ArklatexPolitics.com

Posted 23 hours 37 minutes 56 seconds ago
Posted In: Home, Louisiana

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Former Gov. Kathleen Blanco has joined
the leadership ranks of the Louisiana Democratic Party.
Blanco was named to the party's executive committee by Party
Chairman Buddy Leach. As part of the executive committee, Blanco
will help make decisions on the day-to-day operations of the party
and will work on political strategy with the chairman.
Governor from 2004 to 2008, Blanco chose not to run for a second
term after receiving criticism for her handling of the state's
response to Hurricane Katrina. Before she became governor, Blanco
was lieutenant governor for two terms, a member of the Public
Service Commission and a member of the Louisiana House of
Representatives.

Posted 23 hours 39 minutes 1 second ago
Posted In: Home, Louisiana

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- An annual fight over opening the records
of the governor's office to public view resumes in the upcoming
legislative session.
Republican Rep. Wayne Waddell, of Shreveport, is again proposing
legislation that would make more of the records in the governor's
office subject to the public records law. Lawmakers will consider
the proposal, which has failed in past years, during the session
that begins March 29.
As in previous years, Gov. Bobby Jindal opposes Waddell's bill.
Jindal's executive counsel, Stephen Waguespack, says the
proposal is a distraction from more serious issues facing
lawmakers. Waguespack says changes in the public records law
approved last year and supported by Jindal opened more records to
scrutiny and went far enough.

Posted 23 hours 40 minutes 23 seconds ago
Posted In: Home, Louisiana

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Lawmakers questioned the legality of a
$15 hike in the cost of a Louisiana driver's license and criticized
the jump in price as inappropriate during the tough economic
climate.
A new or renewed basic license now costs $36.50 for four years,
up from $21.50, under the price hike enacted by the Louisiana State
Police last week. The charge to drivers is nearly the highest in
the South, second only to Florida.
At least two lawmakers have proposed bills to strip the boost in
price.
Col. Mike Edmonson, the head of the Department of Public Safety
that oversees the state motor vehicles office, says the cost
increase covers a federal mandate that requires a more extensive
state identification program to protect against identity theft and
fraud.

Posted 23 hours 41 minutes 30 seconds ago
Posted In: Home, Louisiana

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- A looming midyear deficit will worsen
budget troubles in the state health department and could disrupt
proposals for how to balance the department's budget next year.
Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine delivered the grim
news Tuesday to the House Appropriations Committee.
Economists predict an unexpected drop in state revenue that
would force cuts across nearly all state agencies in the current
fiscal year that ends June 30. Any cuts on the health department
would come on top of a $40 million state fund shortfall with which
Levine is already grappling.
Levine says he may propose to pull some funds he wanted to use
in next year's budget to help fill holes this year. That would
create deeper cuts next year.

Posted 23 hours 44 minutes 36 seconds ago
Posted In: Home, National

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The top Republican on the Senate Banking
Committee says it's unrealistic to think the committee can debate
and vote on a financial overhaul bill in one week.
Alabama Senator Richard Shelby says forcing the banking
committee to rush its work on the bill "undercuts the potential
for bipartisan agreement."
Committee Chairman Chris Dodd unveiled the bill today. Dodd
wants debate to begin next Monday with work wrapped up within the
week.
The bill would give the government new powers to break up firms
that threaten the economy, force the industry to pay for its
failures and create an independent consumer watchdog within the
Federal Reserve. It falls short of the sweeping changes President
Barack Obama wanted.

Posted 23 hours 46 minutes 36 seconds ago
Posted In: Home, National

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A make-or-break health care vote this week
that's expected to be a cliff-hanger has President Barack Obama
working overtime to turn up the heat on Democratic lawmakers.
The president is wooing freshman Democrats in the Oval Office
and aides to the lawmakers invited say there were at least two
one-on-one sessions in the past few days that never appeared on his
official schedule.
Both voted "no" when the legislation passed the House on the
first go-round last year, but now they're not ruling out siding
with the president.
With a number of anti-abortion Democrats expected to defect over
provisions they contend allow federal funding of abortion, every
vote will count for Democratic leaders. They need to win over
lawmakers who opposed the legislation the first time -- and keep
reluctant supporters on board in the face of escalating attacks.

Posted 23 hours 47 minutes 38 seconds ago
Posted In: Home, National

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The man who oversees U.S. forces in both the
Iraq and Afghan wars says the fighting in Afghanistan will "likely
get harder before it gets easier" and predicts 2010 will be a
difficult year.
On Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus said he expects the
United States can reduce its forces as planned, from about 97,000
to 50,000 by the end of August.
Petraeus, who heads the U.S. Central Command, testified before
the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday. As the architect of
the successful troop build up in Iraq in 2007, his assessment of
America's wars is closely watched in Congress. He said he expects
U.S. forces will be able to reverse the momentum gained by Taliban
militants in Afghanistan, but Petraeus also said he envisions
"tough fighting and periodic setbacks."

Posted 23 hours 50 minutes 6 seconds ago
Posted In: Home, National

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrats are defending a proposal to push
massive health care legislation through the House without requiring
members to actually vote on it.
The idea is to vote on a rule for debate and not the actual
Senate bill, which a number of House Democrats dislike. The rule
would say the Senate bill would be deemed to have passed even
without a formal vote, once a smaller package of fixes is also
passed.
The Senate Republican leader says the maneuver would allow
Democrats "to claim they didn't vote for something they did."
Mitch McConnell of Kentucky predicts "It will go down as one of
the most extraordinary legislative sleights of hand in history."
But House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says it would get
President Barack Obama's health care overhaul enacted into law, and
that's what matters. The Maryland Democrat says the public cares
about results, not the process.
Hoyer adds that no final decision on the strategy has been made.
The president is pushing Congress to pass the bill before the
Easter break.

Posted 23 hours 51 minutes 39 seconds ago
Posted In: Home, National

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is taking his health
care pitch directly to Fox News viewers.
The White House on Tuesday said Obama would speak with anchor
Bret Baier for his Wednesday program. Obama is in the middle of his
final, aggressive push for a health care overhaul he wants
completed before leaving for Australia and Indonesia on Sunday.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says Obama wants to speak to
as many people as possible about the potential benefits of his top
domestic priority.
The White House last year was publicly critical of Fox News and
its programs. Officials said the cable television network was an
arm of the Republican Party. The spat escalated and Gibbs met with
network executives in his office last fall.

Posted 1 day 20 hours 2 minutes ago
Posted In: Home, National

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama says he expects to get
the votes for his health care overhaul, telling ABC News "we're
going to make this happen."
In an interview Monday, the president said Democrats are working
to get a bill ready for a vote later this week.
He said: "I believe we are going to get the votes."
He said it was imperative to act now. He said if there's a
delay, it will be too late and changes in the health care system
won't be in place in three to five years. He said that will force
Americans to wait another decade or more for politicians to address
the problems.
He said without an overhaul, the federal government won't be
able to pay its bills on Medicare and Medicaid.