The Founders Show

This week, while the nation focuses upon the second inaugural of Donald J. Trump on Monday, January 20, 2025 (ironically also the Martin Luther King holiday), the Louisiana political world will be focused on the following four-day weekend in the nation’s capitol.   Hy and Christopher talk about the major event and even go into how Opera influenced Mardi Gras— a major theme of the first event of Washington Mardi Gras.Washington Mardi Gras may have begun 76 years ago as means for homesick Pelican State congressional staffers to throw themselves a Carnival Ball, yet from Thursday, January 23 to Sunday, January 26 the entire Louisiana political establishment will descend upon the Washington Hilton for a series of receptions so grand and well-funded that the main event of the Ball Saturday night almost feels like an afterthought.Interest groups have good reasons to put on a cavalcade of parties and mixers, one after another, as every elected official in Louisiana is invited each year to the Ball, and as such, a good party allows facetime with a Parish President, Legislator, or member of Congress, all at the same time. Over 2000 Louisianas attend. Interestingly, this year, thanks to Louisiana’s GOP bent, many of the attendees will come for Trump’s inauguration and stay the week, with extends the parties to Wednesday night—where Gov. Jeff Landry will be feted with a major fundraiser.Still, Washington Mardi Gras is supposed to stand as a non-partisan event.   New Orleans Democratic Congressman Troy Carter serves as the 2025 Chairman of the Ball Committee, and the various events welcome politicians and their staffs from both sides of the aisle.   This year’s King is Hispanic (Rico Alvendia, a decorated Iraq War vet, West Point grad, and founder of the Krewe of Mars) and Queen is African-American (Kendall Williams, a college student and noted civic volunteer who also founded the ‘Diversity Club’ at Louise McGehee School).Even the events betray a non-partisan gist.  Thursday kicks off with the New Orleans Opera Association’s fundraiser/concert at the James Beard-award winning Equinox Restaurant from 11:30-2 pm with a Franco-Creole luncheon and a performance by LA-born Metropolitan Opera star Cadie J. Bryan (NOOA’s Susanna in 2023 Le nozze di Figaro) at $350 per person and honoring Opera-supporter LA PSC Commissioner Eric Skrmetta.That is followed by 'economic development' lunches hosted by “Elevate Louisiana” and “Louisiana Alive”, invitation-only dinners for politicians and their supporters Thursday evening, the Chamber’s luncheon on Friday, then an endless number of private receptions in the Washington Hilton that afternoon, evening, and throughout the day Saturday.  The Ball is Saturday night at the same hotel, and JEDCO underwrites the breakfast-goodbye Sunday morning.It is not an accident that the bar at the Hilton is draped with a banner reading “Welcome to the 65th Parish”.  It is the center of the political year for interest groups, a series of parties with the purpose of kicking off the legislative session, the state’s priorities in the next Congress, and the simple act of asking every politician necessary for support on a particular issue—when they are assembled in the same place, and unusually pliable after days of libations.The fact that key political players from other states now clamor to attend the receptions and Ball underpins Louisiana’s growing Congressional power.   Steve Scalise is a long-time member of the Mystic Krewe of Louisianans, and he and Mike Johnson attend multiple events yearly. They draw fellow members of the leadership to the parties.   So does Troy Carter, who often is able to convince his fellow Democrats (sometimes including his one-time fraternity brother Hakeem Jeffries) to come by for a drink, food, or a second-line.   In other words, as the new Trump Administration comes to power, the Pelican State reminds all of Washington that week who is in control at the other side of Pennsylvania Ave.—and our tribunes in DC do it in the most Louisiana way; throw a party.Modern Mardi Gras was Born Though OperaMany know New Orleans as “America’s First City of Opera”.  After all, the performance of Sylvain in 1796 constituted the first staged opera in current boundaries of the United States.  Moreover, New Orleans would host the North American premieres works by European master composers such as Verdi, Rossini, and Bellini from 1830 to 1912, with dozens of major operas first presented to US audiences in the Crescent City.Less well known was that French Opera House –Théâtre de l'Opéra– served as the center of New Orleans Carnival from 1859 until 1919 (when it was destroyed by fire).  Parading Krewes like Comus, Momus, Proteus, and Rex and society balls such as Nereus, Athenians, and Atlanteans all would meet at the French Opera House for their revels—which always included an operatic performance as part of their tableau.Going to the carnival ball and going to the opera stood as almost synonymous terms, and many of the traditions associated with the formal pageantry of carnival—from the presentation of the king and the court, to the “casting” members— were adapted by New Orleanians from the pageantry of European Royal Court Operas (dating from as early as the 1500s) which they learned about from the opera performers themselves.At the French Opera House, New Orleanians took the idea of a Carnival Masque Ball and built modern Mardi Gras out of it. That carnival tradition and legacy of 19th Century Grand Opera in the Crescent City have inspired the New Orleans Opera Association since its founding in 1943. NOOA’s H. Lloyd Hawkins Scenic Studio continues to outfit Mardi Gras balls and parades—along with the theatrical sets that it provides to productions in 35 states and three Canadian provinces each year.  This scene shop has now trained four generations of set designers, carpenters, and electricians, who have gone on to become some of the most noted names in New Orleans Carnival design as well as the world of opera staging.NOOA has also consistently served as the leading presenting organization for opera in the Gulf South with Mario Lanza, Luciano Pavarotti and Beverly Sills all gracing our stage. Placido Domingo began his professional career in New Orleans at the age of 21.  The relatively unknown talent from Mexico sung Arturo in Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” and returned in 2006 for “A Night for New Orleans”,  first opera performance in the Crescent City since Hurricane Katrina. The famed tenor came again with great fanfare in 2012 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his first performance. Dozens of national and international stars commenced their careers in the Crescent City—with DC Mardi Gras’ performer, international Opera star Cadie J. Bryan, serving as a perfect example of the classical talent launched by the New Orleans Opera.Christopher concludes the show talking about the similarities in the foreign policy of Obama and Trump, and the differences both good and bad that both men have with Joseph Biden.

Hy and Christopher are joined by the Rev. Byron Clay for the first segment. The famed civil rights leader and former head of the national Southern Christian Leadership Conference will be the keynote speaker for the MLK festivities and march in St. John Parish. He speaks about the need for love as an antidote to our broken politics, and emphasizes that the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King remain as relevant today as they ever were. He speaks about his relationship with the King family, and the importance of the holiday. The rally is at 9:00 AM on the MLK Holiday at the Percy Hebert Bldg., 1801 W. Airline Hwy., LaPlace.In the second segment, Hy and Christopher urge our listeners to “ Save the Louisiana Live Performance Tax Credits”. Due to expire in 2025, they constitute almost quarter of the operating revenue of the New Orleans Opera, the LPO, and several other local artistic institutions.In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, one of the few serendipities was a cavalcade of new economic development ideas.  Few came to fruition, but one, co-originated by Roger Wilson and Christopher Tidmore passed through the legislature through the tireless efforts of Bill Hines and the late David Voelker.  It extended the movie tax credits to live, legitimate theatre.  The idea was to create a live performance nexus in New Orleans and throughout the state in theater and live music, featuring our homegrown talent. Since the tax credit only began with productions of over $100,000 in revenue, it sought to create a large performance market where one effectively barely existed, and 50% of the credits were reserved for nonprofits, so that most of the money stayed at home— a protection that never existed in the creation of the film credits.By midsummer 2025, these live performance credits are scheduled to expire, and without a major legislative initiative to renew them, the financial damage to storied institutions like the New Orleans Opera and the Louisiana Philharmonic could be catastrophic.These tax credits are designed to encourage large productions which hire a lot of people, especially “below the line” personnel such as carpenters, electricians, set designers, and others involved in building major staged performances. These are well-paid skilled laborers, mostly in union jobs,   In total cost, the program amounts to only $10 million, a proverbial drop in the bucket of the $35 billion state budget, and each maximum tax credit is limited to $1 million maximum per production, so that one entity cannot claim it all.The benefits to nonprofit performing arts organizations have been critical in their continued survival. The live performance credits constitute, for example, almost 25% of the revenue of the New Orleans Opera— and they are constructed to support Louisiana jobs and Louisiana-built productions.  For certified Louisiana expenditures, the state offers a 7 percent Tax Creditbetween $100,000 and $300,000.  The credit jumps to 14 percent between $300,000 and $1,000,000 and to 18% for certified Louisiana expenditures over $1,000,000.  Not-for-profit organizations are issued credits in the form of a "refund of overpayment" by the Louisiana Department of Revenue.More importantly, the credits support local jobs.  An additional 7 percent Tax Credit goes to payroll expenditures for Louisiana residents, with even greater incentives for the hiring of students at schools and universities.  The public’s (often mistaken) impression is the performing arts Institutions only employ singers, actors, or musicians, yet these incentives have allowed the Opera’s H. Lloyd Hawkins Scenic Studio to hire more than a half a dozen young people each year and train them in skills they vary from electrical repair to carpentry to technical skills.  The tax credit support a permanent set building staff of 20, who pack up and reconstruct sets for theatrical productions in 35 states and three Canadian provinces each year.   The 30,000 square foot building includes a design studio that has a full carpentry and metal shops, a spacious 80’x80’ paint deck, a stocked prop loft, and a fully equipped sewing room for costumes.Louisiana always hoped to be exporting content with a film tax credits, but we export made-to-order sets and are are paid to re-construct them on stages in other states, thanks to the live performance credits.  The profits underwrite the Hawkins studio to construct the theatrical sets for schools, like George Washington Carver, effectively at cost, and the tax credits —in general—allow institutions like the Opera to invite hundreds of school children to watch operas for free as part of the “Schools Night Out” program. Other arts institutions like the LPO and the ballet use the credits to help fund educational outreach, at least in part. Revenue from the tax credits also funds master classes with university students and famous opera singers, as occurred last in Gallier Hall in October with the famed Raehann Bryce Davis and students from Xavier, Dillard, Southeastern, Loyola, and Tulane.Large artistic organizations already lost a key funding resource when Governor Landry‘s 2024 tax reforms repealed the “quality jobs” tax credit.  That constituted almost 20% of the Opera’s operating budget, for example, with a similar impact on the budgets of other large artistic institutions.  Some political insiders view the performance credits as a painless method to cut the budget, not realizing the hundreds of jobs which are at stake.  Plus, the credits have proven very effective in the for-profit theatrical sector as well.  Since the tax credit is refundable or transferable on a one-time basis, productions from “Cirque du Soleil” to Broadway Road shows like the “Addams Family” were able to rehearse and stage their productions first here, hiring many Pelican State performers and production personnel.However, unlike the film tax credits which were saved through a massive and well funded lobbying effort underwritten by Hollywood, there is no large cache of cash to save them. The live performance credits’ continued existence is dependent on legislators hearing from the general public— and being asked to keep them in place.New Orleans staged the first Opera in what is now the United States in 1796.  As the city celebrates the 230th anniversary of that achievement, it’s critical that our leaders in Baton Rouge know that the continued existence of these live performances depends on their taking action.

Errol Laborde, the newest columnist for the Times-Picayune, joins Hy and Christopher for our Twelfth Night/commencement to Carnival program! The New Orleans magazine, editor and producer of WYES’ Informed Sources highlights excerpts from his new monthly “Streetcar” newspaper column in the T-P Living Section, including how he played a role in (re)creating the Phunny Phorty Phellows as “Heralds of Carnival”, and how in 2009 the King of Zulu joined them as guest of honor. Read the inaugural column here!Speaking of Zulu, we also talk about Lundi Gras and how Zulu came to meet Rex each year on the day before Shrove Tuesday, outlined in Errol Laborde’s new book When Rex Met Zulu and Other Chronicles of the New Orleans Experience, available at The Garden District Book Shop, 2727 Prytania in the historic Rink, (504) 895-2266.Briefly we mention the events of New Year’s Eve, but reserve that discussion for next week's show, when information is more available However, we do point out an upcoming article by Christopher in The Louisiana Weekly which questions: Why the bollards were replaced all at once?NOPD Officers Reportedly Asked City Hall to Replace Bollards One-by-OneBy Christopher TidmoreWorries that construction would not be finished by Super Bowl may have enabled terrorist attack, as all bollards remained down at the same time.A 43 year veteran active duty veteran of the NOPD told The Louisiana Weekly on background that Mayor Latoya Cantrell’s desire to install more attractive, stainless steel bollards in time for the Super Bowl may have left Bourbon Street unprotected from the New Year’s morning Bourbon Street terrorist attack.NOPD Eighth District officers reportedly objected to the bollards being taken down simultaneously by Hard Rock Construction Co., LLC to replace the old bollards with new removable stainless steel bollards.The process, which began in November, and was scheduled to end in time for the Super Bowl, many NOPD officers worried, would leave most of the French Quarter defenseless from out of control automobiles. Apparently administration officials at the Mayor’s behest in the Department of Public Works rejected calls to replace the bollards individually, block by block, worried that the work would not be completed by February’s big game.According to the city’s website, work began on November 18, 2024 on a stretch of Bourbon Street from Canal to St. Ann Streets to replace the current exposed bollard system with “new removable stainless-steel bollards”.As nola.gov explained, “These can be securely locked behind each crosswalk. Construction will focus on the first 60 feet of each block where the old bollards are. The road will be taken out and replaced to put in the new bollards. Some sidewalk repairs, like fixing missing bricks, will also be done. The removable bollards will help close the street to cars during pedestrian-only times but will be stored away when the street is open to all traffic.”Personal observation by the author on New Year’s Eve noted that as late as 10:30 PM, many of the existing bollards bordering Bourbon Street remained down. Still, as former PANO President (and current President of the Victims Rights organization Crimefighters) Irv Magri told The Louisiana Weekly that, normally, in such a circumstance where no other substantial barriers exist, two police officers would park their units perpendicular to one another, in order to block traffic. The police cars would act as impromptu bollards. Instead, law-enforcement on the scene utiluzed multiple white and orange plastic barricades and fencing.The lack of weighty obstruction allowed 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar to drive his white truck down Bourbon Street killing 15 and wounding 35 at 3:15 AM on New Year’s morning. Jabbar, an Army veteran, also had weapons and a potential improvised explosive device in the rented truck, the FBI said. There were other possible IEDs planted nearby in the French Quarter, two of which have been rendered safe. An ISIS flag was reportedly also in the truck.The FBI is working to determine the suspect’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations.Jabbar served in the Army on active duty as an IT Specialist from 2006 to 2015 and then in the Army Reserve from 2015 to 2020, according to three U.S. defense officials. He had deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 and was a staff sergeant when he was honorably discharged in 2020, the officials said.

In this final show of 2024, Hy and Christopher examine the top stories of the year through the lens of how they reveal the direction where local politics will travel over the coming decade. We have chosen seven different stories that give a glimpse at how the politics of the Pelican State has irrevocably changed over the last year.The City of St. George in Baton Rouge promises more incorporation to come - will it have a ripple effect across the state?Use of schools as a loophole to limit permitless carry.The fight over displaying The Ten Commandments in schoolrooms may stretch to other states soon.Loss of population brings fears of decline and the elimination of a Louisiana congressional seat.Income tax reductions reverse the legacy of Huey Long.Racial and demographic changes in Orleans and Jefferson parishes promise very different political futures for each.The insurance crisis in Louisiana threatens home ownership.

Hy and Christopher welcome you to the Christmas edition of the Founders Show.

Hy and Christopher host Louisiana GOP insider and Trump transition advisor Brian Trascher.  He gives us all the insights on the upcoming 2025 Regular (Fiscal) Session and whether Jeff Landry is going to pursue his tax reform agenda even further.  We also talk about the upcoming Washington Mardi Gras and how Troy Carter has become the “go to person” liaisoning between the parties.Read more from the Louisiana Weekly:Final deal for tax reform may not be the end of the battle

Book Launch: Justin Watson, 1919: The Romanov RisingTues. Dec. 10th, 6PM, Garden District Book Shop, Free and Open to the PublicBoth Theodore Roosevelt and Winston Churchill advocated intervention in Russia after WWI.  The Romanov Rising imagines the beginning of the beginning of the campaign to defeat the Bolsheviks and rescue Russia from a dark and terrible path.  The authors of the Romanov Rising 1919 join Hy & Christopher to talk about this—and the event on Tuesday, Dec 10.The premier of this second volume of groundbreaking Alternate History imagines the survivors of the imperial family stuck in a little out of the way town, with no road, rail or river connection for most of the year. Thus, already, with the corpses left from their rescue still being collected, Tsarina Tatiana, the First of Her Name, is striking out for better position. A battle must be fought against a seemingly overwhelming force of Bolsheviks, just to hold on to their tiny Tobolsk, in Siberia. Yekaterinburg, rich in precious metals must be taken to fund the war, with only a dozen men available to take it. The beautiful nun and imperial aunt, Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna, and her companions must be rescued from a vile fate. Also, the lines must be laid out for the various fractious anti-Bolshevik forces to unite under the Imperial Crown. Finally, the two possible successors, Maria Alexandovna and her sister, Anastasia, must be whisked to safety in the United States and the United Kingdom, where one of them will learn love not just of a man, but of his people, his country, and their way of life.Clever spying, desperate battles, subtle diplomacy, terrorism, counter-terrorism, propaganda, and romance: the campaign to defeat the Bolsheviks and rescue Holy Russia from a dark and terrible fate continues.Event date: Tuesday, December 10, 2024 - 6:00pmEvent address: The Garden District Book Shop2727 Prytania StNew Orleans, LA 70130

Join Hy McHenry and Christopher Tidmore on this week's edition of The Founders Show as they review the recently concluded Louisiana Tax Reform special session, talk about proposed "Day 1" tariffs from President-elect Donald Trump, and more.

Hy and Christopher weigh in on Matt Gaetz withdrawing his nomination to become U.S. Attorney General, mostly due to a choice that Mike Johnson allowed his backbenchers to make happen.      Knowing that likely they were not enough votes in the U.S. Senate to confirm Gaetz as AG, President-elect Donald Trump had pushed Johnson to put the U.S. House in recess. The Senate was poised to enter recess for a few days as well, and absent Congress-in-session, Trump could appoint Gaetz into the AG position for up to two years without need of confirmation.      Instead, Speaker Johnson allowed some of his members to set a schedule to keep the U.S. House in session all the way through Christmas and the inauguration. The North Louisiana Republican leader could have used his influence to convince them to bang the gavel into recess. He opted not to do so, likely remembering the Gaetz tried to eject him from his job as House speaker.Christopher observes how Johnson could’ve used certain procedural methods, similar to this, to diffuse the entire bathroom controversy.Delaware elected the first transgender congresswoman, Sarah McBride, and in reply, Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican representative, had introduced a bill to ban transgender people, including congressional members, officers and employees, from using single-sex bathrooms and other facilities on Capitol Hill that correspond to their gender identity.To thwart a legislative battle over that bill, Speaker Johnson declared the public bathroom access must be according to one’s birth gender, “It is important to note that each member office has its own private restroom, and unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol. Women deserve women’s only spaces.”The hosts speculate could Johnson have vocally urged Sarah McBride to use her member’s bathroom, and simply proceeded to ignore the problem?  What if Johnson had taken no action either way? Nancy Mace, a flamethrower, would have pursued her legislation, but the speaker could have quietly killed it in committee. No one would have been the wiser. Or maybe not.Hy and Christopher then examine the results of the LA legislative session and wonder if raising the sales tax by a penny was the only politically possible alternative to fund an income tax cut.We conclude the show talking about an exciting new partnership between the New Orleans Opera and SoFAB with guest NOOA General & Artistic Director Lila Palmer.Dozens of times in the last 200 years, new works of opera have premiered in New Orleans, earning the Crescent City the moniker “The First City of Opera” in the United States.    On December 8, The Cook-Off, a new comic opera in English about the creation of the Mac & Cheese, will premier at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum in honor of SoFAB’s 20th Anniversary--and in honor of the retirement of SoFAB’s founder Liz Williams.   The New Orleans Opera Association in cooperation with SoFAB brings a nationally acclaimed cast to put on the new production. They even debate in song whether the “Mac & Cheese” was invented in the Big Easy. With Music by Shawn Okpebholo and Text by Mark Campbell, the new opera features three competitors from the nation’s favorite fictional cooking show, “America Loves Food”, as they battle it out to make the best version of a classic comfort food: macaroni & cheese! The Cook-Off will premier in two back-to-back performances in the SoFAB’s main Museum gallery at 11:30 AM and 2:00 pm. on Sunday, December 8, to the musical accompaniment of members of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, at 1504 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70113. The 11:30 AM performance will include a special curated brunch in SoFAB’s restaurant space.   Tickets are available at https://noo-internet.choicecrm.net/dist/#/event-details/S0:E475The New Orleans Opera’s production of the opera The Cook-Off in the museum is the first of several planned partnerships between the two cultural institutions.  The joint ventures are the brain children of NOOA General & Artistic Director Lila Palmer and SoFAB Director Constance Jackson.   Palmer has previously produced opera with heritage partners including the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Boston, London Transport Museum and Museum of London.   Jackson, a New Orleans native, also pioneered artistic partnerships in the UK capitol city as a non-profit executive over the past decade.NOOA Premier of NEW English language opera The Cook-Off at Southern Food & Beverage Museum In celebration of 20th AnniversaryDATE: Sunday, December 8, 2024 TIME: 11:30 AM and 2:00 PM LOCATION:  Southern Food & Beverage Museum, 1504 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70113Tickets for Brunch & Opera: Call (504) 529-3000 or go online at www.neworleansopera.org

On this week’s show, Hy and Christopher wonder if a deal could coming together to preserve the Film, Live Performance, Digital, Quality Jobs and Historic Restoration tax credits?It looks like a compromise may be in the works, according to highly placed sources who spoke to The Louisiana Weekly on the condition of anonymity, but it remains less clear how the Landry administration could plug an additional $500-million hole in the budget.  Retaining those credits would create such a deficit.  Absent other tax changes, the legislature would find it difficult to achieve the governor’s desired three percent flat income tax rate on individuals, 3.5 on corporations, abolition of the state corporate franchise tax, as well as enacting a permanent $2,000 per year pay increase for teachers. In fact, the potential fiscal hole may have grown even larger after the La. House rejected a slew of sales tax hikes on Thursday, November 14, 2024.  That decision alone created the potential of an additional $500 million deficit.In the Special Session’s first week, a series of tax changes (including a constitutional amendment) comfortably earned better than a 2/3 majority of the Louisiana House of Representatives, but one major piece of legislation failed by one vote.  Many GOP legislators felt deeply uncomfortable instituting several new sales taxes – especially on boat storage. Revenue Secretary Richard Nelson maintained in the House Ways & Means Committee a week prior that the package had to pass in its entirety, as written.  He argued that eliminating any element would unbalance the revenue-neutral nature of the entire reform. That was also the case that Gov. Jeff Landry made in a private Thursday morning meeting less than 15 hours after he opened the Special Session on Tax Reform on Nov. 6, 2024.  Landry asked several skeptical legislators to support the entire package of bills in the House, both in committee and on the floor.  However, the Governor reportedly added would be willing to reconsider the sunset of several of the more popular credits and exemptions by the time the package of bills reached the La. Senate Revenue & Fiscal Affairs committee. Nevertheless, Landry’s pleas ended up being insufficient to save HB10 one week later to pass certain sales tax hikes, but pressure from the governor proved enough to convince the House members to sunset some of the most popular tax credits for the arts and historic restoration.  By better than 80 votes, the La. House voted to abolish the Louisiana Quality Jobs Program which rebates up to 6 percent of annual payroll expenses for up to 10 years and costed $153.3 million in 2023; the Film, Digital, and Live Performance Tax Credits which cost collectively $250 million and provide 25 percent rebate on production costs and 35 percent on labor costs; and the Historic Restoration Credit which covers 20 percent of construction costs at just over $100 million.  In addition, companion legislation had sought to renew the soon-to-expire .45 cent “temporary” sales tax along with imposing sales taxes on services previously untaxed.  It was the imposition of many of these new sales taxes which ran into trouble.  One of the two bills barely passed, while the other failed.  House Bill 10 crossed the 2/3 finish line by one vote, 71-33.  In fact, to insure passage, the legislation had to be amended to replace the expiring 0.45-cent state sales tax with an 0.4-cent sales tax, a reduction of .05-cents. As a result, the La. Treasury would receive roughly $50 million per year less per year.  After approving another 47 amendments without objection, House members did deft Landry by maintaining some sales tax exemptions—including those for the purchase of diapers and Bibles.Despite the pressure which the governor put on wavering state representatives exactly seven days before, House Bill 9 (which would have raised sales taxes on may of items listed below) failed by one vote on Thursday, November 15.  Landry vowed to push for another vote.  Interestingly though, the failure of HB9 in the House might provide a pathway for a key Senate committee to also save the Film, Live Performance, and Historic Restoration Tax Credits in the coming week.Originally, HB9 and HB10 would have placed sales taxes on: 1 Storage for boats and vessels of less than 50 tons load displacement and trailers along with auto club services and fees; 2 Car wash services; 3 Coin-operated machines; 4 Computer software installation, repair and maintenance; 5 Condominium timeshare and exchange services; 6 Dating services and marriage bureaus; 7 Delivery, shipping, freight and transportation services associated with taxable sale of tangible personal property; 8 Non-medical diet and weight reduction services; 9 Immovable property repair, maintenance and installation services (excluding new construction, reconstruction and capital improvements); 10 Information services such as research publications, financial reports, wire services, and news printing for publications; 11 Interior decorating and design services; 12 Intrastate limousine, bus, and van transportation services; 13 Taxi cab and ride-share services; 14 Landscaping, lawn care and horticulture services; 15 Laundry;16 Linen supply services; 17 machine or equipment rental; 18 Mailing services; 19 Marina services; 20 Parking;21 Personal fitness training; 22 Pet grooming, boarding, sitting, training and obedience services; 23 Photography and photographic studio services; 24 Photofinishing and film development services; 25 Private process server services; 26 Public opinion and research polling services; 27 Quilting, embroidery and monogramming services; 28 Repairs, maintenance and installation of tangible personal property; 29 Repossession services; 30 Restroom services; 31 Security services including locksmith, security/alarm system monitoring, private investigation, and background checks; 32 Event planning and catering services; 33 Spa services, massages by massage parlors and steam baths; 34 Rental spaces for meetings, conventions, entertainment events, weddings, banquets, parties and other short-term business/social events; 35 Storage space beyond the furnishing of cold storage (which is already taxed); 36 Tanning services;37 Tattooing, piercing, scarification and branding; 38 Travel agents, travel packages and travel clubs; 39 Cable TV services, direct-to-home satellite services, video programming services and satellite radio; 40 Extended warranty agreements and service contract services; 41 Waste collection and disposal services (excluding municipal waste management); 42 Personal shopping;43 Photo finishing44 Repairs of personal property45 Wrecking and towing services; and46 Lobbying services.In short, Louisiana essentially would adopt a Canadian-style “GST” or “Goods and Services Tax” system.   Prescription drug purchases would be excluded, but very little else.  Of course, the combined sales tax rate in Orleans and many other parishes would amount to 9.45 percent rather than the 15 percent in most Canadian provinces. That is unless a deal is cut.           There are a variety of ways of preserving the aforementioned popular tax credits, along with exempting unpopular sales taxes on boat storage and lobbying.  In fact, Landry and his House allies tried to do just that to corral the necessary 70 votes yet they came up short.  Rather than pass HB9 as planned on Thursday, the House adjourned until Monday, Nov. 18.  Gov.  Landry now hunts for the extra vote.With the sales tax hikes now in danger, other parts of the plan which have passed the La House, but face an uphill battle in the Senate such ending the five incentive tax credits, now might be reconsidered. One key member of the upper chamber has proposed a slightly higher personal income tax to save the popular credits and sales tax exemptions.Outside of a slightly higher income tax, many revenue raising proposals, such as a statewide property tax are considered “dead-on-arrival” on arrival in the La. Senate. Unlike the La. House members, Senators could opt to the .45-cent sales tax in full.  In fact, they could raise that additional sales tax to a full penny. That change alone would create an additional $600 million in revenue, yet many representatives of impoverished districts would find such a jump hard on their constituents.   After all, keeping .4-cent sales tax barely passed the House.   Instead, Sen. Franklin Foil (R-Baton Rouge), the chairman of the Senate Revenue & Fiscal Affairs committee, has floated the idea of a more modest income tax cut, reducing the top rate from 4.25 to 3.5 rather than Landry’s favored 3 percent.  For each .1 percent increase in the individual income tax rate, the La Treasury would earn an extra $100 million.  Foil suggested that the tax rate could go as high as 3.5 percent, earning an additional $500 million, whilst still cutting taxes and most middle-class Louisianans. In addition, Foil also has proposed that extra revenue could save some of the tax credits for film, performance, and developers of historic buildings.  Under his model, Louisiana would levy 3.5 percent on both individuals and corporations.  Louisiana’s top income tax, though, would not achieve Landty’s goal of falling to third lowest in the nation—just ahead of North Dakota and Arizona at 2.5 percent.  Instead, Louisiana would levy a higher top rate than Pennsylvania (3.07) or Indiana (3.05) and tied with Ohio (3.5).   The Pelican State would be tied for fifth.

Hy and Christopher are joining in our post-election roundtable with Jeff Crouere of ringsidepolitics.com and Curtis Robinson of hunter-gathererspodcast.com to analyze Trump’s unexpected landslide victory.  What are the reasons, and how did his coattails make a difference? Two examples are demonstrated in the second and sixth congressional districts in Louisiana, explained below.Later in the show, we explore Governor Jeff Landry’s tax reform proposal. Answering growing legislative opposition to his tax reform proposals, including the elimination of the film, live performance, historic restoration, quality jobs, and sales tax exemptions on everything from boat storage to wedding planners, Landry appeared before joint session of the legislature, pleading for a repeal of the 1,400-page tax code in favor of a 3% flat tax individuals, 3.5% on corporations, and a broader sales tax on everything but prescription drugs—a tax which would be eliminated.Carter Re-Elected with 183,897 votes out of 305,019By Christopher TidmoreA group of Garden District voters expressed surprise to The Louisiana Weekly on the evening of November 5th that they had found themselves suddenly redrawn into Steve Scalise’s congressional seat. The overwhelming group of Caucasian Democratic voters were perplexed why their “deep blue” precincts ended up in the GOP majority district.The loss of several key precincts which had long been part of Louisiana’s Second Congressional District, as a side effect of the shifts all across the state to allow the creation of the new minority-majority Sixth Congressional District, could have proven a liability for Rep. Troy Carter.  Some of the incumbent’s most reliable core constituencies were lost just as the sophomore congressman faced a surprisingly well organized challenge from the Left from Democrat Devin Davis.With new electorates drawn-in to the Second Congressional District by the legislature last year, Carter could have been forced into a runoff.  A perfect storm might have been forming as three Republicans also entered the 2024 contest, drawing away moderate voters.  In the end, these GOP contenders collectively earned 30% of the vote, Devin Lance Graham at 13%, Christy Lynch at 14%, and Shondrell Perrilloux at 3%. This GOP strength on election day proved particularly interesting because the Second District boasts of only 16% Republican registration.  Therefore, such decent turnout on the right matched with a strong Democratic challenge from the left could have cast Carter into a lower turnout December 7 runoff, where any result was possible.In the end, though, Troy Carter was easily re-elected on November 5 with 60% of the vote in a seat that is 56% Democratic by registration.  The incumbent sophomore congressman campaigned far harder than many observers expected, with extensive television, print, and social media advertising, as well as in-person events.  Carter spent a lot of time and money to win back his office, and it showed.  Devin Davis, his principal progressive Democratic opponent, ended up only getting 11% of the vote, running fourth.To claim his second full term, Carter managed to win in excess of 70% of the vote in sone of his core Orleans and Westbank Jefferson precincts, offsetting Davis’ campaign efforts in the River Parishes.  Ironically, under the old map, Carter’s margin of victory might have been tighter, but the loss of several Baton Rouge metro precincts to the newly created Sixth District ended up benefiting the New Orleans-based candidate.  Carter over-performed in the areas which once constituted his councilmanic and state senate districts.The New Orleans Congressman returns to a closely divided US House of Representatives in Washington.  While he serves on the House Homeland Security and Transportation committees, his unofficial role as a conduit of communication between his two long-time personal friends Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has granted him an outsized role.  Carter has played a key role in passing several pieces of legislation.LA’s Second District Congressman went so far as to create an regular end-of-the-week bipartisan cocktail party in his office for members from all over the country just to keep the lines of communication open between the parties.  As a result, Carter’s almost singular role as ambassador between the factions granted him an outsized influence in the previous Congress—which will likely continue into the next. Fields Returns To US HouseBy Christopher TidmoreAs chairman of the legislative committee charged with creating a new LA majority-minority district, Cleo Fields himself drew the newly reconstituted Sixth Congressional as a seat so stretched across the state that only a candidate with his level of name recognition could win it.   He succeeded—barely.  The LA State Senator will return to the United States Congress after a 28-year absence, yet his victory on November 5, 2024 proved far tighter than any had previously predicted.Fields won 51% of the vote, avoiding a December 7 runoff by a very close margin.  His principal Republican challenger, former State Senator Elbert Guillory, earned 38% of the vote in a district with only 22% GOP registration.  The 80-year-old former GOP legislator may have been put into the race as a “sacrificial lamb”, yet both Donald Trump‘s coattails and an estimated 25% of Black men who expressed the willingness to cross party lines in this election allowed him to over-perform.  Despite heavily campaigning, Guillory was outspent by Fields almost 10 to 1, yet a runoff almost occurred.   Guillory won 25% of the vote in Fields’ home of East Baton Rouge and 50% of the vote in West Baton Rouge.  In Guillory’s home of St. Landry Parish, he earned 55% of the vote, the same result as he won in Point Coupee and Avoyelles.  In Natchitoches and Rapides, Guillory topped 57%.While the Republican former state senator over-performed, the same cannot be said for Fields’ three other Democratic challengers.  Quentin Anthony Anderson won 8%, Wilken Jones, Jr. 1%, and Peter Williams 2%.  Guillory had counted upon a division in the Democratic vote to carry him to a December runoff, where a lower turnout might have given the Republican a fighting chance.However, strong voter loyalty in the more populous cities, a 66% result for Fields in Shreveport’s Caddo and in 62% EBR, proved just enough to carry him into narrow first primary victory.  Odds are he would have won in a runoff regardless, given the Democratic lien of the district.The question is, though, how long will Cleo Fields keep his current congressional seat before it is drawn away from him?  He lost his congressional career three decades ago when his minority-majority seat was ruled to be to excessively gerrymandered. It could happen again. The United States Supreme Court has agreed to review the constitutionality of the lines of the 6th District.   Plaintiffs claim that the oddly shaped district which runs from Baton Rouge to Shreveport is too geographically distorted—and only constituted on racial grounds.

Hy and Christopher host Republican National Committeeman Roger Villere, who has been on the trail with the Trump Campaign as well as former Aspen Daily News Editor and prominent political columnist Curtis Robinson, who has been reading the pulse in Washington DC. Our two guests deconstruct the October surprises from the Madison Square Garden comic to President Biden‘s “Garbage” comments. We make predictions of where the campaign is going, and who is winning coming into election day.

Hy and Christopher attempt to forecast the upcoming election’s result with two special guests, GOP congressional candidate Elbert Guillory and famed political consultant James Farwell.Guillory joins Hy and Christopher to kick off the show, outlining how he has a chance of victory in a district which should not be friendly for Republicans. Early voting may provide a clue to why he is so upbeat.In 2020, 986,428 people in Louisiana voted early. As of Thursday evening October 25, 519,304 people in the Pelican State had cast their ballots, which far exceeds the same total at the same point in early voting four years ago.Deputy Secretary for Communications Joel Watson at the Louisiana Secretary of State's Office told KLFY TV, while 38 percent of total votes came from early voting in 2020, they predict 40 to 45 percent of total votes will come from early voting this year. “Statewide, we are seeing a 10 percent increase in in-person, early voting,” said Watson.Simultaneously this year, more Republicans than Democrats have cast their ballots early. In 2020, more Democrats voting early exceeded Republicans. “In 2020, those who are registered Democrats accounted for about 45 percent of the electorate through five days of early voting,” Watson said. “This year, we’re seeing that flip, and about 45 percent of the electorate over five days of early voting this year is Republican.”Watson warned that early voting did not necessarily signal higher overall turnout, but may only indicate a change in voting patterns. “For this year, for instance, we’re seeing a higher in-person early voting number, but we expect turn out to be around about the same as we saw in 2020, which was around 70 percent,” he explained.Still, some LA GOP candidates see increased early voting as their pathway to victory.  As noted, our guest former Republican state Senator Elbert Guillory seeks an upset in the newly redrawn 6th Congressional District over frontrunner (former Democratic Congressman) Cleo Fields.  “We are seeing tremendous enthusiasm” in early voting, Guillory explained in his interview with Hy and Christopher.Besides Fields, four other Democrats are running in the 6th District along with the Black Republican from Opelousas. That potentially divides the left-wing electorate, he reasoned. Higher GOP turnout in the November primary than in past years, which Guillory believes is signaled by the early voting numbers, could keep Fields below the 50 percent threshold of victory.  In a consequent December runoff, where historically Republicans have exceeded Democrats in turnout, Guillory maintained that he stands a good chance of upsetting Fields’ bid to return to the US House, even though Guillory runs a Republican contender in this solidly Democratic district. Both candidates represented Black majority districts within the newly drawn congressional seat and actually served together as state senators in the LA Legislative Black Caucus.Hy and Christopher then switch gears and examine the state of the presidential race with one of the greats of political consulting in modern American history, James Farwell.  We focus upon how tight the election is nationally, and how voting trends show that Donald Trump remains evenly tied with Kamala Harris with just over a week remaining.  It is anyone’s guess what could happen, but Farwell warns that Republican moderates are still up for grabs.Farwell does note that the GOP possesses a real shot of seizing control of the US Senate, perhaps with as many as 54 seats, thanks to Trump‘s coattails as well as those who might vote for Harris but wish to put a break on her power, but he agrees with Christopher that the chances may not look so good for the GOP to keep possession of the US House.  Harris has coattails of her own in the suburban-held New York and California congressional districts which the GOP relies upon for the party’s congressional majority.Everyone wonders, however, if the ill partisan feelings of this election cycle will last well beyond election day— no matter which presidential candidate wins. Things get heated in our conversation on this week’s show!

Early voting for the Nov 5 election began on Oct 18, so Hy and Christopher start the show with the message Go Vote! They interview Connie Payton, whose mother memorized and flawlessly recited the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution to earn her right to vote before the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1964, which eliminated barriers preventing millions of non-white Americans from voting. In light of the Nov. 5 election, Connie and her mother’s great grandchild, student filmmaker Daryanna Barrett, are sharing a powerful personal story in a four-minute short film, "Make Your Vote Count," now available for free and sharing on YouTube.Then we turn to culture in this “First City of Opera” with our main guest, Raehann Bryce-Davis. The Award-winning mezzo-soprano comes to New Orleans on Oct 22 and teaches the first-ever opera masterclass of students invited from all local universities and HBCUs at Gallier Hall. An evening concert will follow at 2504 Prytania St. in the garden of Opera Guild Home at 5:30 PM—which is open to the public.She will return to New Orleans on on November 8 and 10 in her role debut as the famed Biblical seductress in Samson and Delilah at the Mahalia Jackson Theatre of the Performing Arts. NOOA's upcoming performance of Samson and Delilah celebrates the North American premiere of the Camille Saint-Saëns work in New Orleans just over 130 years ago.Bryce-Davis shares her expertise and perspectives as one of the world's leading African-American mezzo-sopranos with Hy and Christopher.  She tells her story of how a girl with Jamacian roots who grew up in Mexico became one of the leading lights of opera. On Tuesday, October 22, 2024 to teach some of the most gifted vocal students from several local universities including Xavier, Dillard, Southeastern, UNO, Loyola, and Tulane.  Afterwards her private garden concert for these students as well as patrons of the New Orleans Opera Association at 2504 Prytania St. is also open to the public.  A limited number of tickets remain available at neworleansopera.org or by calling the box office at (504) 529-3000.Here are the two excerpts which Hy and Christopher play on the show: a classical piece Azucena's aria, Condotta ell'era in ceppi from Verdi's lI Trovatore with pianist Kamal Khan at the National Opera Center, and a modern English language piece “The Beauty in my Blackness”.

Do Government Deficits Elect Harris? Or Has Trump Gained with Poorer Voters Who Benefited From The Biden Spending Spree?Hy & Christopher welcome Graham McFarlane, an economic forecaster with a Harvard MBA, who has a particular theory on who is going to win the presidential election. Despite his personal sympathies, he thinks that the level of government spending has widened to encompass almost 50% of the population, and he believes that gives Harris an advantage.Interestingly, Christopher disagrees based on the data.  Not only are Trump and Harris tied in the swing states, but the rise in Trump’s support has come from poor, formally Democratic Caucasian-majority working class counties—which have been net beneficiaries of increased government spending over the last two decades.  And for the first time, early voting requests from those counties—and voter registration gains within them—have benefited the Republicans.Christopher notes the example last week of Pennsylvania where for the first time in just over four years (10 statewide elections) that Republicans out-requested Democrats in mail absentees ballots. By midweek, there were 8,299 Republicans requesting mail-in ballots versus 8,079 Democrats. More importantly, many if those mail-in ballot requests came from some of the Keystone State’s most disadvantaged counties. Moreover, while Pennsylvania Democrats still enjoy a voter registration advantage, it has shrunk from 1.2 million in 2008 to just 325,000 today, a rightward shift that has occurred even as government spending has been boosted in some of the same former Democratic counties.  That may indicate that Trump is not viewed as a threat to the government largess by these key constituencies.Wit large, Vice President Harris and former President Trump are virtually deadlocked in the major swing states that will play a deciding role in the election, according to new polling from The Hill and Emerson College Polling.  Trump narrowly leads Harris, 49 percent to 48 percent, in Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania; while in Arizona he leads 49 percent to 47 percent. Trump’s leads over Harris in these states are within the plus-or-minus three-point margin of error. The two candidates are deadlocked at 49 percent in Michigan and Wisconsin, while in Nevada Harris leads Trump 48 percent to 47 percent. The poll’s margin of error in Michigan is plus or minus 3.1 points and plus or minus three points in Wisconsin. In Nevada, the margin of error is plus or minus 3.2 points.Interestingly, Harris lost a point in Arizona and North Carolina since the last Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey was conducted three weeks ago, but gained a point in Georgia, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Trump, on the other hand, gained a point in Pennsylvania and North Carolina but lost a point in Georgia and Nevada. Harris’s support remained unchanged in Michigan and Nevada while Trump’s remained unchanged in Arizona and Wisconsin.McFarlane, Hy, and Christopher go on to talk about the dangerous impact of deficit financing, and how both parties have embraced massive deficits, yet Hy believes that Trump is trying to turn the ship.  Christopher remains skeptical.We also talk about the impending visit of international opera star Raehann Bryce-Davis on October 22 to the Garden District for a sunset concert.  It’s a singular opportunity to meet an award winning star.  Tickets are available here.

Hy and Christopher begin by recounting the lonely bipartisan struggle that has been carried by Congressman Troy Carter (D-New Orleans). While his Louisiana Republican colleagues have been firmly behind him in his fight to convince DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas not to approve the new FEMA maps that would drastically increase flood insurance costs, few Democrats or Republicans on the national level have agreed.Projected increases in flood insurance cost for those outside of hurricane protection defenses under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) are endangering the very existence of many coastal communities in Louisiana. Insurance costs are jumping to $20,000 per year for $100,000 home. Acadian towns like Chauvin are becoming depopulated and nobody either in the Biden or the previous Trump administration has caredCarter has conducted a lonely fight along with Steve Scalise, Garrett Graves, and Mike Johnson to bring attention to this critical problem. Hy and Christopher lament the lack of progress, and ask the audience to get involved.Our hosts continue to talk about the flooding in Asheville and Western North Carolina. Most people don’t realize that the area bears a striking resemblance to New Orleans in so far is that it is a bowl, and when floodwaters enter, they are very slow to leave. The example also emphasizes the fact that flood insurance is something that can affect everyone, from the coasts to the mountains.Later in the show, we talk about how LSU has benefited remarkably in the last couple of years from students matriculating from the northeast and from far out of state. Since 2/3 of college graduates tend to live near their campuses, we have to create new jobs to keep these bright minds in Louisiana. Elimination of the film, live performance, digital, music, and quality jobs tax credits could stop that potential job creation cold.The governor’s proposal for a flat tax eliminates those job creating tax credits. Jeff Landry doubled down on that proposal at the House Ways and Means committee meeting last Thursday, Oct 3, 2024  proposing a 3 percent flat tax on individuals, and a 3.5 percent flat tax on corporations. The administration also proposed elimination of the corporate franchise tax and major modifications to the inventory tax.Likewise, in order for Louisiana also to cover the loss of the $455 million in revenue produced from .45 percent sales tax expiring next year, Landry hopes to the legislature to eliminate nearly every tax benefit which goes to the cultural economy as well as many areas of industrial economic development— including the quality jobs credit. Could throwing out “the baby with bathwater” be the economic result of the tax reform?We can include the show talking about the visit of famed Churchill biographer Sonia Purnell to the Garden District Book Shop on Sunday, October 6 at 4 pm.  She is premiering her new book on Pamela Churchill Harriman Kingmaker.  The event is free and open to the public.  For more information call (504) 895-2266 or visit The Garden District Book Shop website.

Could enacting a flat tax forestall a larger tax cut and avoid a fiscal cliff for Louisiana? That is the apparent behind-the-scenes logic in the recent proposal put forward by the Landry administration last month, which Hy & Christopher explore on this week’s radio show.We also talk to Gary Mason of the Monumental Task Committee of the recent attempts to clean the Martin Luther King and Rev. Avery Alexander statues, as well as put up a new monument to the First World War soldiers. They are having a fundraiser raffling off Taylor Swift concert tickets— at better odds of winning than everyone else— at their website.We then move onto discussing the proposed LA Flat Tax. As Christopher Tidmore writes in the Louisiana Weekly:Quite a few observers were surprised when the governor’s revenue secretary, Richard Nelson, proposed the creation of a Louisiana flat income tax rate of 3.8 percent in the midst of a looming fiscal crisis next year. The increased revenue would allow Louisiana to cover the loss of the $455 million in revenue produced from .45 percent sales tax expiring next year – at least if he also convinces the legislature to eliminate nearly every tax benefit which goes to the cultural economy as well as the “Quality Jobs” program aiding industrial economic development.Now it appears that Landry’s flat tax proposal also serves a way to ward off an almost equally large income tax cut – instituted by the previous administration. A 2021 state law created a series of conditions, which when met would automatically reduce income tax rates “by multiplying each current rate by the difference between one and the percentage change in individual income tax collections in excess of the individual income tax collections for Fiscal Year 2018-2019 adjusted annually.”In layman’s terms, existing state law mandates an across-the-board income tax cut of approximately $200-$400 million (depending upon how the formula is calculated), and that would be on top of the automatic sales tax reduction – for an approximate $800-million deficit. This unforeseen tax cut came about because the circumstances which required fully funding the rainy day fund, earning a certain percentage increase in tax revenue, and other specific factors seemed incredibly unlikely to occur in 2021. In other words, the legislature passed a tax cut that they never thought would happen!However, Louisiana – for just one year – hit all of the unlikely fiscal qualifications requiring an automatic tax cut. Landry has been scrambling to offer another alternative, proposing a tax cut which would not blow a hole in 2025 budgetary revenues. His answer is to create a flat tax, and simultaneously, get rid of every business tax incentive program. In other words, kill the film, music, live performance, digital, economic development and other tax credit benefits as well as the Quality Jobs program—which gives tax subsidies to companies who invest in Louisiana.  Collectively, these programs cost the state about $1 billion a year (but keep our cultural economy alive as well).Through this method, Landry can cut the overall income tax rate even more than the 2021 law mandates, and at the same time allow the sales tax cut to occur. The cultural economy corporate community, from filmmakers to the music industry (who are not fans of Landry in the first place), pay the brunt of the bill – along with certain elements of the L.A.B.I. corporate/chemical/industrial community (who generally supported his GOP opponent Stephen Waguespack and depend upon the Quality Jobs credit). Louisiana’s poorest citizens would do better under Landry’s Flat Income Tax proposal than the across-the-board tax cut, with the first $12,500 of incomes completely eliminated from taxes instead of a fraction cut off from the current 1.85 percent income tax rate. The regressive .45 percent emergency sales tax, which was instituted eight years ago, would be allowed to expire under his plan as well.The richest Louisianans would see income taxes fall from 4.25 percent to 3.8 percent. Those making between $12,500 and $50,000 would see an increase from 3.5 percent to 3.8 percent. With the elimination of the tax incentives and the increase on the working-class, the Louisiana budget would approach balance, and Pelican State would fall near the bottom of the list in top income tax rates levied on a state-by-state basis, ahead of only Indiana and Pennsylvania. (Neighbors Texas, Florida, and Tennessee as well as Alaska, Nevada, South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming levy no state income tax.)Gov. Landry is expected to call a special session of the Louisiana Legislature in November to deal with tax reform and fiscal matters.

The General and Artistic Director of the New Orleans Opera Lila Palmer joins Hy and Christopher to talk Tosca— and how the Crescent City stands as the 1st City of Opera in the US - American opera got its start in New Orleans in 1796.Tosca is premiering at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts on Friday, September 27 at 7:30 with a matinee performance on Sunday, September 29 at 2:30.  Tickets are available at the box office.The New Orleans Opera will premiere its next production, Samson and Delilah, on November 8 and 10.  The show’s lead, Raehann Bryce, will also be providing a specially concert at the Opera Guild home in the Garden District on the evening of October 22.  More information at the New Orleans Opera website.

Hy and Christopher both sigh in relief on behalf of the City of New Orleans that Hurricane Francine was not worse. That does not mean that the thousands of homeowners without power or damaged by flooding do not deserve our help and prayers. However, this city could have had a much worse hurricane event, and that’s the subject of today’s show.  We are not prepared.Hy and Christopher point out that since Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana's levees have deteriorated. More importantly, there has been no move to put a floodgate at the Chef Pass and the Rigolets.  In other words, no barrier exists to stop storm surge from flowing into Lake Pontchartrain.  It is long past time for our politicians to examine this problem.We both acknowledge that the ABC Presidential Debate may actually change fewer opinions than most pundits believe, but Christopher notes that Taylor Swift’s endorsement could. Even if the pop singer does not get her legions of fans to register to vote, other votes could be changed thanks to a legion of concerned women in Louisiana writing postcards to mothers in Pennsylvania, urging them to vote for Kamala Harris.

Hy and Christopher tackle the upcoming presidential debate and an election that is, as Karl Rove calls it, “tight as a tick.”We talk about the fact that neither of the major presidential candidates even remotely care about looming deficits, and the Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver seems to be the only one talking about how government spending triggers inflation. We also ask whether pro-life conservatives, particularly in western Pennsylvania, will stay home amidst Donald Trump’s flip-flops on the Florida abortion rights election? That alone could swing the election.Speaking of flip-flops, we talk about Kamala Harris’ reversals on economic policy, fracking, and particularly the Biden tax increase proposals. Harris wishes to hike capital gains tax to 33% rather than 44%— as Biden proposed. Is that smaller tax increase enough to calm centrist voters, worried that tax increases could tank the economy. In other words, can a smaller tax jump allay enough of the financial fears of suburban swing voters that they will feel comfortable casting their ballots for the Democrats?Finally, we talk about the legacy of Denise Villere Schimek, philanthropist, businesswoman, and noted violinist & orchestra conductor.   Her funeral is Wednesday, September 11, at noon at Lake Lawn Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd.