EDITORIAL: This is a pivotal time in Louisiana
The Town Talk (excerpt)

Today, while the state celebrates the Super Bowl victory and as Mardi Gras shifts into high gear, it is appropriate to use this moment to our advantage. We need to tell the rest of the world that this state is on the move. Despite the crushing toll taken by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the anemic response to that history-making storm, Louisiana is not frozen in time.

By no means has Louisiana changed all of its ways. Not by a long shot. There is much to be done, and Gov. Bobby Jindal's "Louisiana Way Forward" speaks directly to that. Jindal's budget directive to lawmakers -- to cut state spending where appropriate, to increase investment where it is strategically beneficial, and to reduce taxes or keep them flat -- is essential to fixing Louisiana's dysfunctional ways. It is a continuation of a fiscal posture that already has helped the state, as Wall Street has improved the state's bond rating in consecutive years and as industry looks more frequently and more closely at Louisiana as a potential destination. Others need to know about that and about the other positive steps Louisiana is taking.

To that end, Louisiana Economic Development, which is responsible for improving the state's business environment, is using Louisiana's Super Bowl win as the marketing gold that it is. It is getting the work out. It is a good word, one that has been a long time coming for Louisiana.