The People's [Censored], Issue 2

Issue 2 April 2012 OCCUPY BATON ROUGE OccupyBR.com

Free

The biggest threat to paid speech is free speech.

EXCLUSIVE!!!!!!!! For-profit, self-appointed “Independent Voice of South Louisiana” apparently has area monopoly on [censored]ing censored

BY BEN VITELLI Occupy Baton Rouge On January 23, only one day after the release of the first issue of Occupy Baton Rouge’s monthly newsletter “The People’s [Censored],” the OBR Censored email account received a message from the head editor of the [Censored]-the Baton Rouge daily newspaper, not the gay rights magazine (just so you’re not confused). An excerpt of his email: "While I am flattered that you have copied The [Censored]’s banner and, Censored to an extent, our standard front page design, I must ask you to come up with a new format for your newsletter. As currently presented, your newsletter could cause confusion among your readers that The [Censored] Censored newspaper and the Occupy Baton Rouge movement are somehow connected. I believe it infringes on our copyright and trademark. While we support free speech and free press, we also must maintain our position as a publication that is not aligned with any particular group or movement.”

While it seemed almost impossible that anyone would confuse our online monthly newsletter with the Baton Rouge daily, one of our editors replied to their request, stating that though our independent paper was largely protected as parody, we would add a disclaimer to our front page. To be perfectly frank, we were a bit surprised the people at the [Censored] Censored were still aware of our existence, let alone regu-

larly checking our website and Facebook page for updates. Since our attempted “Move-In Day” last Black Friday, when half the Baton Rouge Police Department decided to use their holiday weekend and LSU-Arkansas game day to monitor the couple dozen protestors hanging out at Arsenal Park, there had been a considerable absence of coverage of our many actions in the [Censored].

Censored This is sadly the way the goldfishattention spanned mainstream media works, folks. Something is “In” for awhile—it’s fresh and exciting and new, and then suddenly The Next Big Thing comes along and whatever was so important three weeks ago is forgotten about and left by the wayside, continuity be damned. It’s a travesty, and it’s a phenomenon that unfortunately stretches far beyond the reaches of our friends at the [Censored].

Censored While we were initially somewhat thrown off by the [Censored]’s comCensored plaints against our paper, we found being back on their radar for such a trivial technicality slightly flattering. Our newsletter, which hadn’t been up for more than a week, was already receiving threats from high places. The common consensus amongst our members was that we must be doing something right if our modest efforts were still pissing off the Old Guard.

Then, the following week, the [Censored] Censored attacked again. Our email account received a letter from someone introducing himself as a lawyer for

Capital City Press, the owners of the [Censored], Censored and was accompanied by a formal demand letter. The three page letter was a threat addressed to one of our members specifically by name. The lawyers spent a lot of time defining “parody” (as well as condescendingly referring us to the Onion which, apparently, is the pinnacle of parody) and ended with the demand under legal threat that we do the following: “(i) immediately and permanently terminating any further marketing, promotion and/or use of the term ‘The [Censored],’ Censored including any and all confusingly similar or related derivations of the mark; “(ii) immediately and permanently removing any and all references and/ or use of the ‘The [Censored]’ Censored trade name/trademark on your website located at http://occupybr.com/, including all associated webpages, and/or elsewhere on the Internet; “(iii) immediately and permanently terminating any and all further use, display, circulation or distribution of any promotions, advertisements, publications, content and/or marketing that includes any reference to ‘The [Censored]’; Censored “(iv) signifying your binding acceptance of these terms by signing and returning this consent agreement to undersigned counsel by no later than February 14, 2012...

With enthusiasm, a ‘yes’ for CATS

☛ PAGE 2

Bobby’s world

☛ PAGE 2

Letter to the editor: Education reform

☛ PAGE 3

Louisiana’s hidden state budget

☛ PAGE 5

State classified employees’ lobbying rights

☛ PAGE 6

What we’re watching: Freakonomics: The Movie

☛ PAGE 7

More inside...

☛ See CENSORED, page 7

The People’s [Censored] Censored is a publication produced by participants in Occupy Baton Rouge. The People’s [Censored] Censored does not—and could not—represent anyone except its participants.

We are in no way affiliated with the [Censored] Censored or their corporate overlords Capitol City Press. The views of the authors are their own.

Censored 2  April 2012  The People’s [Censored]

With enthusiasm, a ‘yes’ for CATS

BY SOPHI KUNEN AND BRYAN PERKINS Occupy Baton Rouge Many of you may have read the [Censored]’s editorial against the Censored CATS tax. This really shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Why would a business that’s owned by one of the richest families in town—the Manships, literally THE 1% in Baton Rouge—want to pay for something that doesn’t give them an immediate and direct return on their money?

Ok, so it’s really not surprising that the corporate-owned newspaper is against a tax that would sustain a public service. But, the reasoning behind their “reluctance” to support the CATS proposal is fallacious at best.

The [Censored] Censored complains that the taxing districts are unfair because not every single area that will benefit from transit will get taxed. They imply, citing supporters of the tax, that the voting districts were gerrymandered, all the time ignoring the fact that holding the election parishwide—as has been done in the past—would mean that there is only a 60% correspondence between the CATS service areas and

BY BEN VITELLI Occupy Baton Rouge When Piyush Jindal was four years old, he nicknamed himself “Bobby,” after his favorite character on the Brady Bunch. But, based on the way he would run his dictatorship over Louisiana, little Piyush should have probably chosen Jan--the bratty, selfcentered middle-child--as his Brady Bunch model.

Like many politicians, Jindal has an enormous ego. And, like many politicians, Jindal is highly ambitious--

the voting/taxing areas. Holding the election in the cities of Baton Rouge, Baker, and Zachary—as it is being done this time—gives a 95% correspondence.

Censored won’t tell you But, the [Censored] that. They won’t tell you that the CATS board has no control over the city limits. They won’t tell you that 40% of voters who don’t even live in the service area would still have to pay the tax if it passed parishwide instead of citywide.

No, they aren’t really concerned with fairness, they are concerned with their own bottom line.

Now, would it be great if we could include the Mall of Louisiana in the taxing district? Sure, we’d love to give them the opportunity to help supply Baton Rouge with a much-needed public service. But that’s simply not an option at this point in time, and it’s certainly not a reason to vote against this tax and for the death of CATS. As you can see, our friends at the [Censored] Censored really have no argument against the tax. In fact, they explicitly state that they have “long supported the idea that Baton Rouge’s public transit system needs a dedicated source of funding in order to reach its potential”, citing their support of the

previous CATS tax proposals. It’s funny, though, that they thought having 40% of those voters pay for a public transportation system that doesn’t even reach their city was fair, but this one isn’t.

Beyond that, their argument amounts to nothing more than hand waving about the mechanics of the plan. They are afraid that having a separate measure in each city might “further balkanize parish government”.

If you ask us, it’s not really that “puzzling” of a plan. The altruism expected of Baker and Zachary voters by the [Censored] Censored is what’s confusing.

Why should Baker and Zachary still receive full services if they don’t pass the tax? And, since the vast majority of CATS riders live in Baton Rouge, if it fails here how would it make financial sense to continue services in Baker and Zachary?

That’s all the [Censored] Censored has. No to the CATS tax because it’s not a fair taxing area, even though it better corresponds with the ridership than previous CATS tax measures they have already supported...

his plans for the presidency in 2016 (or vice-presidency this winter) are no secret to anyone.

Indeed, one could view Jindal’s entire tenure as governor as the ultimate exercise of selfpromotion, his goal always being a seat in The White House.

Even the title of his book Leadership and Crisis reeks of presidential ambition.

Jindal climbed to the top of Louisiana government on the backlash against the corruption and mismanagement which plagued post-Katrina Louisiana. The image he likes to present of himself is that of a capable and visionary leader, willing to take any course of action if it means doing What’s Right.

Yet, the image of Jindal propped up by the media and his administration is far from that of the reasoned, well-thought out conservative figure he cuts himself out to be and more attuned to that of a

young bully not used to not getting his own way.

Jindal takes his media ascribed status as future Republican frontrunner very seriously, and whatever he views as a threat to his future candidacy is not taken lightly. Time and time again, voices within his administration who publicly disagree with his politics are quietly shoved out the door, while those he cannot directly control (like the teachers who were prevented from testifying in midMarch) are just not given a voice at all. His almost-Stalinlike purge of anyone willing to speak out against him and his policies has created an environment of fearful silence within the halls of Louisiana state government.

And, like most tyrants, this silence and fear to speak up are precisely what Jindal needs for his plans to succeed.

Jindal’s propensity for firing anyone who disagrees with his policies has become such a common phenomenon that it’s necessitated the creation of a word: Teague... ☛ See BOBBY, page 8

☛ See CATS, page 12

Censored  April 2012  3 The People’s [Censored]

Letter to the Editor The following was submitted to the Peoples [Censored] on March 22.

With our recent censorship troubles, it took us until today to finally get it printed. What you are about to read is a letter that Lottie Beebe, a boardmember from district 3 on the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), submitted to her local newspaper. That newspaper refused to print the letter. We here at the People’s [Censored] believe in giving everyone a voice, and as such here is her letter in full.

PREFACE: Out of professional courtesy, it was my intent to address you directly, Senator Appel, and present this information to the Senate Education Committee on March 15th; however, I was not afforded the opportunity to address SB 603. Other BESE members who were proponents of SB 603 were indeed allowed to speak. I have chosen this venue to communicate my concerns.

Dear Editor: While much has been said about accountability regarding traditional public schools, I think it is time for accountability in areas outside of the education arena. To quote Senator Appel, Senate Education Committee Chairman, in a letter to his Senate colleagues, “crime, broken families, drugs, poor health, poverty, high insurance rates—these social ills pervade our society and our state!”

He further states, “we, as representatives of the people, take our jobs seriously; and no matter how much

we spend, no matter how much we legislate, we can do little or nothing to solve these problems”. (This declaration appears worthy of a letter grade F-).

Well, Senator, welcome to the world of educators. You are the very people who create the laws that have tied the hands of those within the public education arena. Yet, you continue to legislate when you have acknowledged you can’t solve the problems!

So the solution is to attack traditional public schools and blame educators for the ills that plague our society. Senator, education reform could have been a winwin for all stakeholders if traditional public schools remained in the equation.

There are no solutions offered other than school choice, vouchers, and charters.

What happened to traditional public education?

Often it is said, there are those who complain without offering solutions. I will offer the following: a responsible approach is to address student apathy, family dynamics in the home, lack of respect for education, and attempt to change a culture that has perpetuated poverty and a dependence on entitlements for years.

Another approach is to fully fund effective pre-k programs—the research reveals the achievement gap between atrisk students and their more affluent counterparts can be reduced by 50%.

Another is the reinstatement and reimbursement of the 2.75% funding of the MFP for the last three years to school systems which would allow districts to continue after school tutorial programs, pre-k programs, and maintain much needed personnel to assist with school improvement efforts.

Another is to collaborate with university personnel to assess their needs for

strengthening teacher preparation programs.

Another approach to achieving student success is to approve legislation that allows for quality substitutes who are retired veterans and are willing to contribute to our society as opposed to outsourcing this responsibility to non-educators imported from coast to coast. So what if the retired teachers receive a retirement benefit? They are the trained experts who will effectively impact learning. Often substitute teachers, lacking the appropriate credentials due to the nonavailability of certified applicants, are hired to teach for six weeks or longer.

One does not need rocket science to determine the impact this action has on student achievement.

In closing, as a human resources director, I recognize there is room for improvement in education. I don’t embrace charters as the silver bullet, nor do I believe vouchers are the solution, particularly when equal access is not available to all students. I personally believe that once parochial and private schools take public money, these learning institutions will end up having the same concerns as traditional public schools. The education reform being touted is a band aid approach to a much greater problem. The sad reality, Senator, is you have acknowledged our society is broken and you can’t fix it. So why are you experimenting within the education arena?

Sincerely, Lottie P. Beebe, BESE District 3 Breaux Bridge, LA

Censored Open letter to readers of the [Censored] Dear readers, After seeing the title of this article you may be asking yourself, “Why is there a letter to readers of the [ CCensored ensored] in the People’s [Censored]?”

Censored If so, let me congratulate you.

You’re not as easily confused as Capital City Press—the corporation behind the [Censored]—would like to Censored think.

If that wasn’t the first question that popped into your mind, perhaps you thought to yourself, “The [Censored]?

Censored You mean the world’s leading gay news resource?” <advocate.com>

Or, “Why would I read a New Engl a n d N e w s p a p e r ? ” <advocateweekly.com> Maybe even, “I don’t live in Clifton.

W hy is t h is i n m y P e o p le ’s [Censored]?” <cliftonadvocate.com> Censored But, my friends, let me assure you, you are indeed reading the People’s [Censored], Censored not a corporate shill.

Perhaps our “brazen” attempt to wish you a good morning in our first issue left you wondering if Capital City Press somehow endorses our effort to provide a truly independent voice for Louisiana. After all, anyone who prints “Good Morning, Louisiana” must be

affiliated with Capital City Press. Am I right?

And, not only did we wish you well in the early hours of the day, we had the extreme audacity to use Times New Roman as our banner font. I mean, how dare us, using a standard font that comes with one of the most widely used word processing systems in existence.

Or, maybe you have a rare brand of color blindness wherein you cannot see the color red. Maybe you see white instead... ☛ See LETTER, page 9

Censored 4  April 2012  The People’s [Censored]

David comes clean: Why I oppose the 1% of the 1%

BY DAVID KIRSHNER Occupy Baton Rouge Recently I proposed an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to clarify the meaning of “Freedom of Speech” as a way to attack the legitimacy of private funding of public elections.

“Whereas Freedom of Speech is the liberty to express one’s own opinions and ideas without hindrance, and does not include the right to amplify the speech of others, nor to dominate the discourse in political contests; and “Whereas a number of Supreme Court rulings have interpreted Freedom of Speech to protect the right of private entities to fund election campaigns and otherwise to use private funds to influence public perception of candidates and issues in the context of political campaigns, “Be it Resolved that neither Freedom of Speech, nor the Right to Petition Government, nor any other existing constitutional principle abridges the complete and exclusive right of We the People of these United States, through our legislatures, to control and regulate the financial resources through which messages with political intent are communicated to the electorate in connection with political campaigns at the national, state, and local levels.”

The right of private entities— individuals or corporations—to give money to amplify the voice of a political candidate (i.e., to fund electoral campaigns) is most often defended as the constitutionally protected Free Speech rights of those entities. But the right to express controversial and unpopular opinions without fear of sanction—the true meaning of Freedom of Speech—has nothing to do with amplifying the voices of others.

Nor does it entail unlimited freedom to amplify one’s own voice during a political campaign, drowning out the voices of less well-funded candidates.

We need to remove this fig leaf of legitimacy in order to expose private funding of electoral campaigns for what it is: a naked power grab, a way for the ultra-wealthy to ensure that politicians work for their special interests rather than in the public interest.

This raises the question of what role should the ultra-wealthy play in our society? It seems the American public is very much enamored of its

billionaires, quite convinced that what they give to society by way of national competitive advantage through the businesses and industries they create entitles them to special privileges, perhaps even justifies their being able to run the show—what is in their interest surely must be in our interest. At the base of this sentiment is a sense of the rights of a “ruling class” that probably traces back beyond the origins of American democracy to the class system of English society. Although the rhetoric of revolutionary America rejected the idea of a class system, we need to recognize that class-consciousness floats just below the surface of our national conscience.

The idea of a national subconscious operating below the level of our espoused ideals may be unsettling. Many of my fellow travelers on this road to political reform take their ideals seriously; they don’t want them sullied by talk of subconscious forces reflecting our true, underlying, mindset. But I do not share this hubris of pure ideals. I recognize in myself anxieties related to class consciousness: In a true democracy, one not dominated by the ultra-wealthy, would we fall prey to high ideals like “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need” and wind up in a totalitarian nightmare?

Would we redistribute wealth to the extent that incentives to industriousness erode, and we become a weak nation?

Might we not ultimately be better off with a political system controlled by the wealthy, even if the extremes of financial inequality we are experiencing now seem excessive and unfair?

I wish I could say that I have overcome these fears, answered these questions, and now wholeheartedly embrace the ideals of true democracy. But I can’t. I share in class-consciousness.

What impels me forward in the quest for fundamental political change is not certainty that true democracy will save us, but a growing recognition that the ways of the ultra-wealthy will surely damn us.

For, what has evolved over the past couple of decades of increasing domination by the wealthy is pushing us away from the gains of the Enlightenment toward a new Dark Ages.

The Way of the Wealthy When you think about it, the ultrawealthy have an astonishingly difficult challenge posed to them by democracy.

‘How can we maintain an economy of amazing disparity between rich and poor within a political system wherein any schmo who happens to get elected by the rabble can propose a new tax structure that confiscates most of my hard-earned income and gradually reduces me to the norm of an increasingly mediocre society?’ This anxiety of the ultrawealthy needs to be recognized as a relentless and ongoing dilemma; it is not a problem that ever can be fully solved. In a democracy, the rabble does truly have the power. Keeping them from using it in their own financial self-interest is a never-ending struggle.

The solution that the ultra-wealthy have pursued in recent decades— with amazing success!—has been to exploit the natural fault lines that exist in any society between forces of stasis and forces of change. Societies do not exist in a vacuum, but rather within a physical and social ecology wherein circumstances change, populations grow and shrink, food and energy supplies suffice or are insufficient, neighboring societies are aggressive or peaceful.

Societies constantly have to modify themselves, their internal structure, to respond to the changing environment they are part of. Nor is the optimal response evident or even unique. Neither are the impacts of change identical for all sectors of a society. As a result the process of change is one that is fraught with tensions.

An excellent exemplar of such change dates back to the European Renaissance during the middle period of the last millennium. During that time, a scientific mentality was emerging that enabled new technologies that could enhance our utilization of the physical world. However, adapting to these new possibilities required huge changes in the structures of society. Construing the world objectively became a new locus of importance that engaged with individual consciousness. Thus the right to authorize knowledge had to shift from religious institutions governed by subjective matters of faith and observance to secular institutions governed by objective reasoning... ☛ See 1%, page 9

The People’s [Censored] Censored  April 2012  5

Louisiana’s hidden state budget

BY JAN MOLLER Louisiana Budget Project It didn’t get much attention, but at the end of February Gov. Bobby Jindal made what appears to be a dramatic policy shift. Speaking to WWLTV in New Orleans on the day that President Obama released a plan to cut corporate taxes, Jindal said: “The reality is, I’m certainly in favor of taking away all of the different subsidies and loopholes in the tax code, but let’s treat everybody fairly.

Let’s do that across the board. I think just picking and choosing industries is not the way to go… and that’s what’s gotten us into the trouble in the first place.”

To which the Louisiana Budget Project says: Welcome to the party, governor! What took you so long?

As governor, there isn’t much Jindal can do to Obama’s plan to lower corporate tax rates while eliminating loopholes. If that was his goal, he could have stayed in Congress and joined the debate.

But there is quite a lot Jindal can do right here in Louisiana to fix a tax code that is riddled with loopholes and special-interest exemptions that are worth a combined $4.8 billion. As luck would have it, there is a document put out each year by Jindal’s own Department of Revenue called the Tax Exemption Budget. The latest version was released just this week.

In Louisiana, this hidden state budget receives little scrutiny from the public or their elected representatives, though you can be sure the interest groups that benefit from these breaks are paying close attention.

And while the governor is now sending positive signals about the need to end loopholes and specialinterest giveaways, the record shows the exact opposite has occurred on Jindal’s watch.

Perhaps the most illuminating section of the tax exemption report is the one devoted to corporate taxes.

Here, we learn that in 2010-11, companies paid $198 million in state taxes and received exemptions worth $1.459 billion, for a “tax loss” percentage of 88.1 percent.

Compare this to the previous year, when companies paid $435 million in taxes and were exempted from

$1.333 billion, for a loss percentage of 75.4 percent. The year before that, corporations paid $586 million, with a loss percentage of 67.8 percent.

The fact is, the percentage of corporate taxes that are actually paid, compared to the revenues lost to the state through exemptions and loopholes, has gone down each of the last four years.

Not coincidentally, these years have also seen sharp cuts in what Louisiana invests in education, health care and other services that citizens depend on and help create a prosperous future for everyone.

The following is an article printed by the Louisiana Budget Project in May of 2010 concerning Louisiana’s Hidden State Budget. While some of the numbers have changed—thanks to changes in accounting methodology not any policy reversals on the part of Jindal’s administration—the general message behind the piece remains the same: Louisiana will spend approximately $8 billion in state revenues next fiscal year through the state budget. The state also will spend another $7 billionplus through what might be called the hidden budget.

What is this hidden budget? It’s the total of more than 440 separate pieces of legislation, each of which exempts someone or something from some form of taxation. While the regular state budget is made up of money the state takes in and then sends back out, the hidden budget is money the state decides to forego in the first place. This form of spending is called “tax expenditures,” and in Louisiana it has grown dramatically in recent years, even as regular state revenue has declined.

To more efficiently manage its finances and build a stronger future, Louisiana needs to shed more light on its hidden, tax-side spending.

Why is tax-side spending hidden, and growing?

The regular state budget is proposed each year by the Governor and adopted by legislators who get the chance to scrutinize and debate how every penny is spent. The public, too, has the opportunity to comment on the state budget, and people can go online any time and look up any item in the budget at the Legislature’s website.

But the hidden budget works differently. After a specific tax break is approved, the money flows freely year af-

ter year–with little chance that this spending by the state will ever be evaluated. If the cost of a particular hidden budget item soars beyond original estimates, it’s likely no one will even notice.

In the hidden budget, there’s no need to set priorities or weigh the value of state spending on one thing compared to another.

And once spending in the hidden budget starts, it’s almost impossible to stop. That’s because, unlike the regular state budget, the hidden budget can’t be reduced by even a penny unless a full two-thirds of legislators vote to save the money.

That’s an unrealistically high bar.

Today, with the state in a fiscal crisis, shedding light on Louisiana’s hidden budget is particularly important. As the state is preparing to reduce important services that Louisianans rely on, planning to lay off employees, considering increases in college tuition, and proposing reductions in access to health care in order to make up for declining revenues the hidden budget remains largely untouched and immune to any reductions.

How much is the state spending through the tax code?

In fiscal year 2011, Louisiana projects spending $7 billion through tax expenditures, nearly as much as it will take in from revenue. Since tax expenditures are largely ignored in the regular budget process, this means the legislative policy debate encompasses only about half of the state’s total spending.

And, spending through the tax code is growing. It’s projected that revenue lost to tax expenditures from 2006 through 2011 will have increased 28 percent – to $7.1 billion from $5.6 billion. State revenue, by contrast, is expected to decrease 3 percent.

Are there examples of tax expenditures that deserve more attention?

Some spending from the hidden budget makes sense. For example, Louisiana exempts medicine and groceries from the sales tax. Most Louisianans probably would agree that’s the right thing to do, even if it means the state gives up potential revenue.

Louisiana also exempts residential utilities, including electricity, natural gas, and water, from the sales tax... ☛ See BUDGET, page 10

Censored 6  April 2012  The People’s [Censored]

Don’t let lil’ Bobby scare you: State classified employees’ rights Early in February of 2012—in response to a flood of state employee inquiries concerning Gov. Bobby Jindal’s pension legislation—the Louisiana Department of State Civil Service published a document outlining the rights of state classified employees in regards to talking with lawmakers, testifying at legislative hearings, attending public rallies, and otherwise expressing their political views. The following is a reproduction of that document.

DATE: February 9, 2012 TO: Heads of State Agencies and Human Resources Directors SUBJECT: State Classified Employees’ Rights to Address Members of the Legislature As the 2012 Legislative Session approaches, there are many bills that are being filed that may have an impact on state employees, both classified and unclassified. Questions have arisen such as does a state classified employee have the right to address members of the legislature.

Classified employees are prohibited from engaging in efforts to support or oppose a candidate, party or faction in an election. These constitutional restrictions do not prohibit a classified employee from expressing themselves either privately or publicly on issues that may be pending before the legislature or other public body.

However, the Lobbying Act, R.S. 24:56 does prohibit any state employee classified or unclassified “in his official capacity or on behalf of his employer” from communicating with a legislator in an attempt to influence the passage or defeat of legislation.

This prohibition does not apply to an elected official or his designee, nor does it prohibit the giving of factual information to the legislature, whether the employee is acting in his official capacity or not.

The act of expressing matters of personal concern in a personal capacity are not prohibited, but if an employee wishes to express these matters during duty hours, it must be done while on annual leave.

Below are a few questions we have recently received from employees and answers that I believe will be helpful.

Do I have to tell my supervisor (appointing authority) why I am

requesting annual leave?

No, you do not. However, a supervisor (appointing authority) is not required to approve a request or requests for annual leave. If you do not have approved annual leave in advance of your absence, your appointing authority may place you in a leave without pay status.

Can I go to the legislature or other public body or public official to express my view on matters?

Yes, you can. You must be on approved annual leave status if you want to go and express your views during normal duty hours.

Can I get in trouble for expressing myself publicly?

Maybe. The United States Supreme Court has held that although government employees have a right to free speech like any other citizen, when the government is the employer it (the government) has an interest in regulating the speech of its employees that differ significantly from the interest it has in regulating the speech of the citizenry in general. The standard that the Supreme Court has set to determine if the government can regulate the speech is “If an employee’s speech does not relate to a matter of public concern then the government’s interest in efficiency, work place harmony and satisfactory performance will usually trump the employee’s interest in free speech.” Therefore, when speaking publicly, make sure you are addressing matters that are of public concern and not personal to your particular work environment.

Can I write a letter to the editor of a newspaper to express my views on an issue?

Yes, you can. However, as stated above, make sure your letter concerns a matter of public interest and not your personal work environment.

Can I go to public rallies on issues and carry a sign, cheer and boo?

Yes, you can. But the same standard applies to expressions at rallies as it does before a public body.

Can I contact my legislator, personally, by letter or email?

Yes, you can. As a private citizen you have the right to contact your legislator concerning any issue that is of personal concern to you or concerning any issue before the legislature. Do not use your state issued work equipment to communicate matters of public concern to a member of a public body. Please use your private equipment.

Can I be a member of an organiza-

tion that lobbies before the legislature?

Yes, you can. You as a state employee cannot lobby before the legislature in your official capacity as a state employee, but that does not prevent you from being a member of an organization that lobbies the legislature on matters of public concern, such as the American Federation of State, County or Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Retired State Employees Association (RSEA), State Employees Association of Louisiana and the Louisiana Association of Public Employees’ Retirement Systems.

If the Retired State Employees Association were holding a rally on the steps of the State Capitol, could active state employees who are RSEA members participate?

Yes, you can. However, if the rally is scheduled during normal duty hours, you must be on approved annual leave. Additionally, the standard stated above concerning expressions will apply at rallies.

Would attending a rally be considered lobbying?

No, it would not. A rally is a gathering of people to inspire enthusiasm for a cause.

Can I place a sign in my yard supporting or opposing proposed legislation?

Yes, you can. Proposed legislation that you may support or oppose is an issue and not the support or opposition of a party, candidate, or faction seeking an elected office.

Can I sign a recall petition?

Yes, you can. However, due to the prohibition of supporting or opposing a candidate, party or faction, you cannot start a recall petition, solicit signatures for a recall petition or actively participate in a recall of an elected official.

Can I use my work computer to express my personal opinion on an issue of public concern?

No, you cannot. Your work computer is for work purposes. If you wish to communicate a matter of public concern to a member of a public body via electronic mail, please use your private computer.

If you have any questions about what you can or cannot do, please contact your Human Resource office. 

The People’s [Censored] Censored  April 2012  7

What we’re watching: Freakonomics: The Movie (2010)

BY VICKI BEECHLER Occupy Baton Rouge "In 2005, journalist Stephen Dubner partnered with rogue economist Steven Levitt to write a book that promised to explore the ‘hidden side of everything’. A surprise literary sensation, Freakonomics became a global phenomenon, selling more than 4 million copies and introducing readers to a new way to view the world."

In 2010, enter Freakonomics: The Movie. Starting off with an explanation of a real estate agent's interest in your home's sale price and finishing it up with “Can You Bribe a 9th Grader to Succeed?”, Freakonomics covers a myriad of topics in between.

Ok, so maybe not a myriad, but more than a couple. Some, admittedly, more surprising (like links between legalized abortion and a reduc-

CENSORED Continued from page 1 “And (v) agreeing to pay reasonable attorneys’ fees to Capital City Press if a court should subsequently find that you have breached your obligations and/or commitments to Capital City Press hereunder.”

One of the main ideas behind the “Occupy Movement” is to reclaim the public sphere. For longer than many of us have been alive, a war has been waged by the 1% on public property and public services. Private influences poison everything with money and the mainstream media has actively taken on the role of the hired nurse administering the toxins into the arms of our so-called democracy. As a people, we’ve been robbed of our future, and the media— the supposed watchdog for our democracy—has been a willing accomplice for this massive historical graft.

A true democracy cannot function without a functioning media, and our media, which is driven by a will to power and profit, has thus made a mockery of us and our democracy.

Inspired by the Occupy movement, then, many individuals across the world took the initiative to create their own newspapers based on the idea of spreading free knowledge.

tion in crime rates) and some a bit more covert than others (such as corruption throughout the Sumo culture). But all the topics, ranging through cheating, real estate, parenting, incentives, and cause and effect, are sure to keep you interested.

The film mostly ends up being a series of documentary shorts used to further explain the two Ste(ph/v)en's statistical worldviews. One of my favorite shorts was A Roshanda By Any Other Name, written by Morgan Spurlock—of Supersize Me fame—and Jeremy Chilnick. (Just a note for transparency’s sake, I happen to love Morgan Spurlock!) It covers all the connotations of a child's name and the effects those names have on children’s life outcomes.

One of the most interesting comparisons is between historically white names as compared to the Afrocentric names that entered the scene starting with the black power movement of the

late 1960s. One study involved the creation of 5000 resumes sent out in Boston and Chicago with half having names considered white and the other half having historically black names. The likelihood to receive an interview was about 33% less for those with African-American names, despite the resumes being identical.

As the conductor of the study, Dr. Mullainathan puts it "It means that if a white person is searching for a job for 10 weeks, an equally skilled AfricanAmerican will be searching for a job for 15 weeks. And those are 5 long weeks if you are unemployed."

So if you want to know why there was a suspicion of polio being caused by ice cream, or have always wondered what percentage of crime reduction can be attributed to innovative policing tactics, put this one on your instant queue and learn a thing or two about Freakonomics! 

Papers such as “The Occupied Wall Street Journal” popped up all across the nation, parodying their local newspaper and reporting on the news and stories that they saw as most important. Independent journalists from all over came together to report on what they saw was wrong in the world and to help [censored] censored for the change they want to see.

While we live in a country based on freedom of speech and freedom of the press, many of the parodied papers did not take kindly to being called out as the bloated protectors of the 1% that they are. The Occupied Chicago Tribune and the Occupied Oakland Tribune were the first to be threatened by their local “nonoccupied” paper. Later came the Occupied Wisconsin State Journal, followed by us.

As an interesting side-note, Rupert Murdoch has yet to threaten the Occupied Wall Street Journal, which shows that though he doesn’t have enough sense to not hack into a dead girl’s phone, he’s at least smart enough to sniff out some bad PR moves in advance.

While Trademark Laws are written in such a way that some businesses are legally required to protect their Trademark lest they lose it, the odds that any reader of these publications would confuse the ad-soaked drivel of the 1% found in the mainstream news with our

independently voiced not-for-profit paper is so minimal it’s beyond comprehension.

What is most likely happening here, at least in our case, is that the [Censored], Censored a long established fixture of the Baton Rouge community, is flexing its muscles against any paper that threatens its status as expert on all matters Baton Rouge. While they would certainly not take steps to outright attack or censor our paper, the ambiguity of Trademark Law as well as the for-profit [Censored]’s signifiCensored cantly larger budget compared to ours, allowed for the perfect set-up for some good old fashioned bullying.

So, as a way of demonstrating how the mainstream media works-and how it doesn’t work--we at the People’s [Censored] Censored have made several noticeable changes to our newsletter. Hopefully, this will both free us up to continue with our independent journalism, as well as free up the lawyers of the [Censored] Censored to work on cases that are hopefully a bit more important. And while the name of our paper may be different, we see this as an excellent opportunity to continue on with the same mission as when we started out--giving voice to The People and not the 1%, unlike those [censored]ers who run the censored [Censored].

Censored 

Censored 8  April 2012  The People’s [Censored]

BOBBY Continued from page 2 The word comes from the story of Mr. and Mrs. Teague, a husband and wife duo who were both coincidentally fired not long after publicly criticizing Jindal’s policies. In late 2009, Melody Teague was a contract grants reviewer working within the Department of Social Services.

In a public forum, Mrs. Teague spoke out against Jindal’s privatization plans for state services. The next day, she was fired.

The reason given? For mishandling food stamps. Four years earlier. During Hurricane Katrina. Six months later, she was able to get her job back, but her husband was not so lucky.

In April 2011, Tommy Teague, then executive director of the Office for Group Benefits, criticized Jindal’s privatization plans for his office. Under Tommy’s direction, the OGB, which provides health care to more than 250,000 state workers, retirees, and their dependents, had turned a 36 million dollar deficit into a half-billion dollar surplus. “The program is running very, very, very well,” Teague then told reporters at the TimesPicayune.

Jindal’s “raid” on the OGB was likely used to fill in the 1.6 billion dollar gap in the state budget.

While the sale of the OGB would temporarily earn the state some money, like all of Jindal’s plans the goals are decidedly short term.

Studies show that the privatized services would cost the state, its workers, and the taxpayers much, much more in the long run and would basically only be used to line the pockets of the wealthy, including banking giant Goldman Sachs, who helped broker the deal. Unlike his wife, Tommy Teague did not get his job back.

Jindal’s “Teague-ing” of state employees who stand in his way did not begin or end with the Teagues. As early in his administration as 2008, Jindal “Teagued” James Champagne, 12 year executive director of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, after the two disagreed over the state’s

motorcycle helmet safety law.

The most recent case of Jindal firing an employee over a disagreement was when the head of the Office of Elderly Affairs criticized Jindal’s plans to merge her office with the Department of Health and Human Services. Ms. Martha Manuel, who had been appointed by Jindal in February 2011, spoke at a House Appropriations Committee hearing last March, saying that these plans would cut needed services for the elderly and would increase ineffective bureaucratization. As a Jindal spokesman said of the subject, Manuel and Jindal “decided to go in a different direction.” Obviously.

Looking through a list of all those who Jindal fired or asked to resign (like Tammie McDaniel, who was asked to resign from the BESE board after she disagreed with Jindal’s support of No Child Left Behind) is like reading a Who’s Who Guide to Jindal’s Corruption. But his doesn’t end there. The list of Jindal’s misdeeds is endless. His dictatorship over Louisiana oozes with corruption, the very subject which he was elected to expel, and the scariest part about it all is not that this is a man who has dedicated the majority of his adult life towards becoming the next president, but that the mainstream media and the Republican Establishment tout him as the same.

In his heart of hearts, Governor Jindal probably relishes the comparisons made between his administration and Huey Long’s. Yet, unlike the firebrand Long, Jindal is at best a bland, mediocre, small-minded bureaucrat.

One of the sources of Long’s controversial legacy was his convincing oratory skills and his championing of the causes for the lower classes.

Governor Jindal—to say nothing about his wretched speaking ability— has no empathy for the poor and disenfranchised. While Long responded to the Great Depression by building schools, hospitals, roads and other public services to help those suffering most, Jindal responds to the current Recession by handing these same public services over to the highest bidder. Whereas Huey Long poetically described the hardships of the lower classes, Jindal mechanically drones on and on

about the so-called “State Budget Deficit” and explains to us the necessity of again cutting taxes for the top 1%.

In other words, Long wanted to Share the Wealth--Jindal just wants to pocket his portion and give the rest to his friends.

Yet the strong brotherhood between the two remains in their reckless desire for unbridled power. Both men sought the White House, and were willing to crush anything in their path along the way. While Huey Long’s grab for power in the Thirties drew comparisons among his critics to the fascist movements rising concurrently in Europe, Jindal’s anti-democratic austerity measures and his pillaging of the public till at the behest of the 1% promises for Louisiana the destroyed public sectors seen today in Greece or Spain. As Hunter S. Thompson said in 1972: “A career politician finally smelling the White House is not much different from a bull elk in the rut. He will stop at nothing, trashing anything that gets in his way; and anything he can’t handle personally he will hire out–or, failing that, make a deal.

It is a difficult syndrome for most people to understand, because few of us ever come close to the kind of Ultimate Power and Achievement that the White House represents to a career politician.”

Dr. Thompson’s words were as true then as they are today. Jindal, like a mad beast in heat, is a man willing to do anything and screw over anybody, to get what he sees as rightfully his: The Presidency of The United States. 

If you are a state classified worker who is afraid to speak up or sign the petition to recall Bobby Jindal, information on which can be found at <recallbobbyjindal.com>, turn to page 6 to read your rights when it comes to talking with lawmakers, testifying at legislative hearings, attending public rallies, and otherwise expressing your political views.

Censored  April 2012  9 The People’s [Censored]

1% Continued from page 4 This democratization of knowledge was hugely difficult and was met with huge resistance. But undergoing it reshaped European societies as far more viable and competitive, enabling them to grow and thrive in the physical, geopolitical, and economic world of the time. In a similar way, societies always are responding to shifting circumstances which therefore produce internal tensions.

The strategy of the ultra-wealthy for political control centers on forming alliances in relation to social tensions so as to coopt vulnerable sectors of society to support desired fiscal policies. This strategy involves magnifying and exacerbating existing social tensions to create the greatest base of support possible for regressive fiscal policy. That strategy has produced “culture wars” that have become so virulent in the U.S. as to hobble government, and periodically even shut it down.

Although the current crises of government are troubling, the long-term damage to society comes not from decisions made in the heat of the political moment, but from the rebalancing of social strata based on the perceived viability of ideas and policies. Broad shifts in the dominance of ideas and institutions are rarely marked by the elimination of social

LETTER Continued from page 3 If so, we apologize for our insensitivity and we assure you that there is indeed the word “People’s” between “The” and “[Censored]” Censored in our banner.

To prevent further confusion we ask that you contact OccupyBRNewsletter@gmail.com to receive a free black and white issue of the People’s [Censored].

Censored Now, if you are a reader of the [Censored] Censored who somehow missed the front page disclaimer stating that the People’s [Censored] Censored is a publication

by Occupy Baton Rouge that does not—and could not—represent anyone but its participants, the authors, and you were confused into believing that we, a wholly independent newsletter, are somehow connected with or endorsed by the other [Censored], Censored let me say emphatically, “We are not—and do not wish to be—affiliated

institutions or the ideas they represent, but by the rebalancing of power in relation to other institutions and ideas. Thus the Renaissance did not see the demise of religious institutions, but rather the shifting of some of their power and authority to secular institutions like universities and governments. These new arrangements of power are not fixed, but remain continually open to revision and refinement as physical, social, and geopolitical circumstances change.

Here is where we can see the destructive nature of the alignment of the ultra-wealthy with religion-based social conservatives. Political victories that support conservative social causes and associated religious perspectives create the illusion that those perspectives are viable and adaptive within the modern world. Thus when the ultra-wealthy move to protect their industrial interests by creating faux-science to raise public doubt about, say, the science of global warming, they not only endanger our planet, they also erode the cultural status that science has achieved over hundreds of years, a status earned owing to the adaptive effects of a scientific perspective; this perspective really does enhance our survival.

That’s where we are now. The stature of scientific knowledge and scientific institutions is in decline. Even though, historically, only a small percentage of the population has understood the culture of scientific objectivity, the institutions of science have enjoyed high with the [Censored], Censored or their corporate overlords Capital City Press, in any way, shape, or form.”

Because, you see, we are not in the same business as that other [Censored].

Censored We do not ask you to pay for the information we provide. We are a free press. We do not force you to view advertisements to enjoy our news. We are wholly funded by small donors and the generosity of Occupy Baton Rouge.

Whereas the other [Censored] Censored depends on corporations to fund and print their news paper, T he People’s [Censored] Censored is a newsletter for the people, by the people. We are, in fact, an [censored] censored for the people. We print the stories that the mainstream, corporate [Censored] Censored will not and cannot print.

And, for as long as we do so, we will remain The People’s [Censored].

Censored Thank you for reading, The People’s [Censored] Censored

status and broad support. But in the current era broad sectors of the public see scientists as serving partisan self-interest, and therefore as untrustworthy and unreliable. The faith that once accrued to science is being redistributed partly to religious institutions, but also to conspiracy theorists, Tarot card readers, and millennialists. The fabric of modernism is fraying as we flirt with resurgent premodern sensibilities.

The scale of irresponsibility of the ultra-wealthy in their alliance with pre -modern institutions is too vast to contemplate. If unchecked, what will happen to America is easy to anticipate: we will slip quickly into oblivion as a great world power. We already see tell-tale signs in a 10-year Middle -Eastern war entered into without any rational basis by a president who traded in characteristic American pragmatism and rationality for a delusional confidence in America’s Right and America’s Might. We can’t afford for this mentality to continue to dominate.

Will a true democracy necessarily lead us to a great future? I still don’t know the answer to that one. But I do know that without doing something to break the hold of the ultra-wealthy over our political and cultural life, we will drift into superstition, distrust, and dissension as our standing in the world and our way of life disintegrates. 

Send In Your Letters Do you have a letter you wrote to your local newspaper which they refused to print?

Do you have an opinion that you want to have read by tens, maybe even hundreds of people?

Do you simply have a political rant that you want to get off your chest?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, send your ideas to OccupyBRNewsletter@gmail.com and have your voice heard.

But, please try to remember that we’re on a tight budget and we can only fit so many words into each issue. So, if you can keep it under 800 words we’d be forever grateful.

Or, not. We’re flexible.

Thanks for reading, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Censored 10  April 2012  The People’s [Censored]

BUDGET Continued from page 5 But with 441 tax breaks on the books, and no systematic review process in place, there’s little doubt that some of tax-side spending is overblown, outdated, or otherwise wasteful. If tax-side spending were prioritized alongside regular budget items, it is unlikely that all of the existing tax breaks could be justified.

Here are two examples of tax-side spending that deserve more attention: • Spending to help energy companies make profits: Louisiana provides a two-year moratorium on severance taxes to encourage the drilling of horizontal oil and natural gas wells. This tax break was enacted in 1994, when the oil and gas industry was economically weaker due to lower product prices and horizontal drilling was in its infancy. Neither is true today. In the Haynesville Shale in north Louisiana, projected to contain one of the largest accumulations of natural gas ever discovered in the U.S., energy companies don’t have to pay severance taxes for two years on wells they drill.

But companies don’t need additional incentive to explore and mine in the Haynesville Shale, given the enormous profit potential. In fiscal year 2011, tax exemptions on severance taxes are projected to cost Louisiana $189 million. Drilling in the Haynesville Shale could drive this cost considerably higher when fully developed. That’s money that’s not going to our depleted university or health care systems.

• Spending to increase the incomes of the wealthy: In 2007 and 2008, the state rolled back key portions of the 2002 Stelly Plan that resulted in the largest income tax cuts in the state’s history and left in effect the sales tax exemptions passed in the original bill. In 2007, the Legislature began a phased-in reinstatement of the state deduction for federal itemized deductions, which effectively lowered income taxes for those who itemize their deductions – primarily upper-income taxpayers. This became fully effective in 2009. In the 2008 legislative session, the incometax-bracket changes were repealed, so the top 6-percent income tax rate once again applied only to income over $100,000 for joint filers, not $50,000 as had been the case under Stelly. The total projected cost

of these tax cuts by fiscal year 2012 is $2.2 billion, according to estimates by the nonpartisan state Legislative Fiscal Office.

What’s wrong with Louisiana’s annual report on tax-side spending?

Louisiana has taken an important initial step to track tax-side spending.

Each year, by statute, the Louisiana Department of Revenue must produce a “tax exemption budget” that estimates the cost of each tax expenditure and assesses its effectiveness.

The tax exemption budget provides useful information, but not enough to get a handle on the revenue being spent through the tax code. For example, even though the law requires it, the Department of Revenue does not provide estimates of the cost of many tax expenditures.

The Department says in its tax exemption budget that it lacks the data to estimate these costs accurately, but other states have found ways to make reasonable calculations of lost revenue. Because Louisiana fails to employ these other methods, its tax exemption budget leaves legislators and the public with no idea how much certain tax expenditures are costing the state.

In addition, the Department’s assessments of the effectiveness of tax expenditures lack the depth to inform meaningful legislative decisions or public debate. The law requires the Department to assess who benefits from each tax expenditure and whether each tax expenditure: (1) Has been successful in meeting the purpose for which it was enacted.

(2) Is the most fiscally effective means of achieving its purpose.

(3) Has unintended or inadvertent effects, including whether it conflicts with other state laws or regulations.

(4) Simplifies or complicates the state tax statutes.

The tax exemption budget provides very minimal, if any, information in answer to these statutory concerns. The budget provides no assessment of the success of each expenditure, no details about the beneficiaries of expenditures (such as a break-out of beneficiaries by income category), no assessment of unintended effects, and no description of whether an expenditure simplifies or complicates state statutes.

The budget’s assessment of whether a particular expenditure is the most fiscally effective means of achieving its purpose is so minimal as to be useless. In every case, the budget simply repeats the line, “The purpose of this

[tax expenditure] is achieved in a fiscally effective manner.”

What should Louisiana do?

At a time of severe budget crisis, Louisiana can no longer afford to put nearly half of its spending off limits from public scrutiny. To let the public into the debate, the state needs to do three things.

• Improve the tax exemption budget report. The report should follow the requirements of the law. It must estimate the cost of all (or nearly all) tax expenditures and assess each expenditure based on a variety of criteria.

• Incorporate an evaluation of taxside spending into the regular budget process. Determining precisely how to do this will require legislative and public debate. One step would be to consider increasing the number of tax expenditures that include “sunsets” -end-dates that force the legislature to choose whether or not to extend a particular expenditure in its current form. Only 20 percent of the tax expenditures Louisiana has created in the past 10 years include a sunset.

• Reduce the unrealistically high bar for repealing or reducing tax expenditures.

Legislators may cut spending on items in the regular budget by majority vote, but it takes a two-thirds vote of both houses to repeal or reduce a spending item on the tax-side. This disparity makes it difficult for legislators to prioritize state spending. It allows a minority of legislators to continue allocating scarce state resources to a low-priority or even obsolete tax expenditure, at the expense of more important state services.

Every penny Louisiana spends should have a purpose; and every purpose should be scrutinized by the public and elected officials.

The needs of the state are too great to allow billions of dollars a year to be spent without any evaluation of whether it is doing the job intended or taking away from a higher priority need.  Jan Moller is Director of LANO’s Louisiana Budget Project <labudget.org>, which monitors and reports on state government spending and how it affects Louisiana’s low- to moderateincome families. He is an awardwinning journalist formerly with the New Orleans Times-Picayune Capitol Bureau.

The People’s [Censored] Censored  April 2012  11

Occupy Baton Rouge is a leaderless, non-violent resistance movement. We see that money, not voting, shapes public policy, that the extremely rich are bailed out while the lower and middle classes are forced to bear the brunt of a failing economy, and that the needs of society are placed behind the profiteering of corporations. In the simplest of terms, we want to end corporate bribery of our elected politicians and return our democracy back to the people.

To learn more, you can find our officially approved points of unity on the About section of our website at OccupyBR.com.

CATS Continued from page 2 No to a quality public transit system because they only care about their own self-interest. No to a better Baton Rouge because having three measures in three different cities is just too confusing.

Of course, they try to pretend like they have a viable alternative. They demean other opponents to the tax for complaining without offering solutions, and in the same line call out the Metro Council and the Mayor for “sticking their heads in the sand” and remaining “noticeably low-key” about the issue. Then, two paragraphs later, their magic solution to losing

State Capitol Park Saturdays @ 12 Wednesdays @ 6 Everyone is encouraged to attend and have their opinions heard.

Email: OccupyBatonRouge@gmail.com Twitter: Facebook: Google+: Phone:

@Occupy_BR @Occupy_BRLive on.fb.me/OccupyBR bit.ly/occupygoogle (225) 242-9901

CATS is revealed: the Metro Council and Mayor should work together to find the money.

Ha. That’s what you call a solution?

Really?

You don’t think the CATS board has been going to the Mayor and the Metro Council every year for years to shore up their budget?

You think you were the first one to come up with that idea?

You don’t realize that going to them will not produce a dedicated funding for CATS, leaving us in the exact same situation next year?

Oh, you don’t think. That makes more sense now.

The fact of the matter is that people depend on CATS to get to school, work, the hospital, and more. We, as a city,

Occupy Baton Rouge needs your help to continue to grow.

There are plenty of ways to do your part. We paint banners. We need people to help organize and plan events. We need passionate people to join us in direct actions.

We need personable people to outreach to the community. Essentially, there is a way for anyone and everyone to become involved.

Working Groups are where the real brunt of the work for Occupy Baton Rouge gets done. If you want to contribute to the movement, join a Working Group through the appropriate section on our website. should be working to help the poorest and most in need. We should be doing whatever we can to ensure that they can make a better life for themselves. We should be building better public services, not killing them so they can be privatized. We should be looking out for the 99%, not the 1% like our corporate [Censored] Censored counterparts.  Don’t forget to get out and vote “yes” to save Baton Rouge public transportation on Saturday, April 21st. A “yes” vote is a vote for a new, better system which will lead to a new, better city for everyone. Even if you don’t personally ride the bus, you will reap the indirect rewards that come with living in a thriving, vibrant capital city.