EDITORIAL: Storm Clouds Are Gathering In Louisiana
The Town Talk (excerpt)

As two state panels push to meet deadlines to recommend cost reductions, all of Louisiana should be bracing for a perfect storm, one that will make Hurricanes Katrina and Rita feel like summer showers by comparison.

When it hits, the storm that is forming will pummel Louisiana's economy, which is propped up with hurricane-recovery money that is now going away. Taxpayers and lawmakers, listen up: The work of the two panels -- to cut the costs of state government and higher education -- only hints at what is to come. Consider: Louisiana's economy is projected to grow only slightly in 2010 and 2011, and that growth -- about 1 percent statewide -- will be much slower than what the state has experienced after previous recessions have ended. All things related to employment, taxes and revenues stem from that.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration has made it a priority to increase energy taxes and impose fees on emissions of carbon dioxide and other so-called greenhouse gases. This tears at the roots of Louisiana's energy-based economy. Discussion of the proposed "cap and trade" policy already has turned the energy sector into the "wait and see" sector. Companies are rightly worried about a government-run accounting scheme that will penalize domestic firms and cause no net reduction in pollution. Then, health-care "reform" as it is being described will dump billions of dollars of new costs on all states. Louisiana, home to high numbers of the poor and uninsured, will be hit much harder than most. Keep the hurricane supplies handy, Louisiana. We're in for a stormy ride.