“Louisiana” on The Daily Caller

For now, the Department of the Interior can breathe easy when it comes to oil drilling in the Gulf. Secretary Ken Salazar has been under fire recently for holding up drilling permits, but late Tuesday, he won a court victory. (more)

For Wisconsin voters on both sides of the aisle, it’s senatorial hunting season, and thanks to the organizing power of social media, it may be like shooting fish in a barrel. Embroiled in the state’s budget controversy, all 16 senators vulnerable to the state’s recall laws have had petitions launched against them. (more)

Former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer will announce this week his intention to seek the Republican nomination for president in 2012. (more)

Since last November’s midterm elections, dozens of Democratic state lawmakers throughout the South have switched parties and solidified the Republican Party’s control over what was once the most reliably Democratic region of the country. (more)

Former Gov. Edwin Edwards was released Thursday from federal prison after serving eight years on a corruption conviction, and he was allowed to complete his remaining sentence in home detention, rather than in a halfway house. (more)

As I do at the end of each year (which usually elicits many e-mails, but I am going to do it again anyway), here is my look back at 2010. (more)

1.) Incoming congress knows that water wears down the rock not by force, but with constant falling — “To prevent deficit reduction from being used as an excuse for tax hikes, Republicans are getting rid of the ‘Pay-As-You-Go’ rule and replacing it with a ‘Cut-As-You-Go’ rule,” reports The Daily Caller’s Jon Ward. “The rule will require that any legislation that seeks to increase mandatory spending (which is spending that once added to the federal budget recurs year after year and is thus permanent) cuts spending by a similar amount.” If successful, this would change the entire economy of the House. “As [Blunt] put it, ‘Let’s turn the activists for big government on each other, instead of letting them gang up on the taxpayer,’” said Majority Leader John Boehner. “Through this public discussion, we might end up finding out that neither program has a whole lot of merit in the first place.” Instead of trading horses, people will start shooting them. This means fewer horses to feed. (more)

NEW ORLEANS – Police are investigating an early morning shooting in which a male prostitute who was dressed as woman was shot near the intersection of Tulane Avenue and South Miro Street, according to the New Orleans Police Department. (more)

The N.B.A. took the extraordinary step Monday of buying the New Orleans Hornets, one of the league’s most financially troubled franchises, after a deal for the sale of the club fell apart. (more)

Despite the fact that the Republican caucus has sworn off earmarks, the Senate failed this week to receive the necessary 2/3 majority for a legislative ban on earmarks. A silly narrative emerged prior to this vote warning cities of all shapes and sizes that they would suffer colossal funding losses if earmark reform was enacted. Lacking in this analysis were basic facts that everyone should know. (more)

“I’d be safe and warm if I was in L.A.  California dreaming on such a winter’s day.”
-The Mamas & The Papas (more)

Virginia Thomas, political activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has decided to relinquish control of Liberty Central, the conservative group she founded less than a year ago, so that the organization can escape the “distractions” of her media celebrity, a spokeswoman said. (more)

Southern Miss officials today identified the victims of an early morning shooting as football players Martez Smith, 22, of Canton, Tim Green, 21, of Columbia, S.C., and Deddrick Jones, 23, of Bastrop, La. (more)

(Via Ricochet.com) Here’s a question to ponder: In the USA, are we free to be lousy parents? (more)

So, the 2010 election is over. Let the 2011 elections begin! (more)

Trent Lott, the former senate majority leader from Mississippi, made news last summer when he said this of incoming tea party-backed senators: “As soon as they get here, we need to co-opt them.” Lott’s words have since been held up as evidence that the Republican establishment in Washington is corrupt and out of touch – as case made most recently by Sen. Jim DeMint, in a widely-read op-ed that ran in Wednesday’s Wall St. Journal. (more)

Even as the administration backs off of its devastating offshore drilling moratorium, Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu is standing firm in maintaining her hold on confirming Jacob Lew as the head of the Office of Management and Budget.  A Democrat herself, she could hardly be accused of spoiling for a political battle with the White House. Rather, it was the Obama administration itself that instigated the fight by sacrificing Louisiana jobs to political expediency with the issuance of the deepwater offshore energy moratorium. (more)

Americans across the country watched New Orleanians prevail and rise above the devastation and destruction brought on by Katrina and Rita five years ago. The nation’s eye is on us, once again, watching to see how we will rebound from the latest tragedy foisted upon us: BP’s oil spill. Our resiliency and unwavering commitment to our community, our business and our families remain as steadfast today as it was following the catastrophic storms five years ago. But today, there is a difference. The long-term impact of this epic spill on the economic foundation of the Gulf Coast region, spanning four states, is calamitous. (more)

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Rankings for Week 6. Please feel free to contact us with any specific line-up questions or general thoughts on the rankings. (more)

On Tuesday, the Obama administration finally announced the end of a politically motivated offshore drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico. The drilling ban, originally scheduled to be lifted in November, has been the subject of a torrent of criticism from Gulf area residents and leadership. (more)