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For more than a decade, the rent-to-own industry has watched as 20 separate pieces of federal legislation it supported failed in Congress. After years of frustration, it decided to assert itself more aggressively. Already a major political donor, the $6.3 billion-a-year industry paid lobbyists to "put a human face" on its case and looked for new ways to sow good will with key Democratic lawmakers, who were wary of an industry that rents equipment such as televisions, appliances, computers, furniture and refrigerators to people -- often low-income consumers -- with the option to buy them later. For instance, the Association...

WASHINGTON -- The day after President Barack Obama urged Congress to quit bickering and enact health-care reform, Republicans on Capitol Hill said his trillion-dollar plan would be enacted on the back of Medicare recipients and sound the death knell of Medicare Advantage. "That program will be killed off," Rep. John Fleming, R-Minden, one of three doctors in the Louisiana delegation, said on the House floor Thursday. Medicare Advantage is an option utilized by one in five Medicare beneficiaries. More than 145,000 Louisianians are enrolled in the program, which provides additional benefits, from glasses and hearing aids to preventive care services,...

Here is video of Democrat Mary Landrieu telling CNN's John King yesterday that she would "tend not" to support a "Public Option" is Health Care legislation. She said the focus should be on "bending the cost curve." She also said it would be "very difficult" to support legislation that used tax-payer money to fund abortion. This would seem to show that even among the Democrats, they are cracking in their support of what Obama is trying to do. . . . . (Watch Video)

Sen. Landrieu faces hostile crowd over health care reformScott Satchfield / Eyewitness News 05:45 PM CDT on Thursday, August 27, 2009 RESERVE, La. – The fierce health care debate continued in south Louisiana, as Sen. Mary Landrieu held a town hall meeting in Reserve. A major security presence was on hand, as another capacity crowd filled with raw emotion met Landrieu to speak out on both sides of the hot button issue. With a clearly divided crowd of constituents on hand, Landrieu, a Democrat, encouraged tolerance and respect. “You may be familiar with the [health insurance] you have, but you...

Sen. Mary Landrieu has left the building after about two hours with a boisterous crowd at the Louisiana National Guard outpost Reserve. Crowd estimates at Thursday's meeting range from 500 to 650 people. There were a few more than 400 chairs set up, and it was standing-room only around the periphery. Most of the questions were overwhelmingly in opposition to the general concept of "Obamacare," a pejorative label put on House Democratic plans for a health insurance overhaul. There were scores of other, less vocal attendees who sported stickers with messages like, "Health Care Now" and "We can't wait." Some...

Speaking before what was described as a friendly crowd at the Monroe Chamber of Commerce yesterday, Sen. Mary Landrieu said she was opposed to much of the Democrats' legislative agenda. Asked under what circumstances she would support a public option, Landrieu responded, "[v]ery few, if any. I'd prefer a private market-based approach to any health care reform that would extend coverage," according to the Monroe News Star. "I'd like to cover everyone -- that would be the moral thing to do -- but it would be immoral to bankrupt the country while doing so," Landrieu said. The public option as...

Sen. Mary Landrieu plans to host a town-hall meeting on healthcare reform later this month somewhere in the river parishes. Bring a helmet. That would be the advice of Democratic congressmen around the country who have been booed, heckled, shouted down and threatened while trying to explain and/or defend their positions on health insurance legislation, particularly the 1,017-page bill that will be on the House floor when lawmakers return from August recess. Republican operatives and conservative talk show hosts have been blamed for or credited with whipping up the masses, but they didn't wholly manufacture the genuine anger, fear and...

Ending months of suspense and breaking with political custom, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, the de facto leader of the state's Democratic Party, announced Monday that she has joined her Republican colleague, U.S. Sen. David Vitter, in supporting the retention of Jim Letten as U.S. attorney for Louisiana's Eastern District.She also named Orleans Parish Civil District Court Judge Michael Bagneris as her choice to fill a federal judgeship and Genevieve "Genny" May for U.S. Marshal. With both Louisiana senators now in agreement, Letten, the GOP's choice for the job eight years ago, appears to be a lock to win Senate approval...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu said Wednesday that she will try to rescind $190,000 she recently secured in the federal budget for a nonprofit New Orleans organization incorporated by her brother. Landrieu was responding to an article published Wednesday in The New York Times, which reported that the money went to the Lake Mary Community Center. Her brother, Martin, helped incorporate the organization to convert an abandoned synagogue in 2007. The project never came to fruition because the group couldn’t secure the necessary private funding. Landrieu had contacted her brother about the center but was unaware that, as a...

Kerry To Stop Serving as Small Biz Committee Chair By Doug Caverly Gulps greet replacement Landrieu The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship is undergoing a change in leadership. Say goodbye to John Kerry, who was the chairman, and hello to Mary Landrieu, who's next in line. Kerry will now be the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, so don't worry about him. Landrieu, a Democrat from Louisiana, may instead give small business owners cause to be concerned for themselves. Robb Mandelbaum notes, "Kerry brought a profile to the committee that Landrieu will find difficult to match. According...

Several callers to the Moon Griffon program, a statewide news/talk radio show that airs Monday through Friday in Louisiana, reported that they were unable to cast a vote in the United States Senate race this morning. Incumbent Mary Landrieu (D-New Orleans) is seeking a 3rd term. She is being challenged by Republican state treasurer John Kennedy. Landrieu has been elected twice in close elections.

NEW POLL NUMBERS IN U.S. SENATE RACE SHOW "TIED BALL GAME" **EXCLUSIVE** 10/30/2008 01:04 PM THE DEAD PELICAN HAS OBTAINED THE FOLLOWING DETAILS ABOUT THE U.S. SENATE RACE! POLLSTER: ONMESSAGE, INC. METHODOLOGY: 900 STATEWIDE LIKELY VOTERS; IF THE ELECTION FOR U.S. SENATE WERE HELD TODAY AND THE CANDIDATES WERE MARY LANDRIEU, THE DEMOCRAT AND JOHN KENNEDY, THE REPUBLICAN FOR WHOM WOULD YOU VOTE? LANDRIEU 45, KENNEDY 44, UNDECIDED/OTHER 11 DEVELOPING...

On its face, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's decision to appear in an ad endorsing state Treasurer John Kennedy in his challenge to Sen. Mary Landrieu isn't that big a surprise. After all, Jindal is the Republican governor of the state and Kennedy is his party's Senate nominee. But, those familiar with Jindal's career -- marked almost entirely by a desire to avoid the appearance of partisanship -- see the endorsement as a sign of Jindal's long term ambitions, ambitions that could include a White House bid down the line. They point out that this is the first race Jindal has...

State Treasurer John Kennedy (R) Says He's Closing In On Sen Mary Landrieu (D). Quoted below is from an email his campaign sent out this afternoon: Folks, By now you've probably heard rumors about a campaign polling memo that shows this race is too close to call. We're happy to report that the rumors are true - John Kennedy has closed the gap on Mary Landrieu to just five points! You can read the full memo below. And we've got more breaking news for you - The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) confirmed today that they are staying in this...

BATON ROUGE - Republican challenger John Kennedy tried to use the first televised U.S. Senate debate Sunday night to saddle Democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu to her party leaders and all things liberal, while hitching his candidacy to the national GOP ticket and its promises of change.

Landrieu said she does not know what Pelosi is going to do, but it is a problem for her (Pelosi) Corker, Hannity, Landrieu say drill here drill now.

In the Senate, it nowadays apparently takes a self-appointed, biparitsan "gang" of senators to get past the partisan gridlock. For instance, there was the Gang of 14 group of senators who helped the Senate get beyond an impasse on judicial appointments a few years ago. Today, a new group of senators calling itself the Gang of Ten, announced that it had arrived at a compromise energy proposal meant to break the partisan logjam that exists on the issue. The group's members are: Sens. Kent Conrad (D-ND), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Mary Landrieu...

A Zogby poll shows Republican John Kennedy has taken the lead in the U.S. Senate race against Democrat Mary Landrieu. According to the Zogby International website, "Republican John Kennedy is among the GOP's best hopes to oust a Democratic incumbent. He leads Democrat Sen. Mary Landrieu, 47%-41%." The poll's margin of error is less than 5%. "I wouldn't be surprised if the lead changes a bunch of times," says University of Louisiana Political Scientist Pearson Cross. Pollster John Zogby says, "In Louisiana, Sen. Mary Landrieu faces a strong conservative challenger in John Kennedy. The state was profoundly shaken by Hurricane...

Western oil shale becomes issue in La. Senate race By MELINDA DESLATTE A supply of oil sealed in rock out West is becoming a flash-point in Louisiana's U.S. Senate race, in a bid to gain the attention of drivers feeling the pinch of gasoline prices. Republican candidate John Kennedy said unlocking the energy source from oil shale - as much as 800 billion barrels of oil locked in underground rock in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah - could shrink the nation's dependence on foreign oil and could help ease prices at the pump. Kennedy, the state treasurer, said his Democratic opponent,...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhEarYCi_50

U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu now attracts 49% of the vote in her bid for re-election while Republican challenger John Kennedy earns 44%. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey shows that, when “leaners” are included, it’s Landrieu 51% Kennedy 45%.

Washington, D.C. has changed Democrat Senator Mary Landrieu. After years in Washington, more often than not, it's smoke and mirrors from Mary. The latest example is Landrieu's contradictory responses to allegations of bribery. Until Mary Landrieu gives Louisianans an answer, the question remains -- Did Mary Landrieu push a $2 million federally-funded earmark for Washington, D.C. schools in exchange for $30,000 in campaign contributions?

Landrieu among 'Dirty Dozen'Sunday, July 06, 2008 By Bruce Alpert The League of Conservation Voters last week put Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., on its "Dirty Dozen list," saying she has done more to protect "Big Oil" than "the future for the people of Louisiana" from the threat of global warming. According to the environmental advocacy group, Landrieu has a lifetime score of 43 percent on votes in which it took a position, lowest among Senate Democrats running for re-election. "For a senator from Louisiana, which faces severe consequences from global warming, to fail to protect Louisiana is disappointing," said the...

WASHINGTON -- On a day that Sen. Barack Obama moved closer to clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, embattled Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, Tuesday became the first of Louisiana's four Democratic congressional members to back his candidacy. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., is expected to join 14 other uncommitted Democratic senators today in announcing support for Obama. -snip-

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Louisiana shows U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu with a three-percentage point advantage over Republican challenger John Kennedy 47% to 44%.

Nationally-known rare coin dealer Paul Hollis, 36, of Mandeville, Louisiana will formally announce his candidacy for the Republican Party’s nomination for the United States Senate on May 12. A number of prominent numismatists are on his campaign committee, such as John Albanese, Jeff Garrett, Paul Montgomery and Douglas Winter. Hollis began collecting coins at the age of six after receiving a Peace dollar from his grandmother. In recent years, millions of viewers watched him on air when he hosted “The Coin Vault” television program on the Shop at Home network, and he also is known by many collectors and dealers...

As of today, State Treasurer John Kennedy is the only announced Republican candidate in the U.S. Senate race this fall. The incumbent, Democrat U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, has been viewed by Republicans as vulnerable. In her Senate victories of 1996 and 2002, Landrieu won by slim margins. Since that time, the demographics of Louisiana have changed due to Hurricane Katrina, making the state more Republican friendly. Can Kennedy beat Landrieu? If the election were held today, Landrieu would win, at least according to a new poll conducted by Bernie Pinsonat of Southern Media and Opinion Research. The poll finds Landrieu...

After barely winning her initial Senate race in 1996 and surviving a serious challenge in 2002, Republican strategists targeted U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu as the most vulnerable Senate Democrat in this fall’s election. Unfortunately for Republicans defeating Landrieu will not be an easy task. Just look at what she has done in recent weeks in lining up endorsements from a most unusual group, Northshore Republicans. While Landrieu is considered a staunch Democrat, her voting record is notably moderate. Several months ago, GOP St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis surprised many political observers by endorsing Landrieu. Davis cited his close working...

U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu is speaking out about her first cousin who police say murdered his wife and killed himself. She says Stephen Landrieu killed his wife Brenda Burke out of compassion. "My cousin did shoot his wife. And although it's been described as murder, and technically is, it was a mercy killing. She had been suffering a great deal physically for years and years. They were very close. It was not a situation of violence, domestic violence in the traditional sense," Landrieu told WWL Radio.She says not only was 50-year-old Brenda Burke in a lot of pain for chronic...

Mary Landrieu’s hypocrisy and alleged corruption continues to rear its ugly head this cycle. Next on the list of questionable Landrieu campaign tactics and decisions – taking $1,500 from Jane Kuo (PDF), who is associated with Tai Shen Koi (when giving political contributions, both use the same addresss) who was arrested in conjunction with a Chinese espionage case yesterday. Admittedly, this donation occurred during Landrieu’s first run for Senate, but taken into account with the string of more recent and ongoing questionable political activities and decisions by Landrieu, it is leading some people to sense a pattern developing. Some notable...

Remember how the Democrats were going to change the "culture of corruption" in 2006? It looks like they can once again look to the beam in their own eye. Earlier this week, the Washington Post reported that Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) has a brewing scandal after taking over $30,000 in contributions from a literacy-program provider within days of inserting an earmark favorable to the company. Landrieu now has opened her files in an effort to explain away the amazing coincidence: A $2 million earmark for the D.C. schools from Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) has become an issue in her campaign...

WASHINGTON — A Washington watchdog has filed a complaint against Louisiana Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu, suggesting she may have traded her influence on a specific earmark for $30,000 in campaign contributions. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington on Tuesday demanded the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. district courts in Louisiana and Texas investigate whether Landrieu, who is in her second term, broke federal law back in 2001 by including a $2 million earmark in the District of Columbia appropriations bill for a company whose lobbyists had thrown her a fundraiser just days earlier. That event, held four days...

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), a top target for national Republicans in November, is battling with a government watchdog group that is alleging the senator may have violated federal bribery laws by earmarking funds to a campaign contributor. The left-leaning Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) asked the Senate Ethics Committee this week to investigate whether Landrieu acted illegally when she earmarked $2 million for Voyager Expanded Learning four days after receiving $30,000 in campaign contributions from executives with the educational products company. The group also is calling for probes by the Justice Department, the U.S. attorney for the...

According to Survey USA incumbent Democrat Mary Landrieu and John Kennedy are in a close battle for US Senate. Landrieu is scoring 46%, Kennedy is tallying 42%, within the survey's 3.9% margin of sampling error. Mary Landrieu has always been involved in close races as she was behind Susan Terrell with only days to spare in their last race almost six years ago. However, John Kennedy, the state Treasurer, who is now Republican, has the benefit of a newly-elected Republican Governor. Interestingly, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for Roll Call, Kennedy leads by 12 among men; Landrieu leads...

State Treasurer John Kennedy, a recent convert to the Republican Party, announced Thursday that he will challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu when she seeks a third term in 2008. Kennedy made the announcement, which has been widely expected since he bolted from the Democratic Party in August, on his Web site. He also filed an official "statement of candidacy" with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday, which allows him to begin fundraising, but he said he would wait until early next year to start campaigning.

Landrieu is in her second term in the Senate, and won reelection in 2002 with 52 percent of the vote compared to Republican Suzanne Haik Terrell’s 48 percent. Landrieu comes from a well-known political family in Louisiana — her father was the New Orleans mayor — but is considered vulnerable partly because President Bush twice carried Louisiana. In 2004, he won with 57 percent of the vote. In addition, the state’s population has changed since Hurricane Katrina, with many black voters in New Orleans, who tended to vote for Democrats, moving out of state. Landrieu is well-positioned financially for a...

Louisiana State Treasurer John Kennedy has launched a campaign Web site announcing he will challenge U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu in next year's election. In a letter to supporters and posted on the site today, Kennedy said he will file the necessary papers to run for the Senate next year. He also seeks campaign contributions. Kennedy was a longtime Democrat who recently switched to the Republican party amid widespread speculation he would challenge Landrieu, a Democrat. Landrieu plans to seek a third term. The election is November 4th.

November 29, 2007 In a little less than a year, Louisianians will go to the polls to elect our next United States Senator. In doing so, our people will decide who they want to represent our state and our values in Washington, D.C. I want you to be the first to know that today I will take the first steps and file the necessary paperwork to run for the United States Senate in 2008. I plan to officially kick off the campaign early next year. Please know that Becky and I made this decision carefully, after much thought, prayer and...

State Treasurer John Kennedy was on Capitol Hill last week, meeting with Senate Republican leaders as he contemplates challenging two-term Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., next year. "He expressed a strong interest in the race and indicated that he will make a decision soon," said Rebecca Fisher, spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. The committee is urging Kennedy to run and hosted his trip. Kennedy ran for Senate as a Democrat in 2004, finishing third with 15 percent of the vote. He switched parties in August and was re-elected treasurer without opposition in October. Kennedy tried to lure Democrats in...

More Republicans than Democrats and more white voters than black voters went to the polls on Oct. 20 for the statewide Louisiana election that made Bobby Jindal the governor-elect, according to information released by the secretary of state Wednesday.Orleans had the lowest voter turnout of any parish, at 27.5 percent, a figure based on the number of people who voted among those registered to vote.

Bobby Jindal's victory earlier this week gave Republicans something to be happy about. It might also be a harbinger of things to come in Louisiana. Perhaps the most impressive thing about Jindal's election that he won Orleans Parish. This is significant as New Orleans is where Republicans have traditionally been beaten badly (or have had elections stolen) by the Democrat machine. The most famous recent victim of this was Woody Jenkins... While it is true that Jindal is very popular and talented, there is also no doubt a post-Katrina population shift in Orleans Parish contributed to his success in this...

Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti, widely criticized for two botched prosecutions over deaths from Hurricane Katrina, was turned out of office Saturday night. Shreveport lawyer Royal Alexander and Buddy Caldwell, a district attorney in Northeast Louisiana, will meet in a runoff. The Republican Party's main statewide political target, longtime state Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom, was forced into a runoff with state Rep. Mike Strain. Incumbents Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon and Secretary of State Jay Dardenne all won re-election. Treasurer John Kennedy was unopposed. All but Landrieu are Republicans. Foti, a Democrat, has been widely criticized for...

  Home | Previous Page | Source URL: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/sep/07092403.html LifeSiteNews.com Monday September 24, 2007 Priest Blasts 'Usual Suspects' For Votes Against Pro-Life Policy FRONT ROYAL, VA, September 24, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, STL, president of Human Life International, (HLI) today blasted a gang of 16 Catholic senators for their votes on an amendment to HR 2764 to overturn the Mexico City Policy instituted by President Reagan to prevent U.S. taxpayer dollars from funding overseas abortions. "For the most part it's the usual suspects who claim to be Catholic while their consistent pro-abortion votes amount to...

Senator Mary Landrieu campaigned for re-election as a PRO LIFER. Because of this, she has recently lost pro-abortion campaign funding. Mary Landrieu made a promise to vote pro-vote and used her Catholic faith as a means of getting votes in the past election. This was a fraud on her part -- as this is a significant vote for either pro-life or pro-abortion. It is the Reagan Mexico City Policy. This week she voted strongly PRO-ABORTION to back Senator Barbara Boxer and oppose the amendment offered by Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas. This was vote number 320 this week by the...

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — After months of speculation about a party switch, state Treasurer John Kennedy announced Monday that he is running for re-election this fall as a Republican, after serving two terms as a Democrat. Kennedy's re-election campaign announced the switch in an email. In it, Kennedy said he spent more than a year grappling with the decision — though the expectation of a change was heightened this summer when Kennedy met with then-White House political strategist Karl Rove and state GOP leaders. "I have concluded that the Republican Party is the party that best reflects my values...

Baton Rouge, LA (LifeNews.com) -- Abortion advocacy groups typically aren't willing to budge when it comes to opposing even the most modest limitations on abortion. Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Democrat, found that out the hard way when she voted for a ban on partial-birth abortions. When Landrieu first ran for the U.S. Senate in 1996 in a heavily contested race, she enjoyed the support of all the leading pro-abortion groups. During that initial campaign, the pro-abortion EMILY's List, the largest political action committee in the nation and one that only supports pro-abortion women for Congressional races, was her biggest...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-06-20-katrina-crime_N.htm Rules,link only

CHICAGO -- A key congressional supporter of federal financing for Gulf Coast rebuilding efforts expressed a lack of confidence Sunday in the ability of Louisiana's leaders to direct the state's recovery and accused U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu of failing to push certain critical post-disaster housing measures. U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, a Los Angeles Democrat who convened hearings in New Orleans in February to examine the housing crisis, suggested that she will support giving the Road Home program more federal money only if officials in Washington, D.C. -- not Louisiana leaders -- take charge of spending it. State officials have estimated...

Without fanfare or national media attention, White House strategist Karl Rove went to Louisiana the weekend before last to woo State Treasurer John Kennedy (D) to the GOP and into the 2008 Senate race against Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA). Republican insiders see Landrieu as the most vulnerable Democratic senator up for reelection next year, but with none of the GOP members of the Congressional delegation stepping up to the plate, party strategists are looking elsewhere. Kennedy has good poll numbers statewide and would be a formidable challenger to the Senator. But it is far from clear that the state Treasurer...

NEW ORLEANS Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu (LAN'-droo) says she's blocked the Senate confirmation for the proposed head of the Army Corps of Engineers so there can be a debate on his role in rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina. The Corps has been hammered by critics for installing faulty drainage pumps to protect New Orleans. Landrieu wants government auditors to find out if contracts for the work were subject to improper influence. She also wants to know if New Orleans was in danger, and what the Corps was thinking when it had them installed. The Corps has said that having some pumping...