LOUISIANA

“Apparently, the rest of the United States doesn’t think Louisiana is as corrupt as many Louisianans believe.” – NOLA.com

“Bobby Jindal’s final legislative session opening speech told us everything we need to know about where the governor’s mind is these days. Or it would have, if we didn’t know already.” – Stephanie Grace/Baton Rouge Advocate

“Gov. Bobby Jindal said there are ongoing discussions with legislators about how to close Louisiana’s $1.6 billion budget shortfall, but no consensus about what specific proposals to adopt yet.” – NOLA.com

“Governor Bobby Jindal has been criticized by some for a fiscal policy based on Grover Norquist and the Americans for Tax Reform. But Jindal says he’s always been a supporter of no new taxes on Louisiana residents.” – WWL-AM

“The final of four suspects in the alleged effort to frame a member of a prominent oil family in Lafayette, a drug plant police said was planned by the victim’s brother Mark Knight, was arrested Friday morning.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“The Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association has always been active in legislative elections. But this fall will be different for its MC-PAC, with big checks coming in and big asks underway. ‘We’ll spend more money this time than ever before,’ says LMOGA president Chris John. The former congressman says term limits are one reason; the anti-energy votes taken by some lawmakers in recent years is another.” – Baton Rouge Business Report

“The chairwoman of the Louisiana House Transportation Committee said Thursday that she is sponsoring a one-cent state sales tax hike for roads and bridges that would raise $675 million per year. State Rep. Karen St. Germain, D-Pierre Part, said the increase, which faces massive political hurdles, is needed to tackle Louisiana’s $12 billion backlog of transportation needs.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“Wednesday was another one of those defining moments for Davis. Lose to San Antonio on the final day of the regular season, and the Pelicans would have been forced to suffer through yet another offseason sans playoffs. But Davis answered the call, as he’s done so many times this season. And in front of a packed Smoothie King Center, he gave fans plenty to cheer, offering another glorious performance.” – WWL-TV

“The truth was, despite my office’s firm grasp on the happenings along Louisiana’s coast, we didn’t know much at that point about the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil platform about 50 miles away in the Gulf of Mexico. I only knew what I’d read on some oil and gas trade websites and the little information that had trickled in from some local news reports and the Associated Press.” – Chris Macaluso/TRCP

“Spring football practice has been about improvement for LSU’s quarterbacks, says Cam Cameron. For the Tigers offensive coordinator, Saturday’s spring game will be about results.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

NATIONAL

“Was it inevitable that Iraq would disintegrate?” I asked Rafi. No, it was not, he assured me. Iraq had been moving in a positive direction after the surge. This downward trajectory began in 2010 when the United States had not upheld the right of Iraqiya to have first chance at trying to form the government after it won the elections. “We might not have succeeded,” he admitted, “but the process itself would have been important in building trust in Iraq’s young institutions.” – Salon

“We should be honest and admit that the Muslim nations of the Mideast are what they are. They are not interested in our notion of liberty or joining the ‘family of nations.’ Their culture is much older than ours and they don’t aspire to be like us. Trying to remake them in something approaching our image is a fool’s errand. Anyone who thinks we just need to be a little smarter the next time we try another Iraq or Libya just isn’t skeptical enough about the limits and competency of government for my liking. And yeah Marco Rubio, I’m looking at you.” – DrewM./Ace Of Spades

“A Mason-Dixon poll has Marco Rubio effectively tied with Jeb Bush among Florida Republicans. Rubio is supported by 31 percent; Bush by 30 percent. Ted Cruz is next with 8 percent. Then comes Rand Paul at 7 percent and Scott Walker at 2 percent. The margin of error is 5 points.” – Power Line

“See Hillary ride in a van! Watch her meet everyday Americans! Witness her ordering a burrito bowl at Chipotle! Which she did wearing shades, as did her chief aide Huma Abedin, yielding security-camera pictures that made them look (to borrow from Karl Rove) like fugitives on the lam, wanted in seven states for a failed foreign policy.” – Charles Krauthammer/National Review

“Maybe, just maybe, at a crucial point in the campaign, she’ll pull the van’s doors open to reveal many of the unknowns surrounding the candidate and her campaign. There, among the stacks of 8-track tapes, beneath the fuzzy dice and between the snazzy bucket seats, may be stacks of additional old Rose Law Firm billing records.” – Fred Thompson/American Spectator

“Jeb Bush says that the Senate should confirm the nomination of Loretta Lynch, President Barack Obama’s choice for attorney general. A number of Senate Republicans oppose her nomination.” – POLITICO

“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has dug in on Loretta Lynch’s nomination to be attorney general, highlighting his willingness to play hardball with the Democratic minority. His maneuvers on Lynch shed light on how he will lead the upper chamber in this Congress, but the strategy has some risks — especially with a fragile majority.” – The Hill

“Human Rights Watch (HRW) interviewed 20 Yazidi women and girls at a refugee camp in Dohuk, a governorate in Iraqi Kurdistan. These women described the horrific treatment they endured from the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL). Rashida, 31, told the group about a lottery ISIS set up for the fighters to receive a woman.” – Breitbart

“The collapse of Yemen into a failed state has trapped between 3,000 and 4,000 American citizens in the country, caught between al-Qaeda and Houthi Islamists and the military action against both from Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Almost until the moment that the Hadi government was put to flight, the White House has insisted that its counterterrorism efforts in Yemen had been a model of success. The final collapse appears to have caught the Obama administration so off-guard that it didn’t have time to organize an evacuation for Americans still left, and McClatchy’s John Zarocostas reports that no rescue plans will come in the immediate future, either:” – Hot Air

“The FBI had advance warning of an al-Qaeda plot to bring down a commercial airliner on American soil just weeks before the 1996 TWA 800 crash that claimed 230 civilian lives. Now, a series of previously-confidential FBI documents obtained by investigative journalist Peter Lance and seen by MailOnline, provide compelling evidence that the crash was an act of terror orchestrated by the man now believed by many to be the true architect of 9/11.” – UK Daily Mail