Columns

By Allison Davidson Carpenter 

Every December, one of our festive traditions is a day trip to Natchitoches. We usually go on a Saturday in the middle of December, arriving in the early afternoon and enjoying all the festive flair that Front Street has to offer. Even though it’s typically extremely crowded, we meander through the people to shop at places like Dicken’s and Company, Kaffie-Frederick General Merchandise, and Southern Necessities.

By Stephen Waguespack

Let’s face it; it seems all we do is disagree these days. Whether the topic is the national elections, the role of government in society, the LSU football coach, taxation, violence in our cities or countless other policy debates; it seems like people just can’t agree on anything. However, now and then a topic comes around which should be a great unifier for us all. This week, I thought one of those topics finally came up. Boy, was I wrong.

By Stephen Waguespack

By Stephen Waguespack

In 1992, Bill Clinton was elected to be the 42nd President of the United States by riding a tidal wave of economic frustration and giving middle class voters a simple message to believe in by famously stating, “It’s the economy, stupid.”

In 2016, Hillary Clinton was defeated in her bid for the White House at least in part because of the presence of similar economic frustrations and her opponent offering middle-class voters an equally simple message of “Make America Great Again.”

By Stephen Waguespack

Rarely these days do we in Louisiana hear about the possibility of common ground and a win/win situation. During the legislative sessions earlier this year, we were told that key priorities like TOPS could be funded, but only with billions in new taxes on families and businesses. Expanding Medicaid was billed as the best way to improve health-care outcomes, though the costs of the program are growing exponentially and will continue to do so in the years ahead.

By Stephen Waguespack

Halloween has come and gone…or has it? We are still surrounded by scary characters belting out bone-rattling sounds that send chills down every spine and fear through every heart. Safety seems impossible to find and danger still lurks behind every corner. Tantalizing free stuff is still being given away almost on demand and excessive consumption of all that loot leaves many of us feeling ill. The harrowing truth we all can agree on is that this creepy fog doesn’t have a chance of lifting until election day on November 8th.