Even in this bitterly divided Congress, bipartisan cooperation within a delegation is to be expected on issues vital to a state. So it was when Congressman Steve Scalise, R-Metairie, and Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Democrat, succeeded in attaching amendments to separate bills to direct 80% of the Gulf oil spill fines to the coastal states. The RESTORE Act itself, intended to accomplish the same goal, is stuck on the congressional calendar, so the language in the bill needs to hitch a ride on one that will pass. Also, recently, Landrieu joined Republican Sen. David Vitter and Congressman John Fleming, R-Minden, in writing separate letters of protest to the Air Force’s budget plan to eliminate a squadron of A-10 fighter jets at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, at a cost of 500 high-paying jobs. Vitter is also working with Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., to handle a long-awaited highway funding bill. The delegation’s bipartisanship has its limits, though, even when the state’s interests are involved, such as on passage of the payroll tax cut extension. Congressmen Rodney Alexander, R-Quitman, Scalise, and Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, voted yes; the state’s four other GOP representatives voted no. In giving their reasons, only Congressman Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, objected to a provision in the bill, negotiated by Landrieu, salvaging $1 billion in extra Medicaid funds for Louisiana. Read the full column here.
(John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com.)
