Howie Luvzus

From The Democratic Party:

California Republicans successfully thwarted an attempt to close the tax loophole for yacht owners. (It was described in the Sacramento Bee as “a loophole that allows purchasers of boats, motor homes and airplanes to take possession outside the state’s boundaries and avoid California sales taxes if they leave it out of state for a specified period.”)

Assembly Republicans defeated a bill that would close the so-called “sloop hole” that allows owners of yachts and private planes to dodge a use-tax by parking the vehicles out of state for the first three months after purchase.

California loses an estimated $26 million a year because of the current law…

Currently, the state is facing a $14 billion budget deficit. To give you a sense of the misplaced priorities, while California Republicans were protecting yacht owners, hundreds of disabled and seniors rallied at the State Capitol to protest 18 percent cuts to the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS).

Local activists have bombarded the state GOP with calls. When they turned off their phones, they found other ways to voice their displeasure.

Serving the rich and screwing the poor! Great job folks! Those aren’t the family values Jesus likes.

Matthew 25
The Sheep and the Goats
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

From Nobel laureate, Joseph E. Stiglitz:

Up to now, the conventional wisdom has been that Herbert Hoover, whose policies aggravated the Great Depression, is the odds-on claimant for the mantle “worst president” when it comes to stewardship of the American economy. Once Franklin Roosevelt assumed office and reversed Hoover’s policies, the country began to recover. The economic effects of Bush’s presidency are more insidious than those of Hoover, harder to reverse, and likely to be longer-lasting. There is no threat of America’s being displaced from its position as the world’s richest economy. But our grandchildren will still be living with, and struggling with, the economic consequences of Mr. Bush.

Some 5.3 million more Americans are living in poverty now than were living in poverty when Bush became president. America’s class structure may not have arrived there yet, but it’s heading in the direction of Brazil’s and Mexico’s.

Don’t tell me about compassionate conservatism! President Bush hates poor children! His threat yesterday to veto a bill that would renew and expand the popular State Children’s Health Insurance Program even ticked off Republicans!

“I’m disappointed by the president’s comments,” said Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), who urged Bush, in an early-morning telephone conversation yesterday, to support the emerging bipartisan compromise. “Drawing lines in the sand at this stage isn’t constructive. . . . I wish he would engage Congress in a bill that he could sign instead of threatening a veto.”

“I’m very, very disappointed,” said Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.). “I’m going to be voting for it.”

I’ll have to admit, after the exchange between some racist knuckleheads from Texas on the second anniversary of Katrina, I was ashamed to be a Texan. But Bruce Prescott reminded me today about a fellow Baptist Texan that is concerned with racial issues (in a good way). His organization, Friends of Justice, is a criminal justice reform organization formed in response to the infamous Tulia drug sting of 1999, in which over half of Tulia’s black males were arrested, about 15% of the town’s black population.

Recently his organization that began as an alliance of Baptist ministers, farmers, school teachers, meat packing workers, fork lift drivers, defendants and their family members also turned their attention to the Jena 6. They’ve done a heck of a job organizing and getting the word out about the Jena 6.

Keep up the good work my brothers and sisters from Texas!

From Ethics Daily:

An American Baptist pastor in Arlington, Texas, is credited with bringing international attention to a civil-rights case in a small Louisiana town known worldwide as the Jena 6.

Thousands of activists were expected to descend on the rural community of 3,000 people–about 350 of whom are black–this Thursday to protest the racially charged sentencing of a black teenager convicted of a felony in the beating of a white student.

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Compassionate Conservatism in action! Bush chooses to put insurance companies and tobacco companies ahead of poor children. Why am I not surprised? This in from Associated Press:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration said Saturday that senior advisers would recommend the president veto Senate legislation that would substantially increase funds for children’s health insurance.

The legislation calls for a 61-cent increase in the federal excise tax on a pack of cigarettes. The revenue would be used to subsidize health insurance for children and some adults with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford insurance on their own. Members of the Senate Finance Committee brokered a bipartisan agreement Friday that would add $35 billion to the program over the next five years. The Bush administration had instead recommend $5 billion.

Gingrich on the 9th ward residents:

“How can you have the mess we have in New Orleans, and not have had deep investigations of the federal government, the state government, the city government, and the failure of citizenship in the Ninth Ward, where 22,000 people were so uneducated and so unprepared, they literally couldn’t get out of the way of a hurricane.“

Hey Newt, 40 to 60% of ninth ward residents did not have automobiles! If they had been better educated maybe they would have realized they needed to buy cars! Great stats both pre and post Katrina are available at: The Greater New Orleans Community Data Center.

Haven’t posted in a while. I’ve been thinking a lot lately and I’m trying to develop a new frame of mind. It all kind of started last week when I drove my mother-in-law, wife, and daughter through the lower ninth ward and lakeview. We jokingly refer to this as the misery tour.

Neither my wife nor my daughter had been to the lower ninth. They couldn’t believe it. They’ve been exposed to some pretty bad stuff in the city, but my daughter couldn’t handle it. She asked me never to take her back. My mother-in-law said that people just don’t know how bad it really is. We drove for miles and only saw empty slabs where people used to live.

I explained that most of my clients used to live in the lower nine or mid-city or in the empty housing projects prior to Katrina. My mother-in-law said, “That must be really hard. Where do they live now?”

“A lady called me today (two days before Christmas) who is living in her car. Many are living with relatives or friends. They don’t have money to pay rent or buy a home and I really don’t have resources to help them. It is really hard, but sometimes I can help them and that’s good.”

My job really does suck in that I hear so many horror stories and so many people who are in desperate need of help. I wish that there was more that I could do. It makes me really angry. But…I am helping a few. The other day I spent over an hour just listening to client talk about the struggles and joys in her life. I gave her simple advice. She left feeling much better. Sometimes folks are just so overwhelmed that they need someone to say “Do this first, then this, and then this.”

Back to the frame of mind…My son brought home a new translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh. I hate to admit this, (my best friend’s son is named Gilgamesh) but I’ve never read it. Here’s my interpretation (Michael feel free to correct me) Gilgamesh is a guy who seems to have everything. But he’s not happy with that. He sets out to kill a monster just so he can brag about it. It causes him to lose his best friend so he sets out on a quest for immortality. The only human to achieve immortality seems to imply that immortality isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. Gilgamesh acquires a “fountain of youth” plant, but loses it. He goes back home and sees his life from a new perspective.–kind of got me thinking.

Fred LeBlanc of Cowboy Mouth said in an interview today that life’s too short to stay pissed off and negative all the time. He said that New Orleanians need to stand up, brush themselves off and kick ass like they always have. After all we are the ones who taught the world to have fun!–Thanks Fred!

Then there was Christmas communion at my church Sunday night. I love seeing old folks, young folks, black folks, white folks, and other-colored folks line up to receive the body and blood of Christ. It reminds me that waiting in line for that is better than waiting in line for anything else. It reminds me of the love and grace of God. It also reminds me of how sometimes Jesus brings diverse folks together.–Thanks Jesus!

Well, with the help of my wonderful wife, I have as Gilgamesh did at the end of his story.. “Gone up onto the wall of Uruk and walked around.”

This past year been reunited with my wonderful family (after spending four months in Nashville). I have written and received two million dollars worth of grants. I have worked three jobs at a time to help support my family. I’ve acquired a scooter, built birdhouses, served as vice president of a professional organization and on a committee at United Way. I’ve seen the most historic game in Superdome history with my best friend. I’ve seen my kids do some amazing things, helped my parents move to Florida, seen my wife’s health improve with no new signs of cancer. And experienced New Orleans more deeply.

Yep. Uruk’s a pretty amazing place. I’m really looking forward to my next adventure.

My friend D.R.’s reflections on the election has caused me to reflect on what the Dem “takeover” means to me. My thoughts on the elections:

Pros: It means that Americans are tired of the corruption and abuse of power that has been rampant these past few years. That being said, I’m sure that the corruption and abuse of power by Republicans is not due to their being Republicans. Given the same chance, I think Dems would do the same thing. Sure, the Dem majority of the past did not have the same level of corruption, but I think it’s because of a huge culture change in Washington.

It means that Americans are fed up with the Bush administration’s flat out lies and incompetence about the War in Iraq. We are tired of Rove and Bush playing on our fears. No one really believes that some politicians want us to lose in Iraq. We’re not that stupid.

It means that everything that Bush wants to do will not be rubber-stamped by a Republican Congress or lazy Dems who don’t have the fortitude to stand up against torture and other abuses.

Maybe the poor will get help from the richest nation in the world. Maybe my parents will be able to afford their medication again. Maybe all children will have access to healthcare. Maybe some folks will be able to support themselves by working hard for 40-60 hours a week.

Maybe there will be less rhetoric about homosexuals and undocumented workers. It’s obvious that these issues were used to manipulate voters and have been very divisive.

Cons: Gas prices will rise again. Trust me. The only reason gas prices have been low is so that Republicans could take credit for it. Now that the Dems have won, the gas companies will screw us again. I will never forgive EXXON for what it did after Katrina.

The economy will suffer. There’s now an excuse for corporations to lay off folks so that they can “maintain” their profitability and I’m sure they will. Let’s be honest. Our “booming economy” hasn’t helped the poor. There are more poor than ever and the richest Americans are now more wealthy.

The Dems won’t be able to solve all of the problems either. Pretty pessimistic I know, but they won’t fix the way our politicians use their offices for personal gain. They’re just as greedy as Republicans, but they are a lot less hypocritical.

BTW–William Jefferson got 30% of the vote. This vote, and the fact that C Ray Nagin was re-elected causes me great sorrow. $90,000 in a refrigerator. Innocent until proven guilty? Come on.

Here’s a definition of haggard—
–adjective
1. having a gaunt, wasted, or exhausted appearance, as from prolonged suffering, exertion, or anxiety; worn: the haggard faces of the tired troops.
2. wild; wild-looking: haggard eyes.

I was thinking about Ted Haggard this morning as I was driving into work and listening to NPR. It’s really terrible. I understand why Haggard felt the need to lie about his homosexual affairs. Those things aren’t looked upon too favorably in the circles in which he leads and runs.

As I pulled up to go sign in at work this morning, I saw a haggard-looking dog. He was nasty. He was a tiny terrier-type dog that was sniffing around where I was trying to park (I work in a REALLY BAD neighborhood). I was shocked to see a little blue collar on the nasty beast. I looked up and saw a pretty haggard-looking woman making a smooching sound and saying, “Come on baby, we goin’ to the store.” She was talking to the dog, not me.

I tried to find something nice to say when I noticed he belonged to her so I awkwardly muttered, “Nice…collar.”

She matter-of-factly said, “Yeah, I thought he needed it ‘cause he’s one ugly m$th#r f@ck*r.”

“Ever give him a bath?”

“When it’s hot, I turn the hose on him, but I ain’t bringin’ that nasty son of a b!tch in my house… I love him though. God love him.”

“Bet he keeps the cats away.” I was trying to say SOMETHING nice about him.

“Naw. He don’t really do much. He don’t even chase rats. Lets them walk all in my back yard.” (Told you it was a bad neighborhood.) He’ll bark every now and then at them, but he won’t chase nothin’. Guess he’s had his a$$ whipped so many times he ain’t got no fight left in him.”

“I know the feeling.”

“God love him though…I love him. I just cover him up on my steps when it’s cold and he don’t move till mornin’. Come on baby, we goin’ to the store”

Haggard and beat down. God love him though.

An article in the New York Times today describes life at John McDonough High School in New Orleans. I drive by the school every morning because I work two blocks from there. There’s always a police car with its lights on somewhere around the building.

Here’s a description of the school:

John McDonogh High School has at least 25 security guards, at the entrance, up the stairs and outside classes. The school has a metal detector, four police officers and four police cruisers on the sidewalk.

In the last six weeks, students at McDonogh, the largest functioning high school here, have assaulted guards, a teacher and a police officer. A guard and a teacher were beaten so badly that they were hospitalized.

The surge hints at a far-reaching phenomenon after Hurricane Katrina, educators here say. Teenagers in the city are living alone or with older siblings or relatives, separated by hundreds of miles from their displaced parents. Dozens of McDonogh students fend largely for themselves, school officials say.

“They are here on their own,” Wanda Daliet, a science teacher, said. “They are raising themselves. And they are angry.”

The principal, Donald Jackson, estimated that up to a fifth of the 775 students live without parents.

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