.@LaDemos chair Katie Bernhardt, facing criticism for promoting herself as a potential candidate for governor, sent this out to party members, saying they're setting up a call to "hear concerns and answer questions" #lagov pic.twitter.com/fsOIE1Ry7u
— Sam Karlin (@samkarlin) January 25, 2023
JINDAL: Preserving Access to Rural Cardiac Care
Americans living in small rural communities take great pride in their hometowns. When it comes to their health care, America's 46 million rural residents want access to basic care within their own communities. Inflation, poor fiscal performance, and a lack of political leadership threaten that access. More than 500 U.S. hospitals are now at risk for closure, impeding access to care in many of these towns. The Biden administration's latest effort to save these hospitals forgoes a comprehensive strategy for a superficial solution that will result in less local care and worse outcomes for many communities.
On January 1, a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rule went into effect that allows a critical access hospital to convert to a "rural emergency hospital"—a new designation, defined as a facility which provides emergency and outpatient care, but must forgo inpatient care services and transfer patients within 24 hours to another hospital. This "catch-22" situation risks timely emergency services for rural patients and absolves state and local officials from fighting to preserve access to life-saving medical care.
Saving critical access hospitals that rural Americans depend on for time-sensitive cardiac or stroke care is key to keeping local economies strong and reducing the burden on overflowing metropolitan hospitals. Washington bureaucrats have yet to propose a comprehensive strategy to work with state and local leaders to engage with physicians to solve this problem.
Read more: Preserving Access to Rural Cardiac Care | Opinion
Walter Campbell Announces his Candidacy for Lafayette Parish Assessor
For Immediate Release
January 25, 2023- Lafayette, LA
Long time Lafayette Parish realtor, Walter Campbell announces his candidacy for Lafayette Parish Assessor.
Walter Campbell, a resident of Lafayette, is a husband of 30 years, father of two, business owner, and community leader. As a REALTOR for nearly 25 years, he has developed extraordinary skills in leadership, sales, marketing, technology, communication, and a desire to help others achieve their aspirations.
He has been active in leadership on the local and State REALTOR® Boards and participates regularly in various non-profit organizations including Lafayette Habitat for Humanity, Kiwanis of Acadiana, Boy Scouts of America, and most recently asked to serve with the Salvation Army Board of Directors.
Walter is a graduate of USL (1992) and is also a military veteran (1986- 1992), a life long Republican, and prides himself as a supporter of UL Lafayette, LSU, and the New Orleans Saints. In his spare time, Walter enjoys family time with his two grandchildren, fishing, and staying healthy.
Water Campbell is running for Assessor of Lafayette Parish to bring transparency and fairness. Additionally, Campbell will add cutting edge technology for easier public access to filings and records within the Assessor's office.
Campbell states, “People work hard, pay taxes, and expect government services and departments to get it right the first time. However, that does not always happen. I plan on bringing my decades of leadership experience to make sure the Assessor’s office is streamlined and is equipped to provide accurate and fair assessments to the citizens of Lafayette Parish.”
Hollis urges leaders not to allow optometrists at VA to perform surgeries
Eight years ago, I fought against House Bill 1065 in the Louisiana State Legislature - a bill that sought to authorize optometrists to perform eye surgery even though they are neither medical doctors nor trained surgeons. I argued that just as chiropractors do not perform surgery on bones and joints, optometrists should not be allowed to perform eye surgery.
I am disappointed to now learn the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recently made changes signaling the consideration of new national standards that could allow optometrists in the VA network to perform surgeries on our nation's veterans.
This should not even be a conversation.
Optometrists are not qualified to perform surgeries. The only medical doctors licensed and trained to perform eye surgeries are ophthalmologists.Ophthalmologists go through years of extensive training with clinical and surgical residencies. Surgical courses available to optometrists are optional and involve no actual procedures on live patients. Simply put, optometrists are neither qualified nor equipped to handle the intricacies of eye surgery.
Today, the Veteran Administration's policies allow only ophthalmologists to perform eye surgeries on veterans. This could change with the release of new national standards. This is completely unacceptable and puts our veterans at risk of receiving low-quality care and incurring the risk of severe complications.
Our veterans have earned the right to the highest quality of care from the VA and its providers. There are no substitutions for trained and qualified professionals, and our nation's warriors deserve the best.
I appreciate Senator Bill Cassidy's leadership on this issue and urge him, as a medical doctor and a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee, to call upon the VA to maintain its long-standing policy of allowing only ophthalmologists to perform eye surgery on veterans. We must continue to give our heroes the quality of care they deserve.
Rep. Paul Hollis
District 104
St. Tammany Parish
LOUISIANA FAMILY FORUM: Pro-Life Warrior Announces for AG
Solicitor General Liz Murrill officially announced her candidacy for Attorney General this week. Her campaign team released this video:
When asked if she would take leave from the state Justice Department to run, Murrill indicated it was unlikely, stating, "I’m going to stay as long as it’s manageable because we have a lot of important work I’m quarterbacking." Also expected to qualify are District Attorney John Belton of Ruston and HGA Chair John Stefanski.
LANDRY: Our lawsuit uncovers more shocking evidence Team Biden used Big Tech to censor
The First Amendment is the bedrock of American liberty. Our citizens have the right, if not civic duty, to engage in open, dynamic discourse, and no government has the right to limit, suppress, censor or otherwise control it.
Yet as we dig deeper into discovery in our Big Tech censorship case — Missouri and Louisiana v. Biden — we uncover ever-more truly appalling abuses of power that President Joe Biden’s director of digital strategy, Rob Flaherty, admitted come from “the highest (and I mean highest) levels of the” White House.
Such evidence proves the Biden administration is leveraging its power to coerce social-media companies to suppress the speech of thousands, if not millions, of Americans who disagree with its political narratives.
Naturally, the First Amendment prohibits censorship. Yet the Biden team has worked to circumvent this fundamental constitutional protection by inducing, threatening and colluding with private companies to suppress speech. It’s illegal; but when Big Government enters into such a conspiracy with Big Business to violate your rights, it’s also known by another name: fascism.
Read more: Our lawsuit uncovers more shocking evidence Team Biden used Big Tech to censor
Why does Greta Thunberg never protest against Saudi Arabian or Russian oil production?
Sen. Kennedy sends message to SCOTUS leaker: 'Congratulations, butthead,' you almost got a justice killed
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: Here's my message to the leaker. Congratulations, butthead. You almost got a member of the United States Supreme Court killed and his family. What a narcissist. You obviously think your personal politics are more important than that, the sanctity of the United States Supreme Court. I don't mean any disrespect to the chief justice. I was disappointed in his report. I think this is the chief justice's way of saying we're not going to find out who the leaker is. And if we do now, we're not going to tell you. We will move on. I think that's a mistake.
GOP: Biden Did Meet With Hunter's Business Partners
SCALISE: Time for Real Oversight and Accountability
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Benefits of Medicare Advantage
Dear Editor,
Like many Americans, I worked hard my entire life, looking forward to the day that I could sit back and enjoy my retirement. However, as the aches and pains of aging set in, I was worried this wouldn’t be a reality for me. It wasn’t just the physical health issues that concerned me, but also that the stress would affect my quality of life in other ways. Luckily, I was able to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan, and its numerous benefits have impacted my life beyond belief.
Right off the bat, I was impressed with the attention my Medicare Advantage provider showed while I was enrolling in the program. They were genuinely concerned with my wants, and they had a commitment to meeting my personal and medical needs. As I began to learn more and more about the benefits Medicare Advantages offered, I was pleased with the comprehensive, low-cost coverage. My plan includes services like as dental, vision, and hearing benefits, wellness programs, home health services, and so much more.
Because of Medicare Advantage, I can enjoy my retirement, like all people should, with my family, friends, and loved ones.
Sincerely
Lu Jones
How Credit Card Competition Act Would Affect You
Congress likely will vote on the Credit Card Competition Act in 2023, a bill that could eliminate almost all of the funding for popular credit card reward programs like cash back and travel points.
The proposed legislation would allow retailers to process credit card transactions without getting charged processing fees, putting millions of dollars into big-box retailers’ pockets.
LAGOP: Unity Is Our Only Path To Victory
The theme of today’s article is UNITY. Unity has been defined as the state of being undivided or unbroken, which is most assuredly not the face which Republicans presented to the electorate in the 2015 and 2019 gubernatorial elections. This article is submitted in the hope that conservatives may avoid the mistakes of the two previous gubernatorial elections. Since Democrat John Bel Edwards took office in 2016, every other southern state has prospered, even as Louisiana‘s industrial base has eroded and our population has declined. IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE!
You may painfully recall the absolute bitterness engendered by the three-way Republican-on-Republican war in 2015. (Yes, I mean “war,” because there is simply no other word to describe what happened.) After the primary, major Republican candidates openly or covertly endorsed John Bel, with predictable results. And if 2019 was less overtly bitter, Republican-on-Republican attacks still resulted in another defeat.
We cannot keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. That is Einstein’s definition of insanity, yet we already have three Republican candidates in the governor’s race and we could have three more in short order. Now I well realize that the LAGOP is a large and growing party, and unlike that other party, we encourage healthy dialogue and tolerate dissent. We do not demand absolute adherence to the party platform on pain of cancellation, but we do share common goals and interests. If we are to achieve these goals, we must stop making the same mistakes. That is to say, we must be unified going into this race!
Conscious of this fact, the LAGOP acted to achieve unity in early November of last year, when a clear majority of its governing body, the Republican State Central Committee (RSCC), voted to endorse Attorney General Jeff Landry. For those of you who may not know, the RSCC is a two hundred and thirty member body of Republican activists elected in a Republican only election. The members are elected from around the state. They are ordinary folks just like you and me- only about ten percent of them have also been elected to a local, state, or federal public office.
Let me be clear- LAGOP leadership did not initiate this endorsement. Contrary to what certain political persons have claimed, the endorsement of Jeff Landry by the RSCC was a grassroots effort by concerned members who wished to avoid a repeat of 2015 and 2019. Any Republican candidate for governor was welcome to seek the party’s official endorsement, but only Jeff Landry sought and received it.
So where are we at this early stage of the race? Jeff Landry has declared, as have two other candidates each polling at about one percent. But the word on the street is that Congressman Garret Graves of Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District will declare for the race this week.
I will frankly admit that I like Garret Graves- he is just plain likable and he is an effective voice for conservatives in Congress. What’s more, I think he will go far in the House. Following in the footsteps of Steve Scalise and Mike Johnson, he almost certainly has a future in senior leadership. That’s why I believe he would be making a terrible mistake by leaving Congress for the governor’s mansion. Here’s why:
(1) Garret was just re-elected to Congress! All the hard work and treasure that was expended on his re-election would be wasted, and the hopes of the folks who just re-elected him would be betrayed. When a candidate runs for an office, there is an unspoken but sacred compact between him and his supporters that he will perform the duties of that office to the best of his ability. This fact is usually so obvious that it is rarely remarked upon, but now would be a good time to remind Garret of the importance of standing by his congressional oath of office.
(2) Republicans only have a four seat margin in this Congress. There will be many important votes in the House, virtually all of which are likely to be very close. Whether Garret ultimately won or lost the governor’s race, he would be forced to miss many of these crucial votes in Congress while he was campaigning in Louisiana. We cannot afford to lose a single vote in this Congress!
(3 If Garret were to win the governor’s race, he would have to resign from Congress. Do we really want him want to risk this critical seat? What if John Bel Edwards were to run to replace him? Remember, one doesn’t have to live in a Congressional district to run for the seat, and John Bel will be looking for a new job at just that time. The Democrats would instantly commit tens of millions of dollars to John Bel’s election. A few years in the House would place him in an excellent position to run for U. S. Senator in 2026, when Bill Cassidy must run for re-election or leave the Senate.
(4) If Garret does enter the governor’s race, he will start well behind Jeff Landry in popularity. Jeff has been a successful and popular statewide elected official for seven years, while Garret is only well known in the 6th Congressional District. Garret would be forced to relentlessly attack Jeff to have any chance of beating him, but wouldn’t that be a repeat of the the same mistakes we made in 2015 and 2019? And wouldn’t that turn most Republicans against him? And wouldn’t Donald Trump, who well remembers Garret’s comments about him after the 2020 election, travel early and often to Louisiana to express his support for Jeff?
(5) The LAGOP has already united behind Jeff Landry, and donations are flooding in. Everything points to a successful fundraising campaign over the next several months, and with only minor candidates to oppose him, Jeff’s pathway to the governorship has been eased considerably. Why change all that for the sake of one congressman’s ego? No well-intended conservative elected official or voter should be willing to risk the opportunity of a lifetime to change the political landscape of Louisiana just because he or she might favor one Republican candidate over another. After all, that would be the definition of insanity!
I’ll close, or rather I’ll let two of the greatest Americans who ever lived close for me, with the most important advice they ever gave to America. We Louisianians should profit by their wisdom:
“United we stand, divided we fall.”
Abraham Lincoln
“We must all hang together, or most assuredly, we will all hang separately.”
Benjamin Franklin
LOUIS GURVICH, Chairman
Republican Party of Louisiana
KENNEDY: Questions About Biden and His Classified Documents
Jeff Landry on White House allegedly censoring 'Tucker Carlson Tonight': 'Clear violation of the First Amendment'
Congressman Mike Johnson Endorses Jeff Landry in Louisiana Governor's Race
Chairman Louis Gurvich: It's Time for Some New Year's Resolutions
Aneurin Bevan, an early to mid-20th Century British Labor politician otherwise best forgotten, once said “Politics is a blood sport.” He was right, of course, and as American politics in the 21st Century has become more partisan, so it has become bloodier and bloodier. But while we expect to engage in bitter partisan conflict against our increasingly radical opponents of the left, we can sometimes become mired in internecine fights against our fellow Republicans, and that is the subject of today’s post. And it just so happens that right now would be a good time to make some New Year’s resolutions…
If you are reading this you are probably a Republican, or at least a conservative. Perhaps you are a veteran political activist of many decades; perhaps you are a brand new, wet-behind-the ears political novice. Whatever the reason that you joined the LAGOP or began identifying yourself as a conservative, something caused you to commit to a set of ideals and goals which we all espouse. (I always assume it was just plain old common sense that caused you to join our ranks.) Yet we have seen an increasing number of Republican v. Republican races in the last few decades. That’s a great indicator of our party’s growing strength, but it can present serious problems if we let it.
You may well ask, if we are all committed to the same or nearly the same goals, why should there be any strife among us? After all, we have battles to win, battles which we must win to save our state and our country. Well, there are a couple of reasons.
Obviously, more than one Republican may seek any one office. Of course, this is a major factor in causing internal divisions. Because Republicans have the right set of beliefs and ideology, and the LAGOP is growing in strength and numbers, we frequently attract more than one quality candidate for any given office.
While an abundance of good candidates will inevitably cause some divisions within our ranks, this problem is a natural outgrowth of belonging to a successful political movement. However, the problem can be controlled; in fact it must be controlled, or we’ll continue to lose the occasional race which we should otherwise win. Let’s briefly examine some of the factors which may play a role in our choice of a candidate:
Personalities are always a factor in politics. Psychiatrists and psychologists have long noted that there are distinct personality types among us, and certain types get along better or worse with other types. Different personality types are a fact of human nature, and this can play a huge role in our choice of a candidate. This factor is more important now than ever, because almost every voter can be in direct virtual contact with the candidates through mass and social media.
Political differences, even among Republicans and our allies, are also a fact of life. There will inevitably be some political differences among us, simply because we aren’t likely to agree with all of our colleagues all of the time. And this isn’t something new- it’s a fact of life in parties which operate within a democratic system of government.
In addition to personalities and political differences, other factors often come into play when we choose a candidate. He or she might hail from our city or region, or might have an accent we identify with. (We really do have lots of accents in Louisiana.) Maybe one candidate attended the same school or university, or attends the same church, or would be more likely to give you or someone you know a job or some appointment or other.
There are all types of considerations, but remember, the fact remains that only one person can be elected to a given office. So I propose that we all adopt a short set of resolutions for the new year. Taken together, they may help us avoid some considerable disasters in the future:
(1) Resolve to never allow personal candidate preferences or anything but the most fundamental political differences to allow us to risk losing an election against a liberal and/or progressive candidate, and I mean never let this happen.
After all, this would be a betrayal of our fundamental political beliefs. I don’t care how mad we may become with each other over a particular candidate or issue. There is simply too much at stake to risk another debacle like the ones we suffered in 2015 and 2019. That’s not to say that we should give up on our principles- by all means we must hold our own in discussions and disputes with fellow Republicans, but remember that they may have a point and be respectful. (You should always be respectful anyway- civility and politeness are some of the traditional values that we are fighting to preserve.)
(2) Resolve to forgive your Republican opponents for past and present differences and grievances.
I’m not asking you to love all of your political colleagues. (That’s a commandment from a far higher authority.) But please, please be willing to work with them. Remember that we have far more in common with our fellow Republicans with whom we may occasionally disagree than we have with anyone in that other political party which has lost its collective mind. And don’t forget that you may need the help of your colleagues one day. This is the reason for one of the basic rules of politics- never hold a grudge!
(3) Resolve to spend a few moments early in this new year to recall the reasons that you joined our movement, and recommit yourself to your original goals and principles.
I think you’ll find this to be the most important resolution of all. I know I do, because it helps me to clear my mind of all the mental debris from the previous year’s fights. When I realize the importance of the battles we are fighting for the soul of a great nation, which in turn affects the lives of billions of my fellow human beings, this puts my personal feelings in perspective. I quit worrying about the slights and grievances that I’ve suffered or that I imagine that I’ve suffered. I then understand the deeper message: I could no more quit and go home to a quiet apolitical life than I could grow wings and fly off into the sunset. That’s simply not an option for me- I’m in this fight to my dying breath. How about you?
LOUIS GURVICH, Chairman
Republican Party of Louisiana
Kennedy Email Sent to Supporters Announcing His Decision on Governor's Race
Sen. John Kennedy emailed his supporters yesterday indicating his decision to remain in the US Senate and not seek election to Governor of Louisiana.
LANDRY: Louisiana Population in Decline
GROW LOUISIANA COALITION: End of the World, Center of the Universe
Partnership for Our Working Coast is an alliance of industry and environmental partners collaborating to contribute to the coastal resiliency of our community, the environment and industry. Port Fourchon’s plan to dredge Belle Pass to 50 ft. will result in millions of cubic yards of dredged material that can be used to strengthen critical coastal infrastructure. The goal of the partnership is to identify beneficial, nature-based solutions for this material to contribute to Louisiana’s coastal sustainability efforts, protect communities and support America’s Working Coast.Show less
