Cassidy takes issue with Obama plan

Sixth District Congressman Bill Cassidy doesn't like President Barack Obama's plan for fixing health care. Cassidy, a physician and former state senator who addressed today's meeting of the Baton Rouge Press Club, says that plan calls for expanding Medicaid coverage to more people at a time most states—including Louisiana—are suffering severe financial problems already in part because of Medicaid commitments. "I don't see a solution for health care," says Cassidy, a Republican. "I see a political solution. I do think there are better solutions for health care." He envisions a modified form of the current Health Savings Accounts that would "wrap around" to cover catastrophic treatment as well as preventative treatment. It's already being done elsewhere in the country under the moniker "patient-directed health care," Cassidy says. "In real life people are doing these things that are working to control costs and improve care." Cassidy will hold a town hall meeting on health care at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the auditorium at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center.—Steve Clark

Vitter urges Senate hearings on Stanford

U.S. Sen. David Vitter has sent a letter to the Chairman of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Sen. Chris Dodd, and the committee’s ranking Republican, Sen. Richard Shelby, urging the senators to hold a special hearing before the start of August. The letter, also signed by Sens. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., and Bob Corker, R-Tenn., asks that the committee review the Stanford Group’s alleged Ponzi scheme and the “failures of our nation’s regulatory agencies to intervene to protect the companies defrauded investors.”

The strongly worded letter says the federal oversight agencies’ failure is “shocking,” especially considering that the “Stanford Group Companies have a long history with these agencies.” It also firmly asserts that if any of the involved regulatory agencies had stepped in regarding Stanford earlier it would “have likely saved these investors from the hardships they face now.

Vitter has been an outspoken advocate for the Louisiana victims of the alleged fraud since shortly after it was announced Feb. 17. Kim Scullin, a representative with the Louisiana Stanford Victims Group, said in an e-mail, “It is imperative to me that we discover how this was allowed to occur for so many years, impacting thousands of middle-class working and retired Americans who tried to do everything right.”

To read the letter from Sen. Vitter, please click here.—Olivia Watkins

AWC adds electrical division

AWC, a Baton Rouge-based distributor of equipment and supplies, has opened an electrical division. The new division, which sells electrical products to industrial and commercial contractors, has about 12 employees. AWC officials say they opened the electrical division in order to tap into a market they were missing. The company, which sells industrial machinery and equipment across the South, has about 250 employees.

Cane's Graves featured in 'Entrepreneur' magazine

Raising Cane's founder Todd Graves is featured in the July issue of Entrepreneur magazine. Graves talks about how he started the chicken tender chain, how Cane's has grown and his plans to follow another poultry merchant. "The founders I respect are guys like Chik-Fil-A founder Truett Cathy. That guy is 88 and still works every day," Graves says. "And Dave Thomas, who worked until he died." The issue of Entrepreneur with Graves is out on newsstands. As a bonus, Daymon Garner, a Baton Rouge native and a graduate of Episcopal High and LSU, shot the photos that accompany the interview, which feature Graves hamming it up with Cane's tenders and sauce.

Madoff gets maximum 150 years in prison

Convicted Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison today for a fraud so extensive that the judge said he needed to send a message to potential imitators and to victims who demanded harsh punishment. Scattered applause and whoops broke out in the crowded Manhattan courtroom after U.S. District Judge Denny Chin issued the maximum sentence to the 71-year-old defendant, who says he lives "in a tormented state now, knowing all the pain and suffering I've created." Chin rejected a request by Madoff's lawyer for leniency and said he disagreed that victims of the Ponzi scheme were seeking mob vengeance. "Here the message must be sent that Mr. Madoff's crimes were extraordinarily evil and that this kind of manipulation of the system is not just a bloodless crime that takes place on paper, but one instead that takes a staggering toll," Chin says. The judge said the estimate that Madoff has cost his victims more than $13 billion was conservative because it did not include money from feeder funds.

LSU finishes ninth in Director's Cup standing

LSU finished ninth in the Learfield Sports Director’s Cup standing, which ranks the overall strength of a university's athletic programs. This is the second consecutive year LSU has finished in the Director's Cup top 10; last year the Tigers were ranked eighth. LSU sent all 20 of its athletic teams to post-season play for the first time in school history. The baseball team's sixth College World Series championship helped LSU achieve its high ranking. Stanford won its 15th consecutive Director's Cup, while Florida was third. Other SEC schools to finish in the top 25 were Georgia at 18, Tennessee at 23 and Arkansas at 25.

Executive Spotlight: H.N. “Hank” Saurage IV

The one thing Hank Saurage, owner of Saurage Commercial Real Estate, says he’d like to change about Baton Rouge is, simply, location. If it was possible, he’d pick up the entire city and drop it on the beach. That might be why he tries to sneak such activities as sailing and golf into his packed schedule. Saurage, who sold the residential real estate portion of his business several years ago, easily is one of the busiest men in Baton Rouge. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t enjoy it. “Work hard, play hard,” he says. “Do everything in moderation.” For him, that means staying glued to his BlackBerry, but also finding time to hang out with his 4-year-old daughter Maddox, watch movies late at night and race sailboats. After all, what’s the point of working hard if you can’t enjoy it?

To read Saurage’s full Q&A, click here. Here's a sample:

If you could have dinner with any three living people, who would they be? (Authors? Leaders?)

Tiger Woods, Warren Buffett and Larry the Cable Guy

Business Report’ weekly planner: Prayer breakfast set for EFCA ... Cassidy to hold town hall on health care reform ... Wicker, Grymes discuss hurricane preparedness

Tuesday: Interfaith Worker Justice and the Baton Rouge Chapter of the NAACP will hold a prayer breakfast for the Employee Free Choice Act and comprehensive Health Care reform at 8:30 a.m. in the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Catholic Student Center at Southern University.

Tuesday: U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy will hold a town hall meeting on health care reform at 5:30 p.m. in the auditorium at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center. Cassidy, a kidney specialist, is a member of the GOP Health Care Task Force and the Congressional Health Care Caucus. For details, call 929-7711.

Tuesday: Metro Councilwoman Tara Wicker will hold a hurricane preparedness meeting for constituents at 6 p.m. at the McKinley Alumni Center. Jay Grymes, WAFB-TV chief meteorologist and the former state climatologist, will be the guest speaker.

Wednesday: Progress Is Baton Rouge, a new grassroots organization, will hold a social with Mayor Kip Holden at 6 p.m. at the 333 Bistreaux downtown. PIBR has been formed to advocate for projects in the city, including the capital improvements bond issue, set to go on the November ballot. For more information, visit the Web site progressis.org.

See the full list of upcoming events here.

News roundup: Streamlining commissions created ... Moret says future of Franklin Farms bright

Making government leaner and better: Louisiana lawmakers in the just-ended legislative session didn't do much to restructure government. Instead, they created two commissions to look at how best to do that restructuring in later years. Now that the panels are created, they have tight timelines for getting started and pulling together recommendations. The governor's Commission on Streamlining Government must hold its first meeting by July 30, under the proposal approved by the Legislature. And a higher education review commission must meet by Aug. 15. The commissions are supposed to look for ways to create efficiencies and cut spending as the state's budget woes are expected to grow worse in the next few years.

Vehicle plant will benefit megasite: Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret says the state's industrial megasite in Richland Parish will benefit from V-Vehicle Co.'s decision to build a plant in nearby Ouachita Parish. The San Diego-based startup automobile company plans to build a new generation, fuel-efficient car at the now-vacant Guide Corp. plant in northeast Louisiana. The plant will be a few miles from the Franklin Farms Industrial Megasite in Richland Parish. Louisiana bought the 1,425-acre Franklin Farms Megasite for $4.6 million in 2006. Moret says the challenge in promoting Franklin Farms was that the region was more sparsely populated than competing sites. With V-Vehicle's announcement, Moret believes Franklin Farms will attract an established manufacturer when the auto industry rebounds.