There never seems to be a recession in Louisiana political hijinks, as 2009 proved many times over. This was a year of tectonic shifts in the local political paradigm, and the coming year promises to bring more big changes. Herewith, our annual list of the Top 10 Political Stories:

1. Bill Jefferson’s Continued Slide — The former congressman’s misfortunes continued to pile up. He was convicted on 11 of 16 federal felony counts in August after a long-delayed trial in Virginia. Ironically, Jefferson was acquitted of the charge most closely related to the infamous $90,000 in cash that the feds retrieved from his freezer in 2005 — but jurors concluded that his congressional office was an ongoing criminal enterprise under the RICO statute. The trial judge sentenced him to 13 years but let him stay out of jail pending his appeal. In another twist, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering other cases that could overturn some of Jefferson’s convictions. Locally, Dollar Bill’s brother (and political muscle) Mose Jefferson was convicted of bribing a school board member in an unrelated case. Mose and Assessor Betty Jefferson (another Jefferson sibling) face still more federal charges with Mose’s gal pal (and Dollar Bill protégé) Renee Gill-Pratt. Politically, Jefferson’s once-dominant political machine, the Progressive Democrats, is in shambles. The Feb. 6 citywide elections will be the first in three decades in which Dollar Bill is not a factor.

2. The City Hall Scandals — There’s no telling how many separate criminal investigations are underway at City Hall. Former technology chief Greg Meffert was indicted on several dozen criminal counts, along with his wife Linda and former business partner Mark St. Pierre. St. Pierre is the city contractor who paid for the Mefferts and the Nagins to vacation in Hawaii in 2004 and for the Nagins to unwind — first class — in Jamaica shortly after Katrina (while the rest of us were still trying to get back home to New Orleans). On another front, the feds seized various City Hall computers after the mayor’s emails and 2008 calendar mysteriously disappeared (following a WWL-TV request for them under the state Public Records Act). Ironically, tons of City Council emails were produced by the Nagin Administration in response to an unrelated public records request — and some of those emails proved to be cautionary tales against writing things down. More recently, veteran Sewerage and Water Board member Ben Edwards was indicted on 33 counts of corruption, including alleged kickbacks. Edwards spent more than $250,000 “independently” helping Mayor Ray Nagin win re-election in 2006. As the clock winds down on Ray Nagin’s tenure in City Hall, the feds appear to be tightening the circle of suspicion around him.

3. The Mayor’s Race — For a while it seemed that nobody wanted Ray Nagin’s job — then everybody seemed to want it. After a yawner of a preseason, Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu lit up the field with his eleventh-hour decision to run. The fallout came quickly as school reformer Leslie Jacobs dropped out a week later. Landrieu, who is making his third bid for the mayor’s office, is once again the early frontrunner. The race for the City Council’s two at-large seats promises to be filled with intrigue as well. Incumbent Arnie Fielkow waited until the last day to qualify, prompting former at-large Councilman Eddie Sapir to jump in. Assessor Darren Mire was another late entry, which seemed to guarantee a scrambled field. Then both Sapir and Mire dropped out on the same day, right before Christmas. State Rep. Austin Badon, who was the first to announce for mayor, was among the first to drop out of that contest, opting instead to run for the council from District E, where he is the early favorite.

4. Suburban Scandals — The feds have been busy all over southeast Louisiana. They indicted and convicted St. John Parish President Bill Hubbard on extortion and money laundering charges, St. Bernard Judge Wayne Cresap on bribery charges, and Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price on tax evasion and depriving citizens of honest services via mail fraud. Meanwhile, FBI agents are looking into Jefferson Parish Chief Administrative Officer Tim Whitmer’s insurance commission-splitting deals in connection with insurance business at West Jefferson General Hospital and among various parish contractors. Some big names are said to be involved, and this could be the beginning of another round of “Jefferson Scandals.” Look for some fireworks to start in the Jefferson Parish scandal before Mardi Gras, my sources say.

5. Ray Nagin’s Unraveling — Could he possibly be more obtuse, more detached, more disengaged — and less effective as a mayor? While in Cuba (on a junket), he praised Castro’s evacuation plans. That came after he failed to convince the City Council to buy the nondescript Chevron Building and make it the new City Hall. Earlier in the year, he thumbed his nose at the courts and the state Public Records Act when his calendar and emails somehow disappeared. When an outside contractor said that the emails were deleted deliberately by someone who knew what they where doing, he fired the contractor. Meanwhile, a growing list of people who once were close to him are under federal indictment. Here’s the good news: he’ll be gone in 18 weeks.

6. Bobby Jindal’s Minus Touch — The Boy Governor started 2009 as the Wunderkind of the national GOP. Then came his disastrous response to Barack Obama’s first national address and his failure to show any coattails in three separate special elections — including a bid by his former executive counsel for the state Supreme Court in northeast Louisiana (which is supposed to be a Jindal stronghold). As he continues to raise millions nationally for his campaign war chest, the state faces major budget problems.

7. State and City Budget Woes — Bobby Jindal told a state cost-cutting commission to “be bold” in their recommendations. Gee, wasn’t that what we elected him to do as governor? Lawmakers anguished over cutting about $1 billion in operating funds this year, but it only gets worse in the next two years. Locally, Mayor Ray Nagin announced a $68 million deficit, then took a taxpayer-paid trip to Mexico to sign a feel-good sister city agreement. When the City Council revised his proposed budget, Hizzoner retaliated by slashing key services — and then blamed it all on the council. Plus ça change.

8. David Vitter’s Run-up to 2010 — The Biggest Hypocrite in America remains an early favorite to win back his U.S. Senate seat, but not without a fight. He initially drew a potential rival in porn star Stormy Daniels of Baton Rouge, but now he will have a real opponent in Democratic Congressman Charlie Melancon. Vitter continues to poll below 50 percent but remains 10 points or more above his main opponents. His infamous bad temper flared up again during an incident at Reagan National Airport when he tried to board a plane late, and all the national attention he’s gets every time there’s another sex scandal anywhere sure makes Louisiana (if not Vitter himself) look bad. Not that he cares.

9. The Saints Deal — For the first time since the state started subsidizing the city’s NFL franchise in 1985, a deal to keep the beloved Saints in New Orleans did not tear the Legislature apart and cost the city valuable political capital. Maybe it’s because Gov. Bobby Jindal also wanted lawmakers to approve $50 million to bail out a north Louisiana chicken processing plant. South Louisiana leges immediately said, “Deal!” Cluck, cluck! Go Saints!

10. The City’s New Master Plan — Like everything else worthwhile that happens here, the city’s new master plan has endured a rough birthing process, but the end results will hopefully be worth it. Don’t let the fact that I’ve listed this as No. 10 fool you. This will be a very important story for decades if we get it right.

A final note: I left former Recovery Chief Ed Blakely off my list of most important political stories. That’s because, even when he was here, Blakely was largely irrelevant. His ridiculous, self-serving comments after his departure proved that.

Here’s hoping 2010 brings better news.

Courtesy of Slate (and our own eagle-eyed Lauren Laborde) comes this Christmas card from the Family Vitter. (Maybe Santa will bring them a 42″ flatscreen to replace that sad portable TV.)

(We’ll update if Sen. Mary Landrieu delivers a YouTube Christmas card to her constituents.)

A noted political science professor at the University of Louisiana-Monroe — in the heart of U.S. Sen. David Vitter’s north Louisiana stronghold — has penned a scathing criticism of Vitter’s fast-and-loose treatment of the facts surrounding various issues (particularly health care reform) in his desperate attempt to win re-election after getting caught chasing whores (again).

Prof. Joshua Stockley of ULM is past president of the Louisiana Political Science Association. In a Nov. 14 op-ed for the Monroe News Star, he predicts that the 2010 Senate race between Vitter and Congressman Charlie Melancon will be “a knockdown, mud-slinging affair.” He goes on to note how Vitter has routinely distorted Melancon’s record on health care reform as well as the facts behind a pending climate-change bill.

“Whatever happened to campaigning honestly?

“Another story about Vitter caught my attention this week. Paul Anastas, a former White House environment director, was unanimously approved in July by a Senate committee to head the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development. However, Vitter placed a hold upon his nomination that will effectively prevent his nomination from being confirmed for several months.

“It turns out that the EPA has signaled plans to assess formaldehyde’s health effects and its concomitant usage in building materials and household products because studies have found a link between formaldehyde and cancer. An EPA under Anastas would likely restrict the use of formaldehyde in building materials, like the FEMA mobile homes that sickened thousands of Katrina evacuees.

“It turns out that Vitter has received $9,000 from Dow Chemical’s PAC, $5,000 from Monsanto’s PAC, $5,000 from ExxonMobil’s PAC, and $2,500 from the American Forest and Paper Association PAC. The American Forest and Paper Association is a member of the Formaldehyde Council; the other companies are known producers of formaldehyde.

“Money talks, cancer victims don’t.”

That a political science professor would put forth such analysis is not surprising. That it would appear in the daily newspaper in the middle of Vitter territory is surprising — and refreshing.

When the news came out that Tangipahoa Parish justice of the peace Keith Bardwell refused to grant marriage licenses to interracial couples, a number of Louisiana politicians were quick to condemn Bardwell.

Governor Bobby Jindal made his point clear:

Disciplinary action should be taken immediately — including the revoking of his license.

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U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) thought it was appropriate to make her feelings on the matter known as well:

Not only does his decision directly contradict Supreme Court rulings, it is an example of the ugly bigotry that divided our country for too long.

So what about Louisiana’s other senator, David Vitter (R-LA)? Blogger Crooked Dope caught up with Vitter as he was getting on to an elevator. It appears Vitter is unequivocal where he stands on the Bardwell incident.

In a conference committee meeting held today to resolve differences in the House and Senate versions of the 2010 Energy and Water Development Appropriations bills, the committee declined to include the Landrieu/Vitter “Pump to the River” amendment as part of the legislation. The amendment, co-sponsored by Senators Mary Landrieu and David Vitter, provided funding for the Corps of Engineers to conduct a peer-reviewed, feasibility and cost analysis study on the proposed plans for permanent pump stations at New Orleans three outfall canals.

Aaron Saunders, communications director for Landrieu’s office, says the senator attended the meeting and attempted to explain to the House and Senate Energy and Water Committee, that the amendment had the unanimous, bipartisan support of the Louisiana congressional delegation, Jefferson Parish Council, New Orleans City Council and the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board. House members of the committee objected to the amendment’s language, saying they believed it would delay protecting New Orleans. Landrieu countered by stressing the 18-month feasibility study would take place simultaneously while the Corps initiated “option-neutral” construction of the pump stations.

There are three proposals — Option 1, 2 and 2a — for constructing the pump stations at the 17^th Street, Orleans Avenue and London Avenue canals. Option 1 would allow for new pumps that would only be used during a storm event when floodgates would be closed, and the newer pumps would work in tandem with Sewerage and Water Board pumps to drain rainwater. Numerous critics of this option have said the plan still relies on pumping water through the designed and storm-weakened floodwalls of the outfall canals.

Option 2 would create permanent, all-purpose pumping stations, used when the floodgates are open or closed. Under Option 2, outfall canals would be deepened and paved, so water would gravity-flow to the pump stations, and some of the S & W pumps would no longer be necessary. Option 2A, or “Pump to the River,” would provide all of the improvements of Option 2, and would include a plan to add a pumping station in Old Metairie to send water directly to the Mississippi River.

The Corps has maintained that it only has congressional authority to build Option 1. In a report from earlier this year, the Corps estimated that Option 1 would cost approximately $804 million; Option 2, $3.4 billion and Option 2A, $3.5 billion.

Despite Landrieu’s attempts to get committee members to understand the amendment would not prevent the Corps from starting the project, committee members chose to drop the amendment. Landrieu says she hasn’t given up the fight, adding that today’s failure was prompted by actions from the Corps of Engineers.

“Today’s decision by House and Senate Energy and Water Committee leadership to drop our Pump to the River amendment is unconscionable,” Sen. Landrieu says. “This move seriously impedes our progress in establishing a truly integrated system of storm surge protection and interior drainage for Orleans and Jefferson Parishes. Today, the people in harm’s way – the citizens in Southeast Louisiana — have been failed once again by Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps’ arrogance has led them to ignore the unanimous voice of local leaders and residents, ignore public hearings and ignore a vigorous floor debate on this issue. The Corps stubbornness ultimately subverted the House-Senate negotiations and today the bureaucracy won the battle. But this fight is not over. I will work closely with other Louisiana Delegation members in the coming weeks to take this issue directly to the White House and seek all available means to advance the Pump to the River project.”

Political consultant James Carville has penned a gloves-off fundraising billet-doux for the Senate campaign of Charlie Melancon, taking square aim at Melancon’s opponent, Sen. David Vitter. An excerpt:

After running around all summer scaring people about health insurance reform, Vitter decided a couple of weeks ago to endorse a plan that calls for eliminating all employer-based health insurance. The nearly two million Louisianians who have employer-based insurance should be scared about Vitter’s plan: if Vitter gets his way, they’ll be on their own.

And don’t get me started on his record when it comes to supporting our military personnel. He offers paeans to troops — which I sure hope they enjoy, because if they’re depending on Vitter, that’s all they’re going to get.

And, yes, the letter Goes There:

All these qualities would make Charlie an outstanding U.S. Senator. But he’s also got one that matters more to me than all the others.

He’s an honest man — which to me means you can figure out what he’s going to do by listening to his words. He doesn’t preach family values. He lives them in his more than 37-year marriage to his wife, Peachy.

Ouch. Tell us how you really feel, James.

Vitter is sure to respond; we’ll bring you that letter, too.

MEET THE CANDIDATE

With a profile that’s been more private than public lately, Congressman Charlie Melancon is campaigning to be your next U.S. senator

By JEREMY ALFORD

Charlie Melancon may be the first major political candidate from Louisiana to announce a bid for office from his own dining room table. That all of his supporters, the state’s media and other political onlookers were able to fit into his charming Napoleonville home was even more remarkable. But that, as they say, is the magic of the Internet.

Last week, Melancon told the world he would challenge U.S. Sen. David Vitter by email. The message, though, also provided a link to a YouTube video posted on his campaign’s site.

Click. (Cue piano) “Hello. My name is Charlie Melancon. I’m a businessman, who’s been an ambassador for our state’s sugar industry and I’ve owned and run several successful businesses. I’m a proud family man, the father of two great children, and Peachy and I celebrated our 37th wedding anniversary just last week.”

Peachy didn’t enter the frame with a tray of fried catfish or Natchitoches meat pies, but it would have been a nice touch. The video, however, does play into the image of detached U.S. congressman who’s ducking town hall meetings, a portrayal that’s been floated by Melancon’s conservative opposition and anyone else generally paying attention.

In comparison, Sen. David Vitter, the Republican from Metairie that Melancon will face on the fall 2010 ballot, is in the trenches and holding town hall meetings – and, more importantly, answering, although most times indirectly, questions about his connection to a Beltway-based prostitution ring that was run by a madam who killed herself last year….

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Rep. Charlie Melancon announces his challenge to Sen. David Vitter in the 2010 election.

Expect to hear the “proud family man” meme repeated a lot over the next year.

Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao held his first of four health care town hall meetings tonight at the regular neighborhood association meeting of the Irish Channel Christian Fellowship on First Street. More than 100 people turned out to hear the congressman and ask questions, but the tenor — while tense at times — was largely free of the rancor at so many other health care town halls this heated season.

Cao won points from the crowd by taking questions by a lottery system, rather than having them prescreened (as Sen. David Vitter has been doing at his town halls).

Judging from the random questions, the crowd was pro-health care reform and skeptical about Cao’s commitment to the cause. For his part, Cao said he was undecided on the D.C. plan (or plans), but in an interview earlier this month that was widely quoted in the Catholic press, he sounded pretty definite:

“At the end of the day if the health care reform bill does not have strong language prohibiting the use of federal funding for abortion, then the bill is really a no-go for me,” said Cao, who spent time in formation to be a Jesuit priest….

“I know that voting against the health care bill will probably be the death of my political career,” Cao said, “but I have to live with myself, and I always reflect on the phrase of the New Testament, ‘How does it profit a man’s life to gain the world but to lose his soul.’”

So what did the Congressman have to say to a crowd that was clearly more concerned with health-care reform than abortion? Answers under the jump…

Edited to add: Bill Barrow’s account of the meeting is up at The Times-Picayune’s Web site. Barrow’s account is thorough, but his takeaway is that Cao is “leaning” TOWARD the Democratic plan, which certainly wasn’t my impression, nor the impression of anyone with whom I spoke after the meeting. Instead, Cao said his possible approval would be based on three fairly stringent conditions (unambiguous language about abortion, assurances that Medicare/Medicaid wouldn’t be harmed, and a better understanding as to how this would affect the Federal budget. It seemed to me, based on the meeting and on earlier statements, that Cao was leaning in precisely the opposite direction. Were you there? What did you think?

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