More Education And Law Enforcement Budget Cuts For Louisiana [Opinion]

Well I guess it's that time of the year again. If you're a long time Louisiana resident then you know it's bound to happen every year. We're talking about budget cuts aimed at education and law enforcement.

You would think...PRAY...that eventually someone would take the office of Governor here in our beautiful state and actually govern with the residents' best interests at the forefront. Is that asking too much? I mean, that's what they promise us every four years right?!

It doesn't matter if we have a Republican or Democrat in office; it's the same song and dance every year! If, by some marvelous miracle, we can actually come up with and vote in a state budget, it doesn't matter. The bureaucrats in Baton Rouge think they have a blank check to make their pockets and their buddies' pockets fatter as the state suffers time and time again! ENOUGH!

Proposals are to cut TOPS scholarships by 30 percent, slash operating funds for higher education by over $90 million and impose large cuts on sheriff departments, district attorney offices, the National Guard, and other state agencies.

For the second year in a row, Louisiana is a unanimously considered the absolute worst state overall in the WHOLE FLIPPING UNION! These findings are based on 8 different statistical areas, but for this article, we'll just focus on education and law enforcement since their budgets are getting cut.

EDUCATION:

Louisiana's education system has an overall rank of #49 in the USA. For those counting at home, that's one away from DEAD LAST. So how in the world could it be a great idea to make an already TERRIBLE attempt at educating our children even worse?!

I, like you, remember Gov. Edwards saying over and over and over and over again that education was always going to be at the top of his priorities list. That's almost laughable now, and to be honest I didn't believe him then, either! He kept saying, "My wife is an educator and I have to sleep in the same bed with her every night." Good luck with that one, buddy.

Our test scores consistently rank at the bottom (48 and 49 out of 50) and yet education is always on the chopping block. Our high school graduation rate is ranked at #44, our college readiness is ranked at #40, and our college graduation rate is ranked at #45, yet education is always on the chopping block. ENOUGH!

How about all these bureaucrats chop the hundreds of needless state jobs they've made up out of thin air to employ their buddies, just wasting tax dollars that could be used for education?

LAW ENFORCEMENT:

You have got to be kidding me on this one! You want to cut funding to law enforcement?!  Louisiana ranks #48 in Crime and Corrections. For those counting at home, that means that Louisiana is less safe than 47 other states and only safer than two states in the USA.

We rank #46 in violent crime and #48 overall in public safety. Click here to see how UNSAFE Lake Charles actually is! They should start calling us Little New Orleans.

So a state, by all accounts, that crime is running rampant all over its borders thinks a great idea is to cut funding to the organizations fighting this sea of crime? That is genius...NOT REALLY!

Is it mandatory that you have to have a lobotomy before swearing into state politics in Baton Rouge?

Don't get me wrong. These problems aren't easy to fix, but a lack of funding isn't the answer. And politicians who run the same rat race every year for the same results have to change.

As I get older, I don't trust politicians. They fail me time and time again, on both sides of the aisle.

The only thing I can say is that I'm fed up with the whole process. This state cannot and will not flourish without a great education system and strong law enforcement. People want to live where their kids have an opportunity to be the best they can be, and they want their families to be safe.

Something Louisiana can't deliver.