We're Stuck With Gay-Obsessed Congressional Garbage Like John Fleming (R-LA) Because Of Steve Israel

John Fleming's wig is REALLY anti-gay

John Fleming represents the most backward district of Louisiana, CD-04, way up in the northwest where Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana meet. His two congressional neighbors are Texas psychopaths Louie Gohmert and Steve Stockman, an OK City bombing suspect. It's a large rural, desolate area with just one city, Shreveport-- and that's where Fleming does worst electorally. Not that any Democrat is going to win there any time soon. In 2012 no Democrat even ran and Fleming's opponent was a Libertarian. Once the home of now retired GOP closet case Jim McCrery, the 4th gave Romney a 59-39.7% win over Obama, slightly worse than the whole state, which gave Romney a 58-41% win. Caddo County (Shreveport), however, was one of only 10 Louisiana parishes Obama won.

Fleming couldn't always afford his expensive toupee. He's from a dirt-poor Mississippi family and worked his way through a Naval Medical School. He became wealthy as the owner of 33 Subway sandwich shops and by developing UPS stores in Louisiana, Texas and his native Mississippi (which helps explain his crusade to shut down the U.S. Post office). Before running for Congress, when McCrery retired, Fleming had only run for coronor of Webster Parish. Now a member of Michele Bachmann's Tea Party Caucus, Fleming is best known for his flat tax mania and his virulent homophobia.

If the DCCC had a competent chairman instead of a congenital loser like Steve Israel, he would be working on a long term plan to win back LA-04 instead of just ignoring it in the current cycle. But Nancy Pelosi reappointed Steve Israel-- as reward for his disastrous performance in 2012, while the DSCC's Patty Murray was wiping the floor with the Republicans, despite having a much, much more difficult hand dealt her. She's smart. Israel isn't... he's just, in Pelosi's admiring words, "sufficiently reptilian."

Wednesday night, Ken delved a little into that virulent homophobia that helps define John Fleming. Fleming proposed an amendment that allows for "Christian" soldiers to harrass thier gay comrades without fear of reprisal. I know it doesn't sound real and it doesn't make any sense, but Fleming and his conservative colleagues who poassed that thing are very sick people. Buck McKeon's House Armed Services Committee passed it with a vote of 33-26. If this becomes law, the "conscience provision" would protect discriminatory speech and actions and leave commanders with no recourse against prejudicial conduct when it occurs in their units.

[I]f you're a right-wing warrior for Christian psychotic savagery, you understand that a law to require the military to dance to your puppet strings trumps some Kenyan socialist fake president burbling aout Pentagon assurances that it won't "permit or condone discriminatory actions that compromise good order and discipline or otherwise violate military codes of conduct."

...You'd like to think that a purposeless and dangerous bit of congressional chicanery like Fleming's can't survive the Congressional conference resolution process. But then, you never know. What price might saner legislators have to pay to make sure it stays out of any final bill? And in the end, who's to say it won't be judge worth the price required to suppress it. You know, the way a certain U.S. president looked the other way when he signed the original "conscience provision" into law.

In Louisiana they know conscience when they see it, and LA's John Fleming thinks it's a great weapon for fighting sanity in our military planning

Right-wing pols who have no conscience in real life like to play-act having one when they pretend to be legislators.

by Ken

What do you do when you look in the mirror and see staring back at you a toxic pool of sludge beyond any possibility of human worth? One solution is to become a jackbooted Christian warrior for ignorance and savagery.

Take Rep. John Fleming (R-LA). Please.

As Chris Johnson reports in the Washington Blade:

A House panel on Wednesday approved as part of major defense legislation an amendment that would make it easier for troops to harass their gay comrades without fear of reprisal.

The amendment, introduced by Rep. John Fleming (R-La.), was approved by the Republican-controlled House Armed Services Committee by a vote of 33-26 as part of the fiscal year 2014 defense authorization bill.

Fleming's measure would expand the "conscience provision" in that already exists in defense law. It would protect discriminatory speech and actions and leave commanders with no recourse against prejudicial conduct when it occurs in their units.

Further, the measure requires the Pentagon to implement regulations within 120 days after the bill becomes law. The defense secretary must consult with "official military faith-group representatives who endorse military chaplains" before the regulations are issued.

What, you ask, is this "conscience provision"? If you have any empathey with right-wing thought processes, you can probably guess that it's an instance of enforced right-wing hooliganism engineered by right-wing thugs whose minds are free of any trace of actual human conscience. Here's Chris Johnson again:

President Obama signed the existing "conscience provision" under Section 533 as part of the Fiscal Year 2013 Defense Authorization Act. At the time of the signing, Obama called it "unnecessary" and said he was signing the defense package under assurances the Pentagon wouldn't "permit or condone discriminatory actions that compromise good order and discipline or otherwise violate military codes of conduct."

But of course if you're a right-wing warrior for Christian psychotic savagery, you understand that a law to require the military to dance to your puppet strings trumps some Kenyan socialist fake president burbling aout Pentagon assurances that it won't "permit or condone discriminatory actions that compromise good order and discipline or otherwise violate military codes of conduct."

According to Chris Johnson's report:

Ian Thompson, legislative representative for the American Civil Liberties Union, said "it is disappointing" the House panel approved "this dangerous amendment" as part of the defense authorization bill.

"It is, quite frankly, puzzling why a majority of members on this committee would support a measure that has the potential to make it more difficult for commanders to responsibly deal with problems regarding conduct that undermines longstanding prohibitions against harassment," Thompson said.

The point about forcing the Pentagon to undermine its own commanders was made more broadly by Allyson Robinson, executive director of the LGBT military group OutServe-SLDN (who herself is an Army veteran):

"This amendment takes an authority this nation has entrusted to commanders in the field since its founding – the authority to exercise appropriate control over their troops' 'actions or speech' to maintain good order and discipline – and puts it in the hands of politicians in Washington," Robinson said. "As someone who has led soldiers in the field, I can tell you that is an untenable situation."

But of course a pile of sludge like Representative Fleming doesn't know or care about how the military operates, just that the military submit to the will of the Crap Christian Crazies. Of course what they're doing end-running around the hated repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and maybe even engineer some reversal of DADT repeal.

You'd like to think that a purposeless and dangerous bit of congressional chicanery like Fleming's can't survive the Congressional conference resolution process. But then, you never know. What price might saner legislators have to pay to make sure it stays out of any final bill? And in the end, who's to say it won't be judge worth the price required to suppress it. You know, the way a certain U.S. president looked the other way when he signed the original "conscience provision" into law.

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Today's Most Hateful Republican Stooge: John Fleming (R-LA)

Fleming's not right about much but he's got this part right

Congressman John Fleming is a reactionary Republican freshman from Minden, Louisiana who beat a reactionary Democrat last year and now represents the 4th congressional district in the western part of the state, nestled between Texas and Arkansas. He won his seat by 356 votes, the closest contest of the year, making him the second Republican who's held the seat since Reconstruction. Fleming, a former coroner, is also the CEO of the Fleming Group, which has acquired 30 Subway restaurants and holds the franchise licenses for 135 UPS Shipping Stores. According to yesterday's Shreveport Times Fleming is not just adamantly opposed to health care reform as a congressman, as a business owner, he's careful to follow worst employment practices to make sure he doesn't contribute to most of his 500 employees' health care.

Chris Whittington, chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party, pointed out that Fleming himself, who made over $5 million for himself last year, "is making a killing as CEO while his employees are forced into the ranks of the uninsured. Fleming continues to side with insurance companies who are making outrageous profits at the expense of his own employees and constituents.” The few employees who do qualify for health care, pay a $3,300 deductible.

Fleming's record on health care is consistent; he always votes against working families. Last February one of his first votes in Congress was to oppose SCHIP, which passed by a 290 -135 bipartisan landslide and brought medical insurance to 11 million needy children. A month later he reiterated his anti-family stance by voting against making investments to bring America’s health care system into the 21st Century, and before the House took off for the summer he voted against a bill that will help local governments prepare for the expected swine flu epidemic.

One of the poorer districts in Louisiana, the median income is only $31,085 and there are 141,000 uninsured people, 122,000 of whom would be eligible for the kind of high-quality, affordable health insurance that Fleming the employer won't help his employees with and that Fleming the congressman adamantly opposes his own constituents getting. You'd think that a guy who squeaked in by 356 votes a year ago wouldn't want to piss off 141,000 people in one shot. The House Energy and Commerce Committee took a good look at how the passage of HR 3200 would effect LA-04. And if ever there was a congressman who should be for this bill, it's the congressman who represents this part of Louisiana.

• Help for small businesses. Under the legislation, small businesses with 25 employees or less and average wages of less than $40,000 qualify for tax credits of up to 50% of the costs of providing health insurance. There are up to 11,500 small businesses in the district that could qualify for these credits.

• Help for seniors with drug costs in the Part D donut hole. Each year, 6,100 seniors in the district hit the donut hole and are forced to pay their full drug costs, despite having Part D drug coverage. The legislation would provide them with immediate relief, cutting brand name drug costs in the donut hole by 50%, and ultimately eliminate the donut hole.

• Health care and financial security. There were 2,100 health care-related bankruptcies in the district in 2008, caused primarily by the health care costs not covered by insurance. The bill provides health insurance for almost every American and caps annual out-of-pocket costs at $10,000 per year, ensuring that no citizen will have to face financial ruin because of high health care costs.

• Relieving the burden of uncompensated care for hospitals and health care providers. In 2008, health care providers in the district provided $159 million worth of uncompensated care, care that was provided to individuals who lacked insurance coverage and were unable to pay their bills. Under the legislation, these costs of uncompensated care would be virtually eliminated.

• Coverage of the uninsured. There are 141,000 uninsured individuals in the district, 22% of the district. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that nationwide, 97% of all Americans will have insurance coverage when the bill takes effect. If this benchmark is reached in the district, 122,000 people who currently do not have health insurance will receive coverage.

• No deficit spending. The cost of health care reform under the legislation is fully paid for: half through making the Medicare and Medicaid program more efficient and half through a surtax on the income of the wealthiest individuals. This surtax would affect only 1,870 households in the district. The surtax would not affect 99.3% of taxpayers in the district.

Someone living in this part of the state would have to be either a multimillionaire like Fleming or plumb crazy to even consider voting to re-elect him next year.

Louisiana Shockers

Crooked congressman defeated

I never root for Republicans to win elections. And I never root for reactionary Democrats dragged up from deep in the bowels of the Republican wing of the Democratic Party either. Nor do I root for corrupt members of Congress, regardless of ideology. So I was pretty much sidelined in today's two late Louisiana elections. (They were postponed because of hurricanes.) In LA-04 Democrats hoped to pick up a very red district being vacated by Jim McCrery by running a right-wing anti-choice fanatic, Paul Carmouche. He was unable to generate any enthusiasm from many African Americans and whatever progressives live in Shreveport and he was edged out by a much further right wing extremist loon, John Fleming, 44,497 (48.07%)- 44,141 (47.69%).

Carmouche crushed Fleming in Shreveport itself (Caddo Parish)-- 22,742 to 15,510-- but it wasn't enough to overcome Fleming's lead Bossier, Vernon, Sabine, Grant, and Beauregard Parishes. Remember, this district went for McCain over Obama by 19%.

Meanwhile, way at the other end of the state, Democrats are getting a good lesson from Anh Cao, a Republican attorney. In light turnout the overwhelmingly Democratic district-- with a PVI of D+28-- is telling Democrats that forced to pick between an honest moderate Republican and a crooked moderate Democrat, they're going for the Republican. Things could change but right now, with 391 precincts reporting (out of 492), Jefferson is having his head handed to him. Cao is an anti-choice fanatic.

Cao- 29,345 (52.94%)
Jefferson- 23,985 (43.27%)

All the votes from Jefferson Parish are counted and Cao beat Jefferson 12,696 to 8,099. Orleans Parish is a much more Democratic and a much more African-American area and it is still not inconceivable that Jefferson will catch up, but I wouldn't bet on it. CNN just called it for Cao and most political junkies are doing likewise. If Cao wants to stay in Congress beyond 2010, he should switch parties when he makes his victory speech. You can follow the results on the Secretary of State's website.


UPDATE: FINAL RESULTS IN LA-02

Cao- 33,122 (49.55%)
Jefferson- 31,296 (46.82)

The Times-Picayune reports that Jefferson hasn't conceded but that he went on the radio and blamed African Americans for not turning out for him in sufficient numbers. Instead of wondering if they were sick of his corruption, he says they "ran out of juice."

Carmouche won't concede either-- and in his case that might not be a bad decision. It's very close and he wants to make sure all the provisional ballots get counted.