Kennedy’s motives
To the editor:
State Treasurer John Kennedy’s motives are not nearly as important as the fact that most of his recommendations seem on target [“Reformer, rebel or self-promoter?” Dec. 1].
Let’s also ask why LSU is running the state’s medical-care facilities. Why does Baton Rouge need two universities and a trade school? How many universities does New Orleans need? How many universities does the state need? Why does Louisiana Economic Development keep hiring $100,000 employees but the size of the state’s workforce has declined or at best stayed the same for the last decade? Why shouldn’t the entire department be closed and the money returned to taxpayers?
If 15% of the state’s employees were terminated, would anyone notice or would state services actually improve? The recession has proven that for-profit companies had too many employees, with most reporting increased or better-than-expected profits on lower revenues because fewer people were actually doing a better job. Governments should not be immune from cutting unnecessary bureaucracy.
The typical government rebuttal is to terminate the visibly needed people like nurses, teachers, policemen, firemen and the like. But they are not the real problem. It’s the inert, afraid-of-change, paper-shuffling bureaucrats that are costly. Want to know what many of them think about work? Stand at the entrance to their offices near closing time and see how they start clearing their desks 30 minutes to an hour before and then rush out of their office immediately at closing time. Not all, of course, because there are some dedicated employees.
Maybe Gov. Bobby Jindal will get the message that Kennedy’s recommendations are what’s needed and will stay in the state to run the government more efficiently rather than traveling to other states to raise money for his personal ambitions.
Charles Hall, Baton Rouge
TOPS is tops
To the publisher:
I am sick and tired of hearing that we should make changes to the TOPS program [“Publisher’s View,” Nov. 17]. It shouldn’t matter how much money you make to determine whether you can participate in the program or not. We forget in this country that the higher earners pay the most taxes. Maybe it is not a percentage of income, but in real dollars, the amount is the largest. All we give in this state is lip service to education. If we keep the population stupid enough, maybe we can go back to the good old days of stealing, corruption and fleecing that the “educated” in our state got away with.
Enough is enough. Get rid of all of the higher-education boards, put universities, community colleges and technical colleges under one umbrella, and get rid of all of the consultants and other so-called experts who haven’t solved any problems.
It’s great that [LSU System President John] Lombardi is talking, but he isn’t talking about the right thing.
Dirk Boudreaux, Opelousas
Protecting patients
To the editor:
U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu has been under enormous pressure from supporters and critics of health-care reform, state officials and health-care providers facing shortfalls in Medicaid, and her own political party. One thing is certain—she is working diligently to ensure the best outcome for Louisiana [“Louisiana Politics,” Oct. 27.]
The state is rapidly approaching a major health-care funding crisis, which will have a negative impact on the approximately 1 million children, mothers, elderly, disabled and others who benefit from the Louisiana Medicaid Program. Because of this, Sen. Landrieu negotiated with Senate leadership to include a provision in the Senate health-care bill that would adjust the calculation that determines the amount of federal money Louisiana receives for the Medicaid program. With that provision, Louisiana stands to receive around $300 million in additional funding to help care for our state’s most vulnerable patients.
We appreciate the work Sen. Landrieu has done and urge her and our Congressional Delegation to focus on two other critical health-reform issues being considered. Hospitals statewide are facing cuts of approximately $2 billion over the next 10 years due to cuts in Medicare payments to fund expanded health-care coverage for the uninsured. Hospitals are also potentially facing up to $770 million in additional reductions annually resulting from cuts that may accompany a public insurance option. This could lead to a loss of approximately 16,200 jobs statewide.
There is still much work to be done locally and nationally, and health-care providers will continue to work with Sen. Landrieu and the rest of Louisiana’s Congressional Delegation to protect patients throughout Louisiana.
John Matessino, President/CEO, Louisiana Hospital Association
