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Breaking: Bobby Jindal Spent Hundreds Of Thousands Of Tax Dollars To Fight Gay Marriage (Exclusive)

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Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight same-sex marriage – and not all the bills have been paid yet.

As we are well aware, many attorneys general across the United States spent copious amounts of taxpayer money to defend state marriage bans. John Boehner spent millions at the federal level to defend DOMA. Louisiana AG Buddy Caldwell and Governor Bobby Jindal are no different.

Jindal, running for president, likes to claim he has “balanced our budget eight years in a row without raising taxes.” It’s not true.

In a time when Louisiana is fiscally broke, having to slash some higher education and hospital services, the amount of taxpayer money Bobby Jindal paid to the attorney fighting same-sex marriage rights could have been much better spent. 

According to his bio, “Kyle Duncan was formerly general counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, where he was lead counsel representing Hobby Lobby Stores in its challenge to the HHS mandate. He is now a lawyer in private practice for the firm of Duncan PLLC in Washington, D.C. Kyle was also previously solicitor general of Louisiana from 2008 to 2011, where he argued numerous appeals in state and federal courts, including the US Supreme Court. From 2004 to 2008 Duncan was an assistant professor of law at the University of Mississippi School of Law, where he taught courses on constitutional law, church-state relations, and free speech. He was assistant solicitor general in the Texas Attorney General’s Office from 1999 to 2002.”

In other words, Kyle Duncan is a high-powered and expensive lawyer charging Louisiana taxpayers at the rate of $385 an hour.

Along with colleagues, a public records request was made, and we now have contract details and the documents that break down the expenses Kyle Duncan charged Louisiana to defend the state’s unconstitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

Gov. Jindal wants to run for the highest office in the country, oblivious to the mess he’s created in his own state. How can he expect the American people to put any validity to his concern for all citizens of this country, when it’s obvious that he couldn’t even serve the people of Louisiana with dignity? He knowingly spent money that the state did not have, in defense of a ban that disenfranchises his own citizens. It’s not only a blatant disregard for all taxpayers across Louisiana, including the ones he was fighting against, but also for the state fiscal crisis as a whole. Yes, I know, the expenses aren’t into the million-dollar crisis range that faces this state, but they would have been better served if put to a better use.

My husband and I were some of those taxpayers that Jindal disenfranchised. Having filed the federal lawsuit, Robicheaux et. al., challenging Louisiana’s marriage ban in July 2013, we’ve been fighting the governor and his officers for the last 24 months. We’ve been forced to file our taxes separately due to the ban that was in place and have those tax dollars used against us.

Even when the Supreme Court ruled for same-sex marriage Governor Jindal chose to go the route of grand standing for his failing political aspirations, rather than step aside and let the law of the land stand. It was not until the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals remanded to the District Court to reverse its original ruling and instruct the state officers to comply with issuing and recognizing marriage licenses that same-sex couples were able to marry.

In my opinion, this man is not fit to continue his duties as Louisiana Governor, much less have a chance at the Oval Office.

The dust has settled in Louisiana on this matter, but the taxpayers will continue to suffer for the fiscal crisis that Jindal will leave behind. Even those of us that had our tax money spent in the fight against us.

So, how much money did Governor Jindal blow on fighting cases he had to have known he would lose, just to prop up his conservative bonafides when running for president?

$371,548.63

And that’s only through March of this year.

Below are the documents received from our the records request that show all the money Gov. Jindal spent, through March. 

Attorney Hourly Fees – $360,456.25

Total Fees Billed – $371,548.63

See records request here or below.

Image at top by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license

 

derek.jpgDerek Penton-Robicheaux is a native of Mississippi and a longtime resident of New Orleans.  He holds degrees in computer information systems and paramedicine.  After more than five years together, Derek and his husband, Jonathan Penton-Robicheaux, were legally married in Iowa on Sept. 23, 2012. The two were the first plaintiffs involved in the federal marriage Lawsuit in Louisiana, Robicheaux et al. v Caldwell.

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‘Disgraceful’: ICE Slammed After Allegedly Pepper-Spraying US Congresswoman

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U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) is accusing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents of pepper-spraying her in her face while she was at a local Tucson, Arizona restaurant.

Rep. Grijalva in a video on social media said she saw about 40 mostly-masked ICE agents at a restaurant she frequents weekly.

The agents were “in several vehicles that the community had stopped right here, right in the middle of the street, because they were afraid that they were taking people without due process, without any kind of notice.”

READ MORE: Warning Signs Flash as Trump Slump Raises Fears of 2018 Blue Wave Rerun: Conservative

She said that the community was “protecting their people” when she was “sprayed in the face by a very aggressive agent,” and “pushed around by others when I literally was not being aggressive.”

“I was asking for clarification, which is my right as a member of Congress,” she continued. “So, once I introduced myself, once I did, I assumed that it would be a little calmer, but there was literally only one person that was trying to speak to me in any kind of civil tone, and everyone else was being rude and disrespectful, and I just can only imagine if they’re going to treat me like that, how they’re treating everybody else.”

Congresswoman Grijalva said she saw “people directly sprayed,” including “members of our press” and staff members.

She blasted President Donald Trump, saying that he “has no regard for any due process, the rule of law, the Constitution — they’re literally disappearing people from the streets.”

Critics slammed the agents’ action.

READ MORE: Trump: Democrats Are Plotting ‘Total Obliteration’ of Supreme Court

U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) wrote that Rep. Grijalva “was doing her job, standing up for her community.”

“Pepper-spraying a sitting member of Congress is disgraceful, unacceptable, and absolutely not what we voted for. Period,” he added.

“This is unacceptable and outrageous,” observed Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. “Enforcing the rule [of] law does not mean pepper spraying a member of Congress for simply asking questions. Effective law enforcement requires restraint and accountability, not unchecked aggression.”

The Bulwark’s Sam Stein noted, “quite the beginning for Grijalva, who wasn’t seated for weeks, [cast] the decisive vote to get the Epstein files, and now has apparently been pepper sprayed in the face by immigration agents.”

Also calling the action “outrageous,” U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) wrote: “We are Members of Congress with oversight authority of ICE. Rep Grijalva was completely within her rights to stand up for her constituents. ICE is completely lawless.”

“First they tackle a sitting Senator,” noted U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY). “Now they’re pepper spraying a Representative. It’s clear ICE is spinning out of control. We will hold the agency accountable.”

READ MORE: Trump’s Ballroom Seen as ‘Key Evidence’ He’s Out of Touch as Cost of Living Spikes

 

Image via Reuters 

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Warning Signs Flash as Trump Slump Raises Fears of 2018 Blue Wave Rerun: Conservative

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A well-known conservative commentator has a warning for the Republican Party: take action now or face a repeat of the 2018 midterms when the GOP lost 41 House seats in a landslide. And this time, he says, the Senate could go to the Democrats as well.

Award-winning writer and journalist Bernard Goldberg reminded readers at The Hill that in 2018, during President Donald Trump’s first term, “Republicans got walloped … and a good chunk of that had President Trump’s name written all over it.”

Trump’s “approval ratings were in the low 40s, and independents — the folks who usually decide elections — had seen enough. They broke hard for the Democrats,” Goldberg noted. “Now here we are, staring down 2026, and you can almost hear history clearing its throat, getting ready to repeat itself.”

READ MORE: Trump: Democrats Are Plotting ‘Total Obliteration’ of Supreme Court

Goldberg noted that Trump’s approval rating is currently the lowest it’s been this term.

“Among Republicans, his support dropped from 91 percent right after the 2024 election to 84 percent last month. Among independents, it cratered — from 42 percent to just 25 percent.”

“If the trend continues,” he warned, “Republicans could be headed for another blue wave — and this time, it could wash away not just the House majority, but control of the Senate too.”

Why?

“It’s the economy — still,” he wrote.

“Trump is out there saying the economy is humming. Biden said the same thing before him. But voters didn’t buy it then, and they’re not buying it now. Why? Because it’s not GDP numbers that matter. It’s affordability,” Goldberg noted.

READ MORE: Trump’s Ballroom Seen as ‘Key Evidence’ He’s Out of Touch as Cost of Living Spikes

That’s a word that President Trump continues to call a “con job,” while his own administration tries to claim he is focused on.

He pointed to a Karl Rove Wall Street Journal column and wrote: “The Republicans may have ‘avoided disaster’ in Tennessee, but the result should be a wake-up call for Republicans. He’s right.”

Goldberg asked: “will anyone in the Republican Party actually pick up the phone?”

“Because if Republicans don’t wake up — and fast — they’re going to find out the hard way what happens when you keep rerunning the same movie and expecting a different ending. To lose in 2026, all they have to do is nothing. And right now, that’s pretty much what they’re doing.”

READ MORE: Trump Urges Judge Aileen Cannon to Keep Jack Smith Report Secret

 

 

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Trump: Democrats Are Plotting ‘Total Obliteration’ of Supreme Court

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President Donald Trump is claiming that the top priority of Democrats is the “total obliteration” of the U.S. Supreme Court. His remarks came just hours after SCOTUS gave Republicans a 6-3 win along partisan lines, in the form of approving Texas’s redrawn mid-decade congressional maps that could help add five GOP-held seats to the U.S. House of Representatives. A lower court had ruled the redrawn Texas maps were likely racially biased.

Although there are different ways to measure, one study by Court Accountability this fall found that the Supreme Court has ruled in Trump’s favor 90% of the time.

“Most of these wins for the president came from the court’s ‘shadow docket’ slate of opinions — where the court has typically, in the past, only ruled on administrative measures,” according to Truthout. “However, in recent years, the Supreme Court has been making announcements on cases, issuing injunctions or allowances of actions to remain in place, that have the same effect, essentially, as a final decision.”

READ MORE: White House Touts Trump’s ‘Track Record’ on Affordability

On Friday, the president declared that the “Democrats number one policy push is the complete and total OBLITERATION of our great United States Supreme Court.”

“They will do this on their very first day in office, through the simple Termination of the Filibuster, SHOULD THEY WIN THE UPCOMING ELECTIONS,” he wrote.

Trump has strongly advocated for Republicans to eliminate the Senate filibuster.

“The Radical Left Democrats are looking at 21 Justices, with immediate ascension,” he wrote, claiming that Democrats would more than double the current size of the court.

“This would be terrible for our Country. Fear not, however, Republicans will not let it, or any of their other catastrophic policies, happen. Our Country is now in very good hands. MAGA!!!”

Some court reform advocates have suggested the Supreme Court be expanded to 13 justices, one for each of the thirteen U.S. Courts of Appeals.

READ MORE: Trump’s Ballroom Seen as ‘Key Evidence’ He’s Out of Touch as Cost of Living Spikes

 

Image via Reuters 

 

 

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