace the Brown Pelican, and that new bird is the middle finger. I predict that the irony of voting for SB 672 on an unlucky Friday the 13th, will come back to haunt those legislators who voted for it when the face reelection. I know that this blog and many others will refresh your memory of this slap in the face come next election.

The Louisiana House voted 55 to 39 for final passage of SB 672, but with amendments. The amendments decreased the Legislative pay raise from triple what they currently make to only double. It is also tied to an annual automatic pay raise based upon the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index (CPI), rather than the possibly more relevant ACCRA Cost of Living Index. This amendment means that the bill has to now go back to the Senate to see if it concurres with the House amendment, and, if not, the bill will be thrown into a Conference Committee. That committee will consist of three members from the Senate and three from the House, appointed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House. If finally engrossed, it then goes to the governor for either his signature, veto or no action, in which case the bill automatically becomes law after a certain number of days. Again yesterday, after the bill's passage, Gov. Jindal stated that, while he doesn't like the excessive pay raise, he will not veto it.

See the 28 minute consideration of the bill, in which Speaker Jim Tucker was the only person to speak on the bill, below:


Online Videos by Veoh.com

A Point by Point Counter to Tucker's Urinating on Us and Telling Us it's Only Raining

1. The Legislature must increase it's own compensation: That is a bald faced lie. There is nothing in the state Constitution which mandates that the Legislature to increase its pay. Additionally, I could not find any law which would prohibit, nor did C.B. Forgotston know of any, the Legislature making this pay raise to go into effect 4 years from now, when a new term begins. This is a self-serving pay raise that is similar to you walking into your boss's office and telling him that you are giving yourself a raise. Unlike our tax reduction and the roll back of Stelly, which will go into effect somewhere between 2009 and 2010, this pay raise goes into effect on July 1, of this year.
2. This is probably the most contentious bill the we will see in our political careers: Well I agree with the Speaker, so why didn't he and 54 other House members pay heed to the opposition from the people?
3. Many people confuse state representatives with US Congressmen: I don't, nor do I personally know of anyone operating under such confusion.
4. The Legislature hasn't had a raise since 1980 although we got a voucherd expence increase in 1994: Well guess what Speaker Tucker, that was still a raise. If you weren't getting compemsated with that before, when you do get it you have gotten a raise. How many working class people in this state do not get a C.P.I. based annual raise or any expense account? Tucker also said that those expenses are for out-of-session meetings they attend. I wonder how many of those meetings are attended by the Legislature for true Legislative business purpose or as a public appearance for reelection purposes?
5. It is a misconception that this is a part-time job: No it is not, as can be seen from the fact that approximately 97% of you legislators list something else (businessman, lawyer, sales rep, farmer and etc...) as your primary job. As Sen. Joe McPherson said, serving in the Legislature is supposed to be about public service. If a Legislator spends so much time on part-time Legislative work, to be considered a full-time job, he or she is simply pandering for reelection votes. Besides, weren't you smart enough to find out what the job paid before your sought it? I also find it hard to believe that Tucker spends 30 hours per week, while out of session, on his Legislative duties, as he stated.
6. I am most distressed that the "extreme" public has show so much disfavor to Legislators' familes: If by "extreme" you mean those that oppose your self-serving and excessive pay raise, I am one of them. Rest assured that I have expressed no disfavor, over this issue, with any family members of legislators. You legislators who screwed over the people of Louisiana with the ridiculous pay-raise, however, have definatley fallen out of many of our favors.
7. People on the radio say that this bill will efect our retirement, but there has been no Legislative retirment since 1999: Right, and I have only heard talk-radio hosts speaking of those that have been serving since before 1999.
8. Blogs had the audacity to take a photo of Sen. Duplessis's Mercedes and putting it on the internet leading people to believe that it was her state supplied car: Of course nobody can help it if the ignorant get a different readng of something, but the car photo was posted on blogs, including this blog, to show Sen. Duplessis' hypocricy in 'poor mouthing' that she needs a raise while serving as a vice-president of a bank (wow, I wonder how she had time to do that since she is a full-time legislator) and who drives an expensive luxury car.
9. Our per diem does not cover the costs to dive to and stay in Baton Rouge: I agree. So why didn't you just increase your per diem instead of raising your base salary by 200%? Oh, and by the way, how many people in the real World have you heard of that got a 200% raise?
10. He appreciates the people who called in opposition to the pay-raise: Your vote for the bill could have fooled me.
11. When I was out recruiting Republicans to run for the Legislature, I heard many a time that they couldn't afford the pay cut: I say that is good. maybe we will get more working class people in the Legislature if the rich folks don't run.
12. And the worst bullshit out of Tucker's mouth: If the Legislature doesn't get a pay raise, only the wealthy could afford to run: Well, the pay increase will not effect a person's ability to run for the iffive, as they has to foot the campaign bills and get elected before that can take advantage of the salary. This is the same ignorant argument echoed by local Rep. Hebert Dixon. (By the way, Dixon was the only Cenla representative who voted for the raise). Now, Speaker Tucker ran as an incumbant, so one could speculate that he had a leg up if he had any opposition. But despite that, he collected $84,899.65 and spent $68,245.55 in his campaign last year (See: HERE). So how the Hell do they figure that some working stiff can afford to run?

The Aftermath

See what Rapides Parish Representative Herbert Dixon had to say, to KALB reporter, Mike Magnoli, about his yes vote:

Watch also these news reports:

Who the Good Guys Were and Who were the Scoundrals

According to SB 672's fiscal note, these pay-raises will cost the state $28,244,328 over the next 5 years. The Senate Votes were (click on photo to enlarge):

The House votes were;

See Also:

OPPOSITION STILL GROWING TO LEGISLATIVE PAY RAISES

WHILE LEGISLATURE IS IN FAVOR OF VOTING ITSELF A 300% PAY RAISE, MOST VOTERS OPPOSE IT
SENATE PASSES PAY RAISE BILL

MOON TAKES ON SEN. BUTCH GEAUTREAUX, WITH COMMENTARY FROM FORGOTSTON
LEGISLATORS WHO VOTE THEMSELVES A RAISE SHOULD NOT BE RETURNED TO OFFICE

PAY RAISES FOR LEGISLATORS MOVES OUT OF COMMITTEE
SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE HEARS SB 672; PAY RAISES FOR LEGISLATORS
LOCAL LEGISLATORS COMMENT UPON A PAY RAISE FOR THEMSELVES

AUDIO INTERVIEW OF C. B. FORGOTSTON, JR.: SB 87, PAY RAISES FOR LEGISLATORS & PROBLEMS WITH NEW ETHICS REFORMS
COMPENDIUM: 2008 REGULAR SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE
&
sb672: 20 louisiana senatorial scum-bags vote themselves a massive pay raise of 300% +