State Of The Union + Budget Crisis Puts Louisiana Universities In Danger

This week on "Wingin' It Wednesday", panelist Mike Stagg, Warren Caudle, and Carol Ross joined "Nathan and Bernie in the Morning" to discuss the President's State of the Union address as well as the budget crisis looming in Louisiana.

Here's what the panel had to say:

1. Last night President Obama delivered his annual State of the Union address. Your thoughts?

Warren Caudle started us off:

First of all I did not watch it. I haven’t watched those things in years. They’re all the same. There were a couple things he put in there I agree with and a couple things I don’t agree with. Nothings really going to change. Now it’s going to depend on what Barack does or what the Republican senate and congress does.

Carol Ross posited:

I was a dutiful panelists. I watched the entire thing. This was a laundry list of more big government giveaways that really do nothing. There were times when he was petulant, he was snarky sometimes. He just insists on dragging the country farther to the left. It’s not working and it’s not going to work.

Mike Stagg started us off:

The reason he proposed the free community college is about training a workforce and making sure Americans can find work. We are the only industrialized country that doesn’t have paid sick leave and paid maternity leave. This is about taking care of the middle class.

Wingin It Wednesday; KPEL 96.5

2. The state of Louisiana has an upcoming budget crisis looming that will put Louisiana universities in danger of closing. Your thoughts?

Carol started us off:

The number of non-essential NGOs that are funded by the state while higher ed and healthcare go wanting. Is there the political will to make the hard choices? That’s for the legislature to decide.

Warren concluded:

We need to take a total comprehensive look at how we’re handling education. We need to go back and take a look at the outcome of what we’re trying to do which is to educate people. You can’t just throw money at the problem and expect it to be good. You do however need to spend your money wisely.

Mike started us off:

This is a phony budget crisis. If you have a billion budget crisis, and you’re giving away $7 billion in tax exemptions then you don’t have a budget crisis. You have a priority crisis.
In Louisiana, the legislature has the authority to suspend any and all exemptions by a simple vote for resolution. First you start with the tax cheats and the exemptions. Take away that money and you’re in the good right there.

To listen to the full audio from our Wingin' It panelists, click the play button below: