Woody Jenkins will embarrass Louisiana in Congress

If Republican Congressional candidate Woody Jenkins had his way more than 10 years ago, New Orleans might still be underwater - and our state would have had little if any help from the federal government in terms of hurricane relief. Considering Jenkins' past stated commitment to the abolition of many federal programs, the prospect of Jenkins in Congress presents a potential face to a state which would be utterly unrecognizable post Hurricane Katrina. In a Febuary 1995 speech delivered to the conservative group The Council for National Policy at Rancho Mirage, California, Jenkins advocated the abolition of the Departments of Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, Energy and Education as well as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Legal Services Corporation. "We want to do away with the programs, the bureaucrats and the cost of these agencies," Jenkins said. A cursory review of the programs provided by the aforementioned departments provides a view of what Louisiana would have lacked in hurricane relief had Jenkins and his cohorts had their way before the first time we deemed him unfit to serve in national public office. For example, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has provided tireless effort administering more than $11 billion in Community Development Block Grants. Their government Web site claims they are "helping thousands rebuild their homes and enabling communities to restore damaged public housing, promote affordable rental housing, and restore critical infrastructure." Additionally, the department has ensured continued transition from temporary to permanent housing for thousands of families who had no place to turn when rebuilding after the storms. Businesses would have found themselves scraping by alone as there would be no Department of Commerce to lend a helping hand. According to the Department of Commerce's Web site, Commerce is providing assistance are the "$128 million to assist local communities in rebuilding Gulf oysterbeds and conduct fisheries monitoring," "investing $4.5 million in partnership with the Gulf Coast states to support the recovery of manufacturers" and providing tax credits through the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act to "spur private business investment and economic development" - all in an effort to create additional business opportunities and jobs. Schools would have met no better fate. With no Department of Education, the almost "$2 billion to help reopen schools and educate displaced students" reported by the Department of Education would have been unavailable in a government that embraced Jenkins' radicalism as its fundamental principles. Perhaps, I thought, Jenkins wanted these departments done away with and the programs administered by another agency - consolidation to increase efficiency? Actually, no. Jenkins wants the programs done away with completely. "We do not favor the formal abolishing of a department while the people and programs are redistributed to other agencies," Jenkins said. "That's not the answer! We want to do away with the programs, the bureaucrats and the cost of these agencies." How could an elected official want to advocate for such devastating things? The answer is simple: Jenkins is a proud member of the most offensive wing of the Republican Party, and uses a thin veneer of ultra-fiscally conservative principles to mask his incredibly outlandish and extremist views on almost every social issue imaginable. Many fiscal conservatives hope to starve the federal government through cutting taxes for the rich and abolishing federal departments because of their belief that everyone should fend for themselves. Republicans like Jenkins believe there should be no federal government programs to help the most vulnerable and poor among us - presumably because being disadvantaged is prima facia evidence that these people do not deserve help in the first place. This hypocrisy fits in nicely with what the Christian conservative wing is asking - "What would Jesus Do?" I suspect Christ - who never helped or ministered to the poor - would find himself advocating the abolition of government departments which seek to provide assistance to those who would not otherwise be able to help themselves. Verily, he would turn the other cheek every time he turned his face away from the consequences of his abject failures as a leader of men. Jenkins words are not the kind of thing a politician should be allowed to distance himself from or spin away - they were published by a group specifically formed to promote free enterprise, national defense and support traditional values. The Council for National Policy is nonpartisan, organized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and exists to allow politicians of like mind to collaborate to achieve their goals. What is terrifying about Jenkins' views is that not only are they radical and antithetical to Louisiana's well-being, but according to the CNP, there are 450 members of this organization who appear to share them. So Louisiana has a choice May 3. We can send Jenkins - who has made a career espousing the most repugnant and radical views imaginable - to be our voice in Washington; undoubtedly an unwise choice given Jenkins' pre-Hurricane Katrina views on the need of government agencies and government assistance. Or we can actually show the rest of the country we as citizens reject the extremist and divisive politics that define both Jenkins' candidacy and life in the public sector.

---- Contact Donald Hodge Jr. at dhodge@lsureveille.com