Will a new Democratic Congress Help Rebuild SE Louisiana? (merged)(x2)

[Jazzbo]

http://saintsreport.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2742

 

[BullDawg]

Good ole Charlie Rangel. I would expect nothing less.

Let him have his concrete jungles. I'd rather be back home in Mississippi fishing the Tchoutacabouffa River.

 

[SaintsFan11]

Dumb thing for Rangel to say, but he's a hack.

If the Dems want Louisiana to vote for their Presidential candiate, they'd better emphasize rebuilding the hurricane damaged areas. Louisiana is a swing state, we're not like the other four deep south states. We usually go for the winner, but I know that the most important issue for me is still Katrina and New Orleans. In 2008 I'll be voting for whoever is on our side.

 

[TPS]

Depends. Senator Landrieu should move up in Seniority by several members. She sits on Energy and Armed Services. Senator Vitter will be less influential. The rest of the 80% voted LA GOP house members probably won't have much clout this go round. You guys decide who you think will win the next congress and maybe vote accordingly.

TPS

 

[V Chip]

The only use the Dems will have for Katrina is to hit W over the head with it - lots of investigations from the Waxman-led Gov. Reform Committee, etc.

Unfortunately, it's probably true.

Then again, not like the Republican led Congress was knocking down the door of helping us... heck it took them 3½ DAYS after Katrina hit to even convene to try and get some assistance passed, yet took them 14 hours to convene for Terri Schiavo.

 

[MLU]

I'm curious to see how much of a grudge the Dems still hold for Alexander switching parties...

I wouldn't expect approval for new drilling in the Gulf with the Dems in power, but maybe they'll use the region as a reminder of how the GOP failed to serve the people when the people needed it the most. Any word on where the Dems have decided to hold the 08 convention? I hear the Superdome has a few open dates...

 

[TPS]

Actually I gotta correct my comments above. Senator Landrieu sits on:

Appropriations
Energy and Natural Resources
Small Business

She used to sit on Armed Sevices, but that was the last congress.

FWIW, in case you didn't know, the New York Times reversed it's opposition to the Landrieu-Pete Dominici offshore royalties bill. Btw, you can read the press release and the New York Times changed editorial (and the original one from August which staunchly opposed it) at the link below.

http://landrieu.senate.gov/~landrieu/releases/06/2006A23622.html

As for the help, V, who was down here (outside of President Bush)? It was Pelosi, Reid and primarily members of the Democratic Caucus originally while many of the Republicans were using the opportunity for grandstanding. Eventually Senators Landrieu, Vitter and Congressmen Jindal and Melancon got many more people down here to see it first hand. Several had flown over prior and thought everything was okay. But it wasn't until they were on the ground that they were able to appreciate the devastation. FWIW, Senator Reid has stated that he wants the Gulf Offshore Royalties Bill to be one of 4 or 5 things that get done in the upcoming lame duck session of Congress ending in December. Mary said it's got a 50/50 chance, but there is still opposition out there from states that oppose drilling (just less opposition than the Jindal Bill which has absolutely no chance of passing the Senate. Mary should be in line for at least a vice chair in one of the committees as the Democrats realize that Louisiana no longer has its hedge against the rest of the mindless south (God, Guns and Gays = Wedge Issues) with the departure of so many African Americans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. So they will afford Mary some visibility in the Senate in hopes of avoiding the state ending up with two (essentially) Junior Senators sitting in the minority party.

It's going to be a tough road, but if we play are cards right and get out of partisanship, and if Mary is re-elected, she'll rank somewhere in the 30's or 40's when it comes to seniority in the Senate. If you want more information on Senate Committees and what they do, you can go to the Senate Home Page and click committees. Here is the list of the current standing committees.

Standing</CATEGORY>
<COMMITTEE_NAME>Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry</COMMITTEE_NAME>
<COMMITTEE_NAME>Appropriations</COMMITTEE_NAME>
<COMMITTEE_NAME>Armed Services</COMMITTEE_NAME>
<COMMITTEE_NAME>Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs</COMMITTEE_NAME>
<COMMITTEE_NAME>Budget</COMMITTEE_NAME>
<COMMITTEE_NAME>Commerce, Science, and Transportation</COMMITTEE_NAME>
<COMMITTEE_NAME>Energy and Natural Resources</COMMITTEE_NAME>
<COMMITTEE_NAME>Environment and Public Works</COMMITTEE_NAME>
<COMMITTEE_NAME>Finance</COMMITTEE_NAME>
<COMMITTEE_NAME>Foreign Relations</COMMITTEE_NAME>
<COMMITTEE_NAME>Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions</COMMITTEE_NAME>
<COMMITTEE_NAME>Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs</COMMITTEE_NAME>
<COMMITTEE_NAME>Judiciary</COMMITTEE_NAME>
<COMMITTEE_NAME>Rules and Administration</COMMITTEE_NAME>
<COMMITTEE_NAME>Small Business and Entrepreneurship</COMMITTEE_NAME>
<COMMITTEE_NAME>Veterans Affairs</COMMITTEE_NAME>

Our Junior Senator, David Vitter, is assigned to the following committees:

Commerce, Science and Transportation
(following subcommittees)
Consumer Affairs, Product Safety and Insurance (!!!)
Diaster Prevention and Prediction
Fisheries and Coast Guard
Global Climate Change and Impacts
National Ocean Policy
Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine
Trade, Tourism and Economic Development
------------------
Committee on Environment and Public Works
(Subcommittees)
Clean Air, Fresh Water, Climate Change and Nuclear Study
Fisheries, Wildlife and Water
------------------
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

His stature isn't as great because he really doesn't sit on anything that's likely to impact funding very much. He still has a vote.
================================
Congressman Jefferson is a chump who would have strong seniority in the House had he not been under investigation. We'll hopefully have Karen Carter in Congress after the runoff, but she'll be a first termer wtihout much influence or stature.
---------------------------------
Congressman Melancon brings in some nickel and dime money for his constituency. You can view below that in the last 30 days, he's gotten a bunch of money (even if some of it is only to replace a police car in a constituency city. He sits on Agriculture (46 committee members, he's the 13th on the Democrat side) and a bunch of other ones. But I don't feel like doing any more research.

<!-- CLOSE IMAGE 2808 --><!-- ElementTimer 0.031 seconds --><!-- OPEN TABLE 3419 --><TABLE borderColor=#cccccc height=100 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=404 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 15px; PADDING-LEFT: 15px; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://melancon.house.gov/SupportingFiles/Images/newsbkgd.gif); PADDING-BOTTOM: 15px; PADDING-TOP: 15px; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat-y" vAlign=top align=left width="100%" bgColor=#174163 height=100><!-- OPEN HEADLINES 3409 --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=fnt3406>November 8, 2006</TD><TR vAlign=top><TD class=fnt3406>Melancon Announces $6.3 Million In Housing Aid Grants For Jefferson Parish</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=fnt3406>November 2, 2006</TD><TR vAlign=top><TD class=fnt3406>Melancon Announces $5.2 Million In Disaster Recovery Grants For St. Bernard Parish</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=fnt3406>October 31, 2006</TD><TR vAlign=top><TD class=fnt3406>Melancon Announces Authorization for Hurricane Protection Study for South Central Louisiana</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=fnt3406>October 30, 2006</TD><TR vAlign=top><TD class=fnt3406>Melancon Presents Federal Grant to Henderson for a New Police Car</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=fnt3406>October 26, 2006</TD><TR vAlign=top><TD class=fnt3406>Melancon Presents $2.6 Million in Rural Development Funds in St. Mary Parish </TD></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=fnt3406>October 26, 2006</TD><TR vAlign=top><TD class=fnt3406>Melancon Announces $23 Million in Disaster Recovery Grants For Jefferson Parish</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=fnt3406>October 25, 2006</TD><TR vAlign=top><TD class=fnt3406>Melancon Announces $17 Million in Disaster Recovery Grants For Plaquemines Parish</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=fnt3406>October 19, 2006</TD><TR vAlign=top><TD class=fnt3406>Melancon Announces $42 Million in Disaster Recovery Grants For St. Bernard Parish</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=fnt3406>October 19, 2006</TD><TR vAlign=top><TD class=fnt3406>Melancon and House Katrina Task Force Release Policy Recommendations for Reforming Disaster Recovery</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR><TR vAlign=top></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=fnt3406>October 19, 2006</TD><TR vAlign=top><TD class=fnt3406>Melancon Presents Federal Grant to Napoleonville for a New Police Car</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

TPSenatorpig

 

[DCSaints_Fan]

There is a general dislike for the Southern states among the majority of the Democratic party. In addition to being almost a lock for Republican presidental canidates since the 1960s, the Republican itself party has been dominated by Southern Republicans since the 1994 Gingrich led takeover. Also the Democrats from the South in the past tended to be more conservative and break ranks more frequently than those from other states. If Democrats do want to own up to their ideals though, they better put a good effort towards rebuilding the Gulf Coast.

 

[gavinj]

There is a general dislike for the Southern states among the majority of the Democratic party. In addition to being almost a lock for Republican presidental canidates since the 1960s, the Republican itself party has been dominated by Southern Republicans since the 1994 Gingrich led takeover. Also the Democrats from the South in the past tended to be more conservative and break ranks more frequently than those from other states. If Democrats do want to own up to their ideals though, they better put a good effort towards rebuilding the Gulf Coast.

It's frustration more than dislike. However, the Republicans, in general, take the South for granted. The GOP doesn't feel the need to do anything in the South in order to win votes. This is a great opportunity for the Democrats to show something... 'their ideals' in action as you put it. Of course, if they don't, they could lose the South forever.

 

[Broad St. Saint]

Not a smart thing for Rangel to say, but let's face it, before Giuliani and 9/11 Southern politicians used to say negative things about NYC constantly.

The funny thing is, though, Mississippi is so gung-ho GOP that it hardly matters. Democrats are angling at making formerly GOP places competitive -- like Indiana Ohio, Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and maybe Louisiana -- as well as firming up their increasing edge in the Northeast and Midwest.

With the new Democrat-controlled Congress, and with people like McCain, Giuliani and Romney as GOP frontrunners for 08, states like Alabama and Mississippi that are nowhere near swing states can probably expect their clout to decrease dramatically. (How 'bout that Haley Barbour/Trent Lott/Thad Cochran clout now!)

But potential swing states like PA, OH, CO can expect more federal construction pork of the kind we've come to expect. LA can position itself for this in a way that MS cannot -- and some of that money could actually be used for levees or evacuation routes.

 

[Jay Foster]

That was a ridiculous comment by Rangel.

As far as rebuilding, I truly wonder if we will see much of a difference. All I ask is that whatever the government gives to the State of Israel, I ask that we get matching funds for the Gulf South.