President Donald Trump’s net approval rating of Louisiana voters has plummeted over the roughly two years that he has presided over the nation. 

According to a Morning Consult poll of registered voters, released Monday morning, Trump’s net approval sits at 13 percent, that is, positive minus negative rating.

His overall rating nationwide sits at 44 percent approval, versus 52 percent disapproval.

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? I always do.  A New Year always brings with it promise and uncertainty, but this coming year brings with it a greater foreboding than we have experienced in the past.  The Chinese have a saying: “May you live in interesting times.” But their definition means dangerous or turbulent. We in Louisiana and throughout America certainly live in “interesting” times today.

Have you heard the cries that Louisiana is unable to take care of its problems, and should be treated differently than other states? Some even say, OK, then — make it a protectorate of the federal government.  And you know what?  Maybe that isn’t too bad of an idea.

The proposal took legs recently when Froma Harrop, a nationally syndicated columnist broached the idea in print. “Louisiana has had more than its share of tragedies in recent years, and some, such as hurricane Katrina, could be deemed an act of nature.  But whatever the cause, every calamity that befalls Louisiana is made worse by a corrupt civic nature. A protectorate could provide the structure of government people need.”

The Mississippi River Ship Channel could be the first port complex on the Gulf Coast to reach a depth of 50 feet now that the Director’s Report has been signed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Elected officials and industry leaders have long worked to increase the channel’s depth to 50 feet, which is the same depth of the expanded Panama Canal.

Louisiana, once again, regardless whether it opts into Obamacare, otherwise known as the Affordable Care Act under current Governor John Bel Edwards or privatizes its hospitals (under former Governor Bobby Jindal)--is still in the pits for healthcare.

More specifically, dead last, at least, according to the 2018 Best & Worst States for Health Care annual report by personal financial website, Wallet Hub.

 The Louisiana Departments of Health, Environmental Quality and Wildlife and Fisheries today issued a series of fish consumption advisories for nine bodies of water. These most recent advisories include one new warning and updates to eight previously issued warnings.

President Trump has put the French back in good graces with the U.S. while criticizing other European nations. He apparently turned a cold shoulder to both German and England over tariffs and NATO, but has developed a close and warm relationship with current French President Emmanuel Macron. And that’s good news for Louisiana.

Today, the chairs of Louisiana's four public postsecondary systems - the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, the LSU System, the Southern University System Board of Supervisors, and the UL System, in conjunction with the Louisiana Board of Regents, sent a joint letter to seek funding for higher education and for TOPS.. 

An issue the Louisiana Legislature continues to address poorly a House of Representatives panel this week kept that pattern going.   Yesterday, the House Education Committee passed along HB 399 by state Rep. Gary Carter. It would alter, whenever the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students did not receive full appropriation, the present across-the-board reduction algorithm. Instead, higher-achieving students, defined as those earning the top two categories, would receive no cuts although losing their extra stipends while the remainder would keep theirs only if their families had annual incomes below around $50,000, although they could recoup some from Pell Grants.

It is always difficult for Louisiana to lose a corporate headquarters, but it is even more difficult when it involves a homegrown business. Yesterday, Smoothie King, a company started in Kenner, Louisiana announced the relocation of its corporate headquarters to Irving, Texas, in the Dallas metropolitan area.