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Tonight, the man who may well be the Republican Party's brightest hope could take the reins of America's most ungovernable state. If you haven't heard of Bobby Jindal, almost certain to be the next Governor of Louisiana, it's partly because his sense of action and purpose about Louisiana post-Katrina is so strong that it's scared off any credible challengers, making this a boring race. The question is whether Jindal can do the next-to-impossible, clearing 50% plus one and winning Louisiana's "jungle primary" outright. No gubernatorial candidate in an open seat race has ever done that before in Louisiana history. Normally,...

Having gotten little out of attacking Bobby Jindal for being a Christian, the Democrats in Louisiana and Walter Boasso in particular, have found a new avenue -- attacking Jindal for cleaning up Louisiana's objectively corrupt hospital system. Along the way, some things happened that should not have happened. as Vladimir notes, Boasso is highlighting one of those tragic cases now. Keep in mind that Jindal was sued in his official capacity, not personally. Jindal, having learned his lessons from going against Kathleen Blanco, has been quick to fire back. Keep in mind that Jindal was sued in his official capacity,...

ST. FRANCISVILLE, La., Aug. 28 — Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco was summoned to a courtroom on Tuesday to testify in a homicide case over Hurricane Katrina’s single biggest loss of life, and she refused to take blame for the deaths of 35 patients who drowned at a nursing home.

Having missed a deadline to challenge a subpoena requiring Gov. Kathleen Blanco to testify in the St. Rita's nursing home trial, the state attorney general's office asked for an emergency extension and, barring that, requested that Blanco give a closed-door deposition rather than be cross-examined on her response to Hurricane Katrina in open court. Defense attorneys subpoenaed Blanco on July 10 in connection with the upcoming negligent homicide trial for Sal and Mabel Mangano, who owned the St. Bernard Parish nursing home where 35 residents drowned during Katrina. snip Judge Jerome Winsberg is expected to issue a ruling on the...

Excerpt - Ex-FEMA chief profiteering on Katrina? Witt’s firm charges Louisiana double its costs for subcontracted services In the traumatic days after Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco turned to one of the most respected names in emergency management: James Lee Witt, the so-called Master of Disaster. But an eight-month investigation by NBC News into the performance and billing practices of Witt’s firm, James Lee Witt Associates, raises questions about profiteering, cronyism and possible falsification of records by one of Witt Associates’ subcontractors. ~ snip ~ Witt Associates reaps its biggest windfall, however, from billing the state double what...

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — Louisiana became the first American state to outlaw a late-term abortion procedure on Friday, when the governor approved legislation allowing doctors to be prosecuted for performing the surgery. The new law allows so-called "partial birth" abortions in only one situation: when failure to perform it would endanger the mother's life. The procedure would be a crime in all other cases, even if the pregnancy is expected to cause health problems for the mother. Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco signed into law criminal penalties for doctors who perform the surgery: fines of between $1,000 and $10,000, and jail...

State becomes first to ban controversial procedureBATON ROUGE, Louisiana - Louisiana became the first American state Friday to outlaw a controversial abortion procedure that involves partially removing the fetus intact from a woman's uterus, then crushing or cutting its skull to complete the abortion. The new law allows the procedure in only one situation at any time during pregnancy: when failure to perform it would endanger the mother's life. The procedure would be a crime in all other cases, even if the pregnancy is expected to cause health problems for the mother. Anti-abortion activists call the procedure "partial-birth abortion;" surgeons...

Baton Rouge, LA (LifeNews.com) -- The Louisiana state House put the final touches on a bill that would ban partial-birth abortions and sent it to Governor Kathleen Blanco after approving it unanimously. If Blanco signs the bill, it would prohibit more than 300 such abortions that are done in the state on an annual basis. Lawmakers there hope to put a new ban on the books after an April Supreme Court decision saying such bans are constitutional and that a federal ban on the gruesome abortion procedure is valid. The ban prohibits all such abortions unless necessary to save the...

Blanco: up to $700 M found in state money for Road HomeAssociated Press - June 2, 2007 8:54 PM ET BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Governor Blanco says her administration has found up to $700 million in state money to put into the state's hurricane rebuilding program for homeowners. The program faces a possible deficit of as much as five billion dollars. This evening's (Saturday's) announcement is the first time the governor has backed off from a stand that the federal government should cover the entire Road Home program, which provides rebuilding grants to people whose homes were damaged or...

Leadership: Democrats are starting to blame the federal government every time their governors get caught unprepared for natural disasters. Nowhere is that more blatant than in the Greensburg tornado aftermath. Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco blamed the feds after the 2005 hurricane that devastated New Orleans. Now Kansas' Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is doing the same. It's become a pattern: Democrats blaming President Bush for their own lack of disaster preparedness.

However, since it was revealed last week that the program is probably a few billion shy of the funding it needs to meet the obligations of homeowners, it has been open season. “Their incompetence is breathtaking,” said State Treasurer John Kennedy(D) on the Eyewitness Morning News last week. “Remember Otis of Mayberry, the town drunk, I think Otis is secretly running the Road Home program.”

In New Orleans, they aren?t shedding a tear over Louisiana Gov. Blanco?s decision not to seek a second term. A letter from the Garden District. WEB-EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY New Orleans, 18 months after Katrina, is still a city of considerable ups and downs. Tuesday was no different; as usual, the bad news came first. The first e-mail I received informed me that a block and a half from our new house, at 1:30 in the afternoon, two hold-ups occurred in less than 10 minutes?and I live in Garden District, still perceived as a ?nice? neighborhood, despite the alarming frequency of similar...

Decision comes amid low polls, party pressure Governor makes announcement at evening broadcast

BATON ROUGE, La. - Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, whose popularity plummeted after two hurricanes devastated Louisiana during her term, announced Tuesday that she will not seek re-election. ADVERTISEMENT The decision will let her get what she called important initiatives through an upcoming legislative session without having to worry about political considerations, she said. "I am doing this so we can work without interference from election year politics," Blanco said. She had already broken the news in phone calls to legislative leaders, a meeting with her Cabinet secretaries and in a letter to her staff.

Blanco out!!!!!!!! Breaking....will not run for reelection

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco will formally announce this evening that she will NOT seek re-election, numerous political sources tell WAFB 9NEWS. Blanco was elected Governor of Louisiana in November 2003, becoming the first woman to ever hold the office. As recently as last week, Blanco said she would be a candidate. "My plan is to continue running," Blanco told reporters last Wednesday

Rules-link only http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070310/ELECTION/703100369/1002/NEWS

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Monday that she wants to temporarily reopen the New Orleans public housing projects that have been closed since Hurricane Katrina, despite federal plans to demolish them and make way for new housing developments. Blanco said the projects that can be repaired should be reopened to families who were driven out by Katrina floodwaters _ at least until the federal government gets closer to its goal of replacing them with new structures. Blanco said she got encouragement for the idea last week, when she met on Capitol Hill with the chairman of the...

...There were 161 homicides in this city last year, and there have been 18 so far this year, making New Orleans by most measures the nation’s per capita murder capital, given its sharply reduced population. Many of the victims and the suspects are teenagers. About two-thirds of the deaths have gone unsolved: the killers, in many cases, continue to walk the streets and are likely to kill again, the police say. Other cities have plenty of murders. But only in New Orleans has there been the uniquely poisoned set of circumstances that has led to this city’s position at the...