Mary Landrieu

New Attention On Louisiana Senate Race This Year: The Landrieu Family Dynasty

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With the victory of Mitch Landrieu as Mayor Of New Orleans yesterday, new attention is being paid to the reelection campaign of Senator Mary Landrieu, his sister.

Their father, Moon Landrieu, was the last white mayor of New Orleans, leaving office in 1978. The fact that his son was able to win over a large portion of the African American population in the city, after 32 years of African American mayors, shows the dominance of this family, which could be called a dynasty, just behind the famous Longs–Huey, Earl and Russell, which influenced Louisiana politics for nearly fifty years.

Mary Landrieu is in a tough race for re-election to a third term, and has been seen as very moderate in her approach to issues, including health care reform, where she has been a critic of the Obama Administration, and has driven a hard bargain to gain advantages for her state in exchange for her vote.

It could be, however, that her brother’s victory is a sign that this race will be one of the most watched by both Republicans and Democrats this fall. And don’t give up on Mary Landrieu winning, as she is a tough politician who knows how to maximize her family’s advantages!

The Democrats Who Stand In The Way Of Health Care Reform

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As things now stand, the health care legislation being debated in the Senate has four Democrats preventing a real reform package, and we could call them the “N and Three L’s”–Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, and Blanche Lincoln of Nebraska.

Without these four votes for the “public option”, the only way conceivable that the Democrats can overcome a filibuster is to utilize “reconciliation”, which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would prefer to avoid, but can use if necessary, just as it was under the GOP control of the Senate during the Bush Administration.

This means 51 votes, or even 50 plus the Vice President, would be enough to accomplish health care reform. This has been broached before by myself and others, and certainly is not preferable, but we have reached a point where we cannot allow a few rebellious Democrats to block necessary reform that has never reached this stage legislatively.

To allow health care reform to fail at this point would be a tragedy on the level of the Afghan War escalation about to begin! 🙁

The Senate Health Care Debate Begins!

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With the courageous decision of Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu and Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln to support the beginning of debate on health care, the Democrats have succeeded in keeping their party caucus united, including independents Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders.

Now a long period of weeks of debate begins, and there are many torturous steps to go before a final vote, including the debate over abortion and over the “public option”. Votes in the Democratic caucus will be lost on these issues, including Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson, Landrieu and Lincoln among others.

So the question is whether it will be possible to pass a substantial health care bill without causing a filibuster. Since that seems unlikely, the concept of “reconciliation”, requiring only 51 votes to pass legislation, may have to be put into play.

While it would be preferable to avoid “reconciliation”, the likelihood is that it will have to be utilized in order to bring about the most significant legislation since 1965 when Medicare passed into law.

Senate Democrats And Health Care: Major Lack Of Courage By Some

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As the Senate is about to begin debate on the health care bill, the Democrats are divided on the public option and on the abortion issue.

Already, independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut has said he will block any bill with a public option.

But it is not just Joe Lieberman who presents a problem. There are also the difficulties that moderate Democrats have with the legislation, and the danger that a few of them will block any action on health care.

These include Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, and Ben Nelson of Nebraska in particular. But what many do not understand is that their home states are among the poorest in the country, particularly the states of the two women senators, and there is such a dire need for a public option, and yet all three seem reluctant to do what is best for their states.

Basically, they all lack the courage to do what is right, and that is very disturbing, as the failure to bring about health care reform, if that occurs, will do great harm to the Democratic party in Congress, and also to President Obama, as this is his biggest issue, and it requires success for him to be in a strong position for 2010 and beyond!

Mixed Race Couples And A Louisiana Judge: Is This 2009 Or Fifty Years Ago?

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It is hard to believe that a Justice of the Peace in Southeastern Louisiana refused this past week to perform a marriage ceremony for a mixed race couple, a white female and an African American male.

Are we back in the years before the civil rights movement? Is this refusal another commentary on the fact that our President was the product of a mixed race couple?

Is this another sign of the Old South continuing to rear its ugly head, one of not just anti black, but also anti Jewish, anti Catholic, anti immigrant discrimination?

One has to wonder why this issue has arisen now, when interracial marriages were declared constitutional by the Supreme Court in 1967.

Thank goodness for one fact: No one in today’s political climate is going to remain silent and cover the reputation of a racist bigot. At least, such vermin are fully exposed, but it is a sad day that in the year 2009, we can have such a demonstration of racism and bigotry by an elected official, a part of the court system.

What is necessary now is prompt, swift action to remove this disgrace of a judge from public office! Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu has called for his removal, but we have not yet heard from Republican Senator David Vitter. Hmm, one wonders why?

Time For Use Of “Reconciliation” To Enact Health Care Reform

Ronald 2 Comments

The tactic of “reconciliation”, requiring only 50 votes if the Vice President breaks the tie, or 51 votes majority in the Senate to enact legislation, is ready to be utilized if the conservative Democrats, including Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, and Max Baucus of Montana, refuse to be loyal to their party and complicate the passage by not cooperating to overcome a filibuster.

The “reconciliation” tactic has been used before, as for instance to enact the two Bush tax cuts, so there is no reason why it cannot be used now to bring about the most important legislation in at least a generation.

Statements by Senator Nelson and Republican Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma that such a tactic would be wrong is pure hypocrisy, and it is time to make it clear to both the GOP and the conservative Democrats that the party will ignore them and pass legislation over their heads if they refuse to cooperate!