VOTER GUIDE!

Looks sort of official with the state seal and all, but if you read the fine print, you see the guide is from Louisiana Family Forum. Thanks, but no thanks. I will not follow your guidance.

Louisiana Family Forum is an organization committed to defending faith, freedom and the traditional family in the great state of Louisiana!
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Our Mission…

To persuasively present biblical principles in the centers of influence on issues affecting the family through research, communication and networking.

Yes, I know. LFF commands, and Bobby Jindal obeys. I had a laugh when the group noted that neither Sen. Mary Landrieu nor Edwin Edwards responded to their questionnaire. Former Gov. Edwards is the lone Democrat among 12 candidates in my 6th District, so he will get my vote.

Here's my friend Lamar White on Louisiana Family Forum.

The Louisiana Family Forum is the most powerful and successful lobbying organization in a state brimming with lobbyists and special interests , and Gene Mills, its President, is arguably Louisiana’s single most powerful registered lobbyist.
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Even though he has never been elected to public office, Mills talks like someone who believes he controls the legislature, someone who thinks he possesses the same type of veto authority as the Governor, and it’s not puffery: He does.

ANTI-BULLYING BILL FAILS IN LOUISIANA HOUSE

State Rep. John Bel Edwards speaking in favor of the bill. (Advocate staff photo by Arthur D Lauck)

From the Advocate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana:

Legislation designed to define what constitutes bullying among school students died in the Louisiana House on Thursday amid complaints that it would promote gay lifestyles.

The Louisiana Family Forum, which calls itself a voice for traditional families by pushing biblical principles, characterized House Bill 112 as a homosexual agenda.

The organization issued notes to lawmakers alleging that the legislation would introduce sexual orientation into the classroom.

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All right. I'm all done banging my head on the keyboard.

When I read about the Louisiana Family Forum and its influence on so very many of the legislators in Louisiana, smoke comes out of my ears.

HB112 fell 10 votes short of passage, with 43 lawmakers voting for it and 54 voting against it.

The legislation’s sponsor, state Rep. Austin Badon, said the Louisiana Family Forum intimidated lawmakers.

“The hate spilled out — the ignorance of the fact that there are gays and lesbians all over the world,” Badon, D-New Orleans, said after the bill failed to pass.

Bravo to Rep. Badon and to all 43 legislators who stood against the bullying tactics of the Louisiana Family Forum.

State Rep. Patricia Smith struggled to keep her voice at a normal volume when she rose from her House desk to respond to Seabaugh’s amendment.

Smith, D-Baton Rouge and a former School Board member, accused Seabaugh of diminishing the hateful words that are used to bully children.

“I am very upset by what you just said because I do not like Family Forum. I will state it here right now on the floor. I do not like Family Forum … because their perception of anything that’s different from what they perceive is that they feel it’s always going to be taught to children,” Smith said.

Amen, and amen, and amen!

I see hope in this outcome, because getting 43 votes in favor of the bill in the Louisiana House is more than I would have expected. Maybe next time.

From the website of Louisiana Family Forum:

Our Mission is to persuasively present biblical principles in the centers of influence on issues affecting the family through research, communication and networking.