LA: Bailout Vote

Rep. Jim McCrery, R-Shreveport, said Monday’s vote on a $700 billion rescue of the nation’s financial markets was among the toughest he’s faced in his 20-year career, ranking with war resolutions.

In the end, McCrery voted yes, expressing fear that the bill’s defeat could lead to terrible economic consequences for many Americans.

McCrery’s assessment, at least for the moment, proved correct as the stock market began plummeting even before the legislation was defeated, 228-205, and the day ended with the Dow Jones Industrials down nearly 778 points.

Only two of Louisiana’s seven members, McCrery and Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, voted for the legislation, which is unpopular with many voters. McCrery is retiring from Congress at the end of the current session, and Melancon will win re-election without opposition.

McCrery said he respects those who were troubled by the cost of the proposed bailout and wanted other remedies. But McCrery said he was too worried about the consequences of defeating the measure.

MS: Bailout Vote

“If there was a button that said ‘Hell, no,’ I’d push it,” said U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Bay St. Louis, just before joining a majority of House Republicans and a large number of Democrats in defeating the $700 billion bailout bill by 228-205.

“I hate to use a cliché, but this falls into the category of throwing money at a problem and hope it works,” Taylor said in an interview.

The state’s three Democrats voted against the bill: Bennie Thompson, Travis Childers and Taylor. The lone Republican, Chip Pickering, voted for it.

Liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans formed the core opposition to the bill, with Democrats largely worried that the bill gave too much power to the treasury secretary and did not take care of homeowners while the GOP railed against the unprecedented government involvement in markets and the increase in the federal deficit.

LA: Green Jobs

A crowd of about 100 environmental activists, volunteers and business owners gathered Saturday in Lafayette Square for a rally designed to draw attention to the nascent green-building and alternative-energy industries in the New Orleans area.

The event, titled “Green Jobs Now” and sponsored by the national nonprofit group Green For All, allowed representatives from the nonprofit, governmental and private sectors to compare notes on the state of New Orleans’ green economy.

Jobs that involve lessening the impact of people and structures on the environment include solar panel installers and manufacturers, energy-efficiency building consultants and home-deconstruction contractors.

Helping to expand the local green work force is the goal of the Louisiana Green Corps, which trains young unskilled workers in energy-efficient building practices.

Supported by a U.S. Department of Labor grant, the program will train more than 800 people during four-month courses, administered locally by a number of environmental and community groups, said Reed Dickson with the Conservation Corps of Greater New Orleans.

AL: Going Green

Lulu’s at Homeport Marina hoisted a 12-foot windmill fixed atop a 45-foot pole Tuesday. The turbine swiveled, found the easterly breeze, and its trio of blades, shaped a bit like flooring knives, began to spin in a 13-mph wind.

That the windmill, wired to a nearby tiki bar, was generating electricity was a given. What’s unknown is if it will lower the restaurant’s monthly power bill, or if, due to special charges for part-time users of the local power grid, Lulu’s actually will see a net increase in its costs.

As more businesses seek to “go green” both for public relations and cost savings, the project serves as a test case to see if wind power will fly in south Baldwin County.

All the homes built in the town of SaltAire on Alabama 193 on the western shore of Mobile Bay will be designed to reduce water and energy use by at least 20 percent.

The developers and builders are participating in General Electric’s Ecoimagination program and will be one of 11 communities in the country to build under the GE guidelines, according to Nick Noel, a spokesman for GE who is based in St. Louis, Mo.

“We wanted to be on the leading edge,” said George Jones, president of SaltAire Development Group. “We went after something that was quantifiable and achievable.”

Ecoimagination homes feature a dashboard installed on the wall that allows homeowners to monitor their energy and indoor water use on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. The cost of installing the dashboard and the wiring averages about $1,700, according to Jim Wilkie, general manager of SaltAire.

Other features in the SaltAire houses will include GE Energy Star appliance and an indoor and outdoor lighting package that uses up to 75 percent less electricity.

Masco Contractor Services has partnered with GE to review the home plans and incorporate its Environments for Living certified green standards in each house. The standards dictate tight construction, fresh-air ventilation, improved insulation and efficient heating and cooling equipment.

FL: Vote On Union Ties

A secret ballot vote will be taken Tuesday and Wednesday by 303 county employees represented by the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1395 to determine whether the union will continue to represent them.

Florida’s Public Employees Relations Commission — the state agency that resolves disputes about the makeup of labor unions — has issued a ruling saying an election should be held based on a petition requesting one. PERC will conduct the election.

In July, Tom Moore, a building technician for Facilities Management, filed a petition of more than the minimum 30 percent of the county employees represented by the union. This group of county employees is one of six labor contracts represented by the Local 1395.

The union contract with Escambia workers includes 303 public employees among nine county departments. It was formed in 2001. Only about 70 of the 303 are members who pay $33 a month in dues. The remainder are covered as a collective bargaining unit and receive union-negotiated benefits.

MS: One Bad Apple

From the South MS Sun-Herald:

Can one bad apple spoil an entire barrel?

The question is being pondered these days by housing activists and volunteer organizations here after allegations of fraud were filed against a group whose principals collected millions to help rebuild hurricane-stricken homes, then allegedly went on extended personal spending sprees and left recovery jobs undone.

Long-range ramifications from the sad story of Camp Coastal Outpost remain unclear at this point, but some in the non-profit sector don’t expect good things.

And that’s a distinct possibility. Camp Coastal Outpost’s principals, Mike Sweeney and Sandy Molenhouse, enjoyed a lot of flattery before their operation was slapped with allegations of fraud and a cease-and-desist order from the Mississippi Secretary of State on Aug. 29. Their finer moments included a 2007 appearance on network television news and a laudatory proclamation from the state Legislature.

Camp Coastal Outpost received $5.6 million in donations, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. She said with all those millions, Camp Coastal Outpost built only about 112 homes.

Of that number, some were considered substandard, she said, adding, “We think there are 20 or 25 that have some major work left to be done.”

The debacle occurred at a crucial time for nonprofits. Three years have passed since Katrina, attention has shifted to other disasters and purse strings are tightening for Coast volunteer-recovery efforts.

LA: Sterilization Blowback

Archbishop Alfred Hughes on Thursday denounced a Metairie lawmaker’s proposal to pay poor people to undergo sterilization as “an egregious affront to those targeted and blatantly anti-life.”

“Our lawmakers would do better to focus on policies that promote education and achievement to counteract poverty and the bigotry of low expectations, ” Hughes said in a statement.

Hughes spoke out in response to a proposal by state Rep. John Labruzzo, R-Metairie, to combat poverty by offering poor women and men $1,000 to undergo reproductive sterilization and vasectomies. In addition, the lawmaker said he is considering whether to propose tax incentives for college-educated people to have more children.

Hughes appears to be the first major local clergyman to take a public stand on the issue, which Labruzzo broached Tuesday. Archdiocesan spokeswoman Sarah Comiskey said the Catholic Church would oppose Labruzzo’s plan in Baton Rouge if he turns it into legislation.

MS: The Debate Goes On

The mood at the University of Mississippi on Wednesday turned from excitement over the presidential debate to great uncertainty after Republican nominee John McCain announced he wanted to postpone the event in light of the current U.S. financial crisis.

By the end of Wednesday it wasn’t clear what, if anything, would happen here Friday night, in spite of millions of dollars spent and months of feverish planning by university and city officials. The debate would be the first of the 2008 presidential campaign. University officials said late Wednesday afternoon they were proceeding as if the debate will take place and have not heard otherwise from the Commission on Presidential Debates, which is overseeing the event.

After McCain’s feelings were made clear that he and his opponent and fellow senator, Democrat Barack Obama, should be focused on the current U.S. financial crisis, students and journalists huddled around televisions. They anxiously awaited the press conference in which Obama said he believed the two candidates should continue with the debate

LA: Eugenics By Any Other Name

State Rep. John LaBruzzo says the government should consider cash incentives for poor people to undergo reproductive sterilization, because society is careening toward a day when persons on public assistance outnumber taxpayers and the economy collapses. A look at Louisiana welfare numbers suggests his fear is unfounded.

LaBruzzo said he continues compiling such data and that his idea of providing Fallopian tubal ligations and a $1,000 bonus to impoverished women was a brainstorming tactic prematurely made public Monday on a radio talk show, followed by Internet and printed reports.

LaBruzzo acknowledged he has touched off a firestorm with the initial idea of fighting poverty by offering money to low-income women to get their tubes tied. He also suggested paying poor men to get vasectomies and creating tax incentives for college-educated, affluent couples to have more children.

“How can we get more people who rely on government to have fewer children who rely on government?” he asked Tuesday. “If there’s fewer of them, we can do more for them.”

Many observers called his ideas offensive.

“It violates the premise of bodily integrity and personal reproductive freedom,” said Rachel E. Luft, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of New Orleans. “It’s based on an economic fallacy that it’s low-income people who are slurping up the resources of this country.”

Luft likened LaBruzzo’s plan to the eugenics movement that sought to engineer low-income and ethnic groups out of the population a century ago, based on the belief that some people are less valuable than others. Adolf Hitler later adopted some of the movement’s principles in Nazi Germany, Luft said.

Some critics called LaBruzzo’s idea a mean-spirited, misguided effort to eliminate poor people, instead of helping them with education, health care and economic development. Julie Mickelberry, public affairs director for Planned Parenthood of Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta, said LaBruzzo’s plan ignores genuine solutions.

FL: Paul Endorses Pastor

Pensacola’s Chuck Baldwin, Constitution Party presidential nominee, has picked up his biggest endorsement yet.

Former Republican candidate U.S. Rep. Ron Paul announced his support of the pastor’s candidacy on Tuesday.

Paul had campaigned for the Republican nomination and created a small political sensation with his vocal, grassroots supporters and hefty online fundraising abilities.

“I’m pretty much overwhelmed,” Baldwin said of the endorsement. “He and I have been friends for some time, and he knows I share his fundamental principles.”

Baldwin, 56, is pastor of Crossroad Baptist Church on Mobile Highway. He was chosen as the Constitution Party nominee in April, beating out former Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes.

A former Republican, Baldwin was the Constitution Party vice presidential nominee in 2004.

Baldwin and Constitution Party presidential candidate Michael Peroutka received 143,630 votes in 2004, less than 1 percent of all votes cast.

Baldwin said he would appoint Paul as secretary of the Treasury if elected. Addressing the current government bailout of failing financial institutions, Baldwin said a bailout would not heal the country’s economic woes.

“It’s a temporary Band-Aid on the problem,” Baldwin said. “What do we do six months from now when the Band-Aid peels off?”

Baldwin said he would eliminate the Federal Reserve and the Internal Revenue Service if elected, as well as work to repeal the 16th Amendment, which gives Congress the power to collect income taxes.

He also is campaigning to end illegal immigration to the United States and secure the country’s borders, and to remove the country from military entanglements in Iraq and Afghanistan.