-
January 23, 2017
By: Stephen Waguespack
Charles M. Schulz, the creator and lead illustrator for the Peanuts cartoon for fifty years, passed away in 2000 at the age of 77. He was an American icon in his industry, serving as a respected mentor…
(Continue)
-
January 19, 2017
By: Stephen Waguespack
I was reminded this past weekend about one of the many reasons why it is great to live in Louisiana.
I joined a few friends of mine as we took our kids hunting. The kids stayed up late…
(Continue)
-
January 9, 2017
By: Stephen Waguespack
Our society changes so fast, that sometimes, we don’t even recognize the scale of the evolution while it is happening all around us.
Want to find out what is going on in the world? The days of rushing…
(Continue)
-
January 5, 2017
By: Jim Patterson
Louisiana’s erratic tax system places us at a perennial disadvantage when in competition to attract business investment and development. For decades now, the Legislature has haphazardly patched our state’s tax structure with “fixes” in efforts to balance…
(Continue)
-
December 28, 2016
By: Stephen Waguespack
Well, another year has come and gone. It hasn’t necessarily been the most enjoyable year for many, but it very well may go down as one of the most memorable.
2016 began with Louisiana welcoming a new Governor…
(Continue)
-
December 20, 2016
By: Stephen Waguespack
A successful Louisiana era ended this week when Stephen Moret packed up his beautiful family and moved to Virginia. He is soon to become the CEO of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, which is the state’s key…
(Continue)
-
December 13, 2016
By: Stephen Waguespack
The election is over, and it is time to get to work. Well, sort of.
Now that we have a new U.S. Senator, two new Congressmen and a few new local officials, some special elections will need to…
(Continue)
-
December 6, 2016
By: Stephen Waguespack
The Trump train is chugging along in DC as his transition plans begin to take shape. Cabinet hires are being made, relationships are beginning to take shape and presidential tweets fly out each morning to throw proverbial…
(Continue)
-
November 29, 2016
By: Stephen Waguespack
Let’s face it; it seems all we do is disagree these days. Whether the topic is the national elections, the role of government in society, the LSU football coach, taxation, violence in our cities or countless other policy…
(Continue)
-
November 22, 2016
By: Stephen Waguespack
The last couple of years we have heard much opposition to Louisiana officials taking public pledges to outside groups.
The most obvious example is the Taxpayer Protection Pledge pushed by the Americans for Tax Reform since 1986, which…
(Continue)
-
November 15, 2016
By: Stephen Waguespack
In 1992, Bill Clinton was elected to be the 42nd President of the United States by riding a tidal wave of economic frustration and giving middle class voters a simple message to believe in by famously stating,…
(Continue)
-
November 7, 2016
By: Stephen Waguespack
Rarely these days do we in Louisiana hear about the possibility of common ground and a win/win situation.
During the legislative sessions earlier this year, we were told that key priorities like TOPS could be funded, but only…
(Continue)
-
November 1, 2016
By: Stephen Waguespack
Halloween has come and gone…or has it?
We are still surrounded by scary characters belting out bone-rattling sounds that send chills down every spine and fear through every heart. Safety seems impossible to find and danger still lurks…
(Continue)
-
October 25, 2016
By: Stephen Waguespack
Last week, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) released its annual legislative scorecard, now available at www.labi.org. Each year, we release an analysis to illustrate exactly how lawmakers voted on the issues most critical to…
(Continue)
-
October 19, 2016
By: Stephen Waguespack
In August, Louisiana experienced a flooding event of historic proportions. Estimates are that 109,000 housing units were damaged, 20,000 businesses were interrupted, and property damages totaled $8.7 billion.
Two months after the event, Louisiana families and employers are…
(Continue)
-
October 4, 2016
By: Stephen Waguespack
When you think of the American worker, what picture immediately comes to mind? For most Americans, it is someone working hard to provide for their family at a manufacturing facility.
Don’t agree? Try searching on Google for the…
(Continue)
-
September 27, 2016
By: Stephen Waguespack
On September 21, 2016, a letter was signed and sent by Governor John Bel Edwards to multiple coastal parishes in the state of Louisiana to “encourage” them to sue oil and gas companies in their parishes, as…
(Continue)
-
September 19, 2016
By: Camille Conaway
Sitting in an empty committee hearing room in the US Senate in Washington, it struck me. We really are on our own with flood recovery. Three small business representatives traveled to DC to deliver powerful personal testimony…
(Continue)
-
September 14, 2016
By: Stephen Waguespack
This week is the fifteenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks that forever changed this country on September 11, 2001.
I was living in Washington DC at the time, working as a Congressional aide. Our offices were located right…
(Continue)
-
August 24, 2016
By: Stephen Waguespack
Why again do we live here?
Summers in Louisiana can be brutal, with oppressive heat and swarms of mosquitoes an annual tradition. Our coastline is eroding, our topography is flat and many of our communities are threatened by…
(Continue)