Louisiana

42 Million Americans Have Food Stamps (SNAP), Now On Hold As November Begins!

Waking up on the first day of November, 42 million Americans are being denied basic federal assistance to insure they have food, a travesty caused by the Republican Party and President Donald Trump, on top of the escalation of premiums for the Affordable Care Act, which if not modified, will lead to millions of Americans without any health care coverage in 2026!

And the irony is that a majority of those who are going without food support and health care coverage are residents of “Red” states, but the Republican Party and Donald Trump have no concern for their own constituents.

SNAP primarily supports children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, and the highest percentage of people who receive these meager benefits are found in Louisiana, the home state of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and second ranking House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.

Also high in percentage of people covered by SNAP are the Republican states of Oklahoma and West Virginia,

SNAP households with children are 34 percent; with elderly individuals 33 percent; with nonelderly individuals with a disability 18 percent; and with adults ages 18-49 without either a disability or children with 17 percent. Of course, some households include multiple categories.

Nearly four out of five household in 2023 include a child, elderly individual, or nonelderly individual with a disability.

20 percent of the population in Louisiana, New Mexico, and the District of Columbia receive SNAP benefits, and overall, 12 percent of the American people receive SNAP benefits.

This disastrous situation needs to be resolved NOW! 🙁

House Speaker Mike Johnson Abuser Of Power, And Lackey Of Donald Trump!

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson will mark two years in that position, second in line for the Presidency under the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, on Saturday, October 25.

It has been a tumultuous two years, serving under Joe Biden, and now, Donald Trump.

Johnson has been extremely controversial in his utterances and actions, demonstrating an abuse of power, and being a total lackey to Donald Trump.

Johnson claims to be a devout “good” Christian, but he is anything but that, including

having the House of Representatives not in session for almost a month while the federal government is shut down.

refusing to seat an Arizona Democratic Congresswoman, Adelita Grijalva, elected nearly a month ago, so as to avoid her voting on forcing the “Epstein Files” to be made available by a majority vote of the House.

claiming that the NO KINGS marchers and demonstrators taking place today are “terorists and radicals”, who “Hate America and are Antifa”, denying their validity as a means of protest of the authoritarian moves of Donald Trump.

and demonstrating no concern about the impending health insurance disaster, including in his own home state of Louisiana, due to the massive tax cuts given the wealthy at the expense of ordinary people.

His controversial and divisive leadership has made him look worse than former Speakers Kevin McCarthy and Paul Ryan, and made former Speaker Nancy Pelosi shine as easily the best recent Speaker of the House since fellow Democrat Thomas “Tip” O’Neill in the 1970s and 1980s.

“Red” Rural States To Suffer Most From Increases In Health Care Premiums!

The Democratic Party in Congress has refused to sign off on the continuing resolution, leading to a federal government shutdown, due to the reality of the horrendous effect that the cutting of federal subsidies for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and Medicaid will have on millions of Americans, mostly poor or lower middle class, and most heavily in rural states that are “Red” states.

The Southern States and rural Midwest and Western States, that are strongly Republican in voting patterns, will be harmed the most.

While racial minorities will be greatly affected, so will white rural Americans who voted for Donald Trump in 2024.

This includes states such as Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, South Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota, Idaho, and Wyoming.

The Republican Party, by its refusal to move to restore health care subsidies, is undermining its own electoral future!

PBS Being Eliminated By Trump, Replaced By “Prager University”, Which Is Despicable Alternative!

PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, existent since 1969, is disappearing as a publicly supported entity, due to Donald Trump’s cutting of nearly a billion dollars of public funding for that agency which has been so positive and constructive over 56 years.

PBS will survive due to public support, but many rural stations will be unable to sustain themselves sadly.

Right wing influence is attempting to have a so called “university” which is not such, “Prager University”, propagandize and distort education in schools in many states, with ten states adopting their curriculums to promote their agenda, far from what PBS did.

Its videos, designed solely to promote propaganda and make profits, distort the truth of slavery; deny the reality of climate change and global warming; advocate racism, nativism, misogyny, and homophobia, rather than promote tolerance and acceptance. It also distorts the reality of fascism and advocates creationism, rather than the truth of science.

Its creator, Dennis Prager, undermines the traditional Jewish open mindedness of his faith, in a selfish desire to gain excessive wealth in league with evangelical religious extremists, proving the profit motive more important than basic ethics, morality, compassion, decency, and empathy.

It is important to realize that “Prager University” is NOT a university and does not confer degrees, and is not accredited by any recognized educational body.

Among those involved in video presentation are Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro, and Michelle Malkin, which says a lot in itself.

The website promotes against the minimum wage and gun control, and for unbridled, unregulated capitalism.

The states of Florida, Oklahoma, New Hampshire, Montana, Arizona, and Louisiana were the first states to allow “Prager University” to be an official vendor of so called educational material.

And now, Oklahoma has adopted an “ideology test” in league with “Prager University” to screen and withhold teaching certificates in the state from educators applying from “Blue” states to teach in the state, since they are considered “woke”, as if that is a sin.

It should be pointed out that it is hard to imagine any educator outside of Oklahoma lusting to move there, with the narrowminded nature of the Oklahoma Superintendant of Public Instruction, Ryan Walters, and the fact of the very low pay nationally of teachers in that state.

Militarization Of Chicago And Baltimore Seems Next Trump Authoritarian Move!

President Donald Trump is issuing threats of imminent militarization of Chicago and Baltimore by Natoinal Guard troops, adding to the present occupation of Washington DC, and the earlier such action in Los Angeles.

Trump is using excuse of accusations of growing crime in cities that are actually witnessing declines in crime.

The one common denominator is that all of these cities have African American mayors and are “Blue” cities in “Blue” states. This is pure racism, and racial profiling.

Meanwhile, there are higher crime cities in many “Red” states, particularly in Southern states, but there is no inclination for military intervention in such locations.

Instead, it is precisely these “Red” states that are voluntarily sending National Guard troops to operate in Washington DC, such states as South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and West Virginia, along with Ohio.

And the National Guard troops will be armed, creating a very dangerous, potentially confrontational, situation, that could lead to violence and tragedy in our nation’s capital.

We could face another Kent State University Massacre, which took place in Ohio during the Vietnam War Era in 1970!

Predictions On 119th Congress (2025-2027) Races

This author and blogger senses that the Democrats will regain control of the House of Representatives in the 119th Congress, since the Republicans have had a disastrous two years under Speaker Kevin McCarthy for nine months and then Speaker Mike Johnson, having the fewest accomplishments in legislation in more than a century.

While it is very difficult to project on 435 House races, it seems likely that some Republican seats in New York and California are likely to go to the Democrats, along with some gain of seats in the South, specifically in Alabama and Louisiana.

Likely, the majority will be, however, only on a few seats, as is now the situation.

The Senate will likely see a slight Republican majority, with the retirement of Joe Manchin, insuring that a Republican will replace him.

However, if all Democrats running for reelection, and those running to replace fellow Democrats, seem likely to win, that sets up a possible 50-50 Senate, which the Vice President would organize.

It depends on whether Republicans Ted Cruz in Texas, Rick Scott in Florida, and Deb Fischer in Nebraska can keep their seats. If any of them lose, we would see a Democratic controlled Senate.

If however, Democrats Jon Tester in Montana or Sherrod Brown in Ohio lose their seats, the Republicans would have the majority of the Senate.

Project 2025: Authoritarian Fascism Replacing Democracy!

Project 2025, the work of the Heritage Foundation, is a declaration of war on American democracy, the US Constitution, and the rule of law.

Authoritarian Fascism would replace the kind of government we have had for nearly 250 years.

It would establish a dictatorship, with a crazed, unstable criminal in charge, and even if Donald Trump was not aware of policy details, there would be a massive number of ideological loyalists, much younger, who would be making policy and enforcing discipline, with some of them already involved in illegal and criminal activities in the first Trump administration.

Trump has made clear he wants to be a dictator on Day One, but clearly it would not stop on that day!

Project 2025 would allow Trump the ability to deploy the military against American citizens who utilized the right of assembly to protest government policies!

Project 2025 would promote the arrest and deportation of up to 11 million non citizens, who would be placed in internment camps, a reminder of what happened to Japanese Americans in World War II!

Project 2025 would allow the termination of tens of thousands government employees, to be replaced by Trump loyalists, who would have a deleterious effect on government policy in a multitude of areas!

Project 2025 would promote Christian Nationalism, and impose religious beliefs in public schools, already occurring in Louisiana and Oklahoma, ignoring the reality that it would undermine religious freedom and separation of church and state!

Project 2025 would allow political persecution of opponents, both in government and the media, with Trump threatening imprisonment of prominent critics, including those who investigated the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection!

Trump himself has said that while he wants everyone to vote in 2024, that he does not care if they vote after that, implying there may not be any future elections as he would be President for life!

So much more will be delineated in future articles, but all of the above is alarming to the extreme, and every effort must be made to insure that Donald Trump never gets near the Oval Office again!

Religion Does Not Belong In Public Education!

The Louisiana legislature recently enacted a law requiring display of the Ten Commandments in all public schools from nursery schools through public universities.

This is unconstitutional, and promotes a narrow Christian view of religion, when there are many other religions that are not considered in enacting such legislation.

The law is against the Bill of Rights, specifically the First Amendment, which makes clear total separation of church and state as a major principle of the Founding Fathers.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups have brought suit to prevent the enforcement of this attempt at promoting theocracy in public education.

The only way that religion is, rightfully, in public education is to teach about the various religious beliefs in an objective, and elective, high school and or college course, but not as theocracy, but as part of world history or Philosophy!

Marjorie Taylor Greene Promoting Secession Of “Red” From “Blue” States!

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a true whacko, is promoting the idea of secession of “Red” states from “Blue” states.

She is clearly crazy, as she fails to realize that Blue areas are found in most states that are not rural–meaning urban and suburban areas–and so called “Blue’ States contribute much more to the national economic system than do so called “Red’ States.

The so called “Red” states are mostly rural, and in 2022, they are the poorest, most dependent on the redistribution of income primarily coming from wealthier, more urbanized and suburbanized “Blue” states.

The poorest states are almost completely “Red” states—West Virginia, New Mexico, Mississippi, Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Wyoming, Montana–with only New Mexico and Maine being “Blue” states based on state government control.

What makes America the nation that it has become is the diversity of America–the industry, the universities, the culture of varying groups who live in cities and suburban areas—not the isolation of “Red” rural America, which lives, in many respects, in the 19th century, while “Blue” America represents the 21st century!

Poorest States Never Get The Message, Still Vote Republican Despite Lack Of Action On Poverty

The ten poorest states in America are all in the South and Border South, with the one exception of New Mexico, which is the only one of those ten states which votes Democratic.

Despite their poverty, with large numbers of poor whites, these states continue to vote Republican, and have among the most incompetent and uncaring state governments and political leaders.

Why these states’ voters do not get the message that voting Republican insures no action is taken on their poverty situations is clearly due to their lack of education and awareness of reality.

These ten states, in order of poverty are:

Mississippi
New Mexico
Louisiana
West Virginia
Alabama
Kentucky
South Carolina
Arkansas
Tennessee
North Carolina

Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty in the 1960s was a beginning, but not followed through on under later Republican Presidents, including Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and Donald Trump in particular.

When Democrats Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama attempted to move forward, Republican intransigence prevented much progress, and this issue remains one that needs to be addressed by Joe Biden, although with the Republicans potentially controlling the Senate, and with a smaller Democratic margin in the House of Representatives, it will be very difficult to do so.