Sunday, June 29, 2008

A Sleeping Giant Awakens

If you have the time and means of transportation, get yourself to Baton Rouge next Monday, July 7th.
Stephen Sabludowsky over at Bayou Buzz is leading an anti-pay raise march on the Louisiana Capitol in Baton Rouge on Monday July 7, 2008, the day before the deadline for PBJ to veto the pay raise.

From Bayou Buzz:

"will initiate a peaceful rally on the Capitol steps prior to the day the bill becomes law. It is the democratic way to let the people know that we mean business and we want this legislation vetoed. The Governor needs to see live bodies demanding change, not simply emails and phone calls. We will need the help of organizations, of individuals and yes, you--who feel left out in the cold by our Governor and by the legislature. It is time for Louisiana to take our state back from the power brokers seeking power for their own person gain while the people go broke. If you want to help in a large or small way, contact me and let us begin to become Citizen Can."


Website Central La. Politics will soon provide a link to the rally in the near future.

Hopefully, the days of letting the good ole boy network do what they want and get away with it seem to be finally over.

Jeff Croere puts it better than I could:
I doubt that our legislators realized that their push for a 124% increase in salary would lead to an awakening of the sleeping giant, the voters of Louisiana.

Never before had Louisiana voters, long accustomed to political shenanigans reacted with such fury to an action of the Legislature.

This issue struck a responsive chord for a number of reasons. The pay raise was too large and it came at a time that the “regular” people were suffering. Citizens cannot vote themselves a pay raise and neither should politicians.



A recall petition is available here.
This site provides the petition (in pdf format) and recall rules as well as quotes of Jindal regarding his stance on the pay raise
A recall petition would require verifiable signatures from well over 900,000 registered Louisiana voters. This can be done, folks.


Thanks to Swampwoman for this info

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I truly think that the voters are empowered because of Katrina. Since all forms of support and all governmental entities abandoned south Louisiana post-storm, and Louisiana citizens had to fend for themselves without any help, they figure why not go after the knuckleheads that hung us out to dry.

Apathy may still be a component of south Louisiana culture, but apathy definitely does NOT exist when it comes to Louisiana politics anymore...

FluorideNews said...

I hope people are equally passionate about Jindal vetoing SB312, the fluoridation mandate bill that will require fluoride chemicals be added to drinking water as a drug to reduce tooth decay, without citizen input.

Many professionals world-wide are calling on Louisiana Governor Jindal to veto a bill which would force fluoridation on almost the whole state. SB 312 was quietly pushed through the legislature by PR firms without most Louisianans knowing it was happening.

Fluoride is added to water ostensibly to reduce tooth decay but according to many professionals contacting Jindal, recent evidence indicates that fluoride poses many health dangers (NRC, 2006).


On June 19, 2006 the American Dental Association was forced to admit that fluoride can be harmful to all kidney patients, not just those on kidney dialysis.

Among professionals writing to Jindal are Dr. Kathleen Thiessen, and Dr. Robert Issacson, panel members of “Fluoride in Drinking Water” a landmark review by the National Research Council (NRC, 2006); Dr. Doug Everingham a former Australian Health Minister and Dr. Vyvyan Howard, president of the International Society of Doctors for the Environment. They are among 1700 professionals calling for an end to water fluoridation worldwide. See http://www.FluorideAlert.org

With American Dental Association funding, the Louisiana Dental Association (LDA), hired public relations and lobbying firms to promote the fluoridation bill. The LDA boasts that they have huge access to legislators. On their website they state that their activities include “the use of staff and contract lobbyists, governmental publications, legislative reporting service, dinners for legislators, Dentists’ Day at the Legislature, and VoterVOICE!”

“In the interest of fairness, Governor Jindal should Veto the fluoridation bill, so that citizens can find out what fluoridation entails and allow legislators to hear the latest evidence of fluoride’s dangers. Governor Jindal has been tapped as a future leader and more than anything else people expect leaders to act fairly," says Paul Connett, Phd, Executive Director, Fluoride Action Network.

The Fluoride Action Network asks all concerned citizens to contact Gov. Jindal to veto SB 312 by sending an online message at http://la2.fluoridealert.org or phoning 225-342-7015 or 866-366-1121.


SOURCE: Fluoride Action Network http://www.FluorideAction.Net

Monday Morning Smile