The Sterile Mind Of John LaBruzzo

Louisiana State Representative John LaBruzzo is back and he's still fighting for welfare correction! You may remember his plan to sterilize "low income" women to "end generational welfare abuse." If not, here's a refresher course: Johnny would have the State pay $1000 to women on welfare if they volunteer to have their tubes tied. He also plans to give tax breaks to the right kind of people, (wealthy, educated people,) if they promise to breed more. What's different now is that LaBruzzo claims to have "overwhelming support" for his plan and he's currently shaping it into legislation for the 2009 session. According to Johnny, he's received "hundreds of e-mails" in support for his plan.

Hundreds! Wow. What does that mean? 200? 500? 666? Let's be nice and say 500, but of course not all of those are going to be from residents of District 81. There are bound to be well-wishers and supporters from nearby areas and across the state, so let's put the number at a generous (I think) 300.

District 81 is an oddly shaped district, (aren't they all?) encompassing Fat City, Old Metairie and Bucktown. According to the most recently updated figures on the LA House website (from the 2000 Census) there are 44,560 residents in the district, 40,465 of which are white. There are 1431 blacks, 1450 Asians, 2822 Hispanics and 1214 others. Wait, Add those up and you get 51,477. So much for the reliability of the Census, eh? Whatever the real numbers are, it's clear that this is a heavily gerrymandered district with respect to race.

Now let's look at the registered voters. The state numbers actually add up correctly to 30,306 registered voters; 27,872 whites, 641 Blacks and 1793 others. There are 10,801 Democrats, 13,746 Republicans and 5759 others. (Congratulations to the state and a gold star for math!)

Now let's put this information to use. 30,306 registered voters versus 300 e-mails. Why that's an amazing 0.98990299 percent! Wow! It's a virtual freaking landslide! Almost a whole percentage point! How impressive! Of course, virtually all of Johnny's co-workers in Baton Rouge think the plan is abhorrent, as does the local Catholic community, but that's just a testament to Johnny's can-do spirit and his will to make the world a little whiter! Sorry, that's a typo, that should read "a little brighter." I wouldn't want anyone to think the Honorable Mr LaBruzzo was a racist.

For those of you who are interested, you can let John LaBruzzo know your thoughts on this matter:

DISTRICT 81 OFFICE
3331 Severn Ave., Ste. 204
Metairie, LA 70002

LEGISLATIVE AIDE
Martha Post

(504)833-7788
(504)212-7644 (Fax)

E-MAIL
larep081@legis.state.la.us