doing business, the louisiana way

Salon: Are you a major corporation that wants to do business with the state of Louisiana? The bad news is you can only donate $5,000 directly to Governor Bobby Jindal. The good news is, you can give an unlimited amount of money to his wife’s charity, the Supriya Jindal Foundation for Lousiana’s Children.

….corporations including Marathon Oil, AT&T, Northrup Grumman, Dow Chemical, Alon USA, and various state contractors have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the foundation. All of those companies have business with the state. All of them received permits or evaded fines or won contracts.

Everyone involved in this pay-to-play-ish venture claims nothing untoward is going on. The major corporations simply love children. And if, following an oil company’s donation, “state environmental officials [ease] requirements for the company to check for spills of oil, ammonia or other contaminants in waterways,” well that’s just a coincidence.

Supriya Jindal’s foundation reportedly does good work, handing out free “high-tech whiteboards,” to low-income schools across the state….

Full article here

come what may

a month in the life – may, 2010

… before giving the University of Michigan commencement address in Ann Arbor May 1

… exiting the stage with University of Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman, May 1

… being briefed on the BP oil spill aboard Air Force One en route to New Orleans, May 2

… talking with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal after arriving in New Orleans, May 2

… talking with Thad Allen and Bobby Jindal aboard Marine One, May 2

… being briefed on the BP oil spill by U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen, May 3

… discussing the pending Supreme Court nomination with staff in the Rose Garden, May 6

… talking on the phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss the economic situation in Europe, prior to the Hampton University commencement, May 9

… waiting in the Blue Room of the White House, May 10, prior to the announcement of Solicitor General Elena Kagan as his choice to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens in the Supreme Court

… with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai following their working lunch, May 12

… at Duff’s Famous Wings in Cheektowaga, N.Y., May 13

… walking from Marine One to the motorcade at the Wall Street landing zone in New York, May 13

… during a meeting on the BP oil spill in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, May 14

… greeting workers during a shift change at V&M Star in Youngstown, Ohio, May 18

…  hosting Mexican President Felipe Calderón and his wife, Margarita Zavala, at the White House, May 19

… discussing G20 goals and strategy with staff in the Situation Room, May 20

… delivering remarks on Wall Street reform legislation in the Rose Garden, May 20

… greeting guests after signing a Presidential Memorandum in the Rose Garden, May 21

… boarding Marine One en route to West Point, N.Y., May 22

… at Michie Stadium in West Point, N.Y., May 22

… looking at a gift saber aboard Marine One, with Trip Director Marvin Nicholson, following the West Point commencement, May 22

… delivering remarks during a reception for members of the Federal Judge Association in the Grand Foyer of the White House, May 24

… meeting with Prime Minister Saad Hariri of Lebanon in the Oval Office, May 24

… with Grand Isle Mayor David Camardelle during a briefing on the BP oil spill at the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Grand Isle, La., May 28

… being briefed by Thad Allen aboard Marine One en route to Port Fourchon, Louisiana, May 28

… looking at the effect the BP oil spill is having on Fourchon Beach in Port Fourchon, La., May 28

… flying over southern Louisiana after visiting Grand Isle, May 28

… pausing after laying a wreath at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Ill., on Memorial Day, May 31

… at the Memorial Day ceremony at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, Elwood, Ill., May 31

… speaking to people aboard a bus after the Memorial Day ceremony in Elwood was cancelled because of severe weather, May 31

… meeting with advisors before a phone call in the Oval Office with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, May 31

All official White House photos

emergency call

President Obama is briefed on the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, aboard Air Force One en route to New Orleans, La.

President Obama is met by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, after arriving at Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans

U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen, who is serving as the National Incident Commander, and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, brief President Barack Obama about the situation along the Gulf Coast following the BP oil spill, at the Coast Guard Venice Center, Venice, La

May 2, 2010 – President Barack Obama visits Louisiana as crews try to stem the oil flow streaming from the wreakage of BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig, which sank on April 22.