At some point, we’ll surely be approached by someone on the leadership team for Louisiana’s House Speaker Clay Schexnayder assuring us that he’s a true conservative and that he’s going to move a legislative agenda that would please voters who really weren’t expecting, when they gave 68 of the 105 seats in the House to Republicans in October and November, to have a Speaker elected despite a majority of those Republicans voting against him.

We’ll listen to that pitch if and when it comes. We make no promises not to laugh and call it bullshit. Because so far, the rhetoric coming out of Schexnayder and his camp, and particularly Stuart Bishop, who nominated him as speaker on Monday and who virtually everyone we talk to thinks is the real House Speaker, is just about the most arrogant, offensive and plainly untrue, typical example of this-is-why-we-hate-Louisiana-politicians garbage we’ve heard in a while. It ranks right up there with John Bel Edwards’ I’ll-kill-college-football-if-you-don’t-give-me-my-billion-dollar-tax-hike crap from four years ago.

What are we talking about? Here’s Bishop’s speech nominating Schexnayder as Speaker…

Perhaps Bishop, who is such an adamant opponent of “outside influence” in House affairs, can enlighten us plebes as to which of these “outside influences” he wasn’t too proud before the election to take contributions of $250 and up from…

LEGISLATIVE REPUBLICAN DELEGATION CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE	Baton Rouge	LA	$10,000.00
LOUISIANA REPUBLICAN DELEGATION	Baton Rouge	LA	$2,500.00
ASSOCIATED BRANCH PILOTS	Metairie	LA	$2,500.00
LOUISIANA RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION HOSPITALITY PAC	Metairie	LA	$2,500.00
NEW ORLEANS HOSPITALITY PAC	New Orleans	LA	$2,500.00
LHA MANAGEMENT CORP.	Baton Rouge	LA	$2,000.00
LOUISIANA SHERIFF’S AND DEPUTIES PAC (STATE)	Baton Rouge	LA	$1,200.00
PHILLIPS 66 COMPANY	Baton Rouge	LA	$1,000.66
ACADIAN AMBULANCE EMPLOYEE PAC	Lafayette	LA	$1,000.00
BEYOND CONSULTING LLC	Lafayette	LA	$1,000.00
HOSPPAC	Baton Rouge	LA	$1,000.00
JEI MANAGERS DISBURSEMENTS ACCT	Golden	CO	$1,000.00
LABORDE EARLES LAW FIRM	Lafayette	LA	$1,000.00
LOUISIANA REALTORS PAC	Baton Rouge	LA	$1,000.00
MARATHON PETROLEUM CO LP	Findlay	OH	$1,000.00
PRESSURE WASHERS SALES AND RENTALS	Broussard	LA	$1,000.00
SCHILLING DISTRIBUTING COMPANY OPERATING ACCOUNT	Lafayette	LA	$1,000.00
SMOKE N GO	Abbeville	LA	$1,000.00
ACADIAN OAKS NURSING HOME ASSN	Lafayette	LA	$1,000.00
AMERICAN PROPERTY CASUALTY INSURANCE ASSOCIATION POLITICAL ACCOUNT	Chicago	IL	$1,000.00
IIABL INDEPENDENT INSURANCE AGENTS & BROKERS OF LOUISIANA	Baton Rouge	LA	$1,000.00
KOCH INDUSTRIES	Wichita	KS	$1,000.00
LAMPAC	Baton Rouge	LA	$1,000.00
S. TROY MILLER, DDS, APDC	Lafayette	LA	$1,000.00
CHARTER SCHOOLS USA	Ft. Lauderdale	FL	$1,000.00
INTERNATIONAL PAPER POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE	Washington	DC	$1,000.00
MERCK SHARP & DOHME CORP.	Whitehouse Station	NJ	$750.00
CHEVRON POLICY AND GOVT & PUBLIC AFFAIRS	Concord	CA	$700.00
WICK COMMUNICATIONS CO	Sierra Vista	AZ	$684.00
A/D CONSULTING, LLC	Lafayette	LA	$500.00
BARCZYK CHIROPRACTIC GROUP	Lafayette	LA	$500.00
MARK COLE	Lafayette	LA	$500.00
COURSON NICKEL LLC	Baton Rouge	LA	$500.00
ELI LILLY AND COMPANY PAC	Indianapolis	IN	$500.00
ENERGY TRANSFER PAC	Austin	TX	$500.00
GERALD GERDES	Lafayette	LA	$500.00
HORSEMANS ALLIANCE	New Orleans	LA	$500.00
KENNETH ODINET JR	Lafayette	LA	$500.00
LA ASSOCIATED GENERAL CONTRACTORS CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY PAC	Baton Rouge	LA	$500.00
LOUISIANA MANUFACTURED HOUSING ASSOCIATION	Baton Rouge	LA	$500.00
LOUISIANA NURSING HOME PAC	Baton Rouge	LA	$500.00
P. ANDRE FRUGE	Lafayette	LA	$500.00
THOMSON SMITH & LEACH INSURANCE GROUP	Franklin	LA	$500.00
T E WILLIAMS	Baton Rouge	LA	$500.00
JOSHUA CAIN	Scott	LA	$500.00
COMCAST FINANCIAL AGENCY CORP.	Philadelphia	PA	$500.00
R J FONSECA, JR	Lafayette	LA	$500.00
GARRETT GRAVES FOR CONGRESS	Beverly	MA	$500.00
HOLCIM	Dundee	MI	$500.00
JONES WALKER	Baton Rouge	LA	$500.00
SCOTT L KERSETTER	Lafayette	LA	$500.00
LA DENTAL PAC	Baton Rouge	LA	$500.00
LA OPEC	Ruston	LA	$500.00
LOUISIANA CHIROPRACTIC PAC	Baton Rouge	LA	$500.00
LOUISIANA OIL MARKETERS & CONVENIENCE STORE ASSOCIATION PAC	Baton Rouge	LA	$500.00
MARIGNY CAPITAL SERVICES	New Orleans	LA	$500.00
MY ROUSES #998	Lafayette	LA	$500.00
CHRIS L RADER	Lafayette	LA	$500.00
WAL*PAC	Bentonville	AR	$500.00
CONOCOPHILLIPS COMPANY	Washington	DC	$500.00
GENEPAC	So. San Frisco	CA	$500.00
WASTE MANAGEMENT	Houston	TX	$500.00
PHILLIPS 66 COMPANY	Baton Rouge	LA	$498.02
LOUISIANA NURSING HOME PAC	Baton Rouge	LA	$450.00
BP NORTH AMERICA EMPLOYEE PAC	Houston	TX	$350.00
PATRICK L OTTINGER	Lafayette	LA	$300.00
CENTURYTEL, INC	Monroe	LA	$250.00
COURSON NICKEL LLC	Baton Rouge	LA	$250.00
ISC CONSTRUCTORS LLC	Baton Rouge	LA	$250.00
JESSE KEVIN DUPLECHAIN M.D.	Lafayette	LA	$250.00
JOHN J. GUILBEAU	Lafayette	LA	$250.00
MONSANTO COMPANY	St. Louis	MO	$250.00
MONSANTO COMPANY	St. Louis	MO	$250.00
NORPAC LLC	Metairie	LA	$250.00
TRANSPAC	Baton Rouge	LA	$250.00
UP RAILROAD	Baton Rouge	LA	$250.00
AT&T SERVICES, INC.	Baton Rouge	LA	$250.00
BNSF RAILWAY COMPANY	Fort Worth	TX	$250.00
CORNERSTONE GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS	Baton Rouge	LA	$250.00
STEVE L GARDES	Lafayette	LA	$250.00
AMERICAN TRAFFIC SOLUTIONS INC	Mesa	AZ	$250.00
LA ORTHOPEDIC PAC	Baton Rouge	LA	$250.00
MONSANTO COMPANY	St. Louis	MO	$250.00
WALGREENS FAMILY OF COMPANIES	Deerfield	IL	$250.00

The idea Bishop is independent of “outside influences” is an unmitigated, ridiculous lie and an abject insult to the people of Louisiana. He ought to give every dime of that money back or be charged for fraud.

And Bishop was on KPEL Radio Tuesday morning attempting to defend his statements and actions. It didn’t go well at all. If you have 15 minutes, it’s well worth your time to hear how weakly the apparent de-facto House Speaker defends himself.

Schexnayder, in his own speech, parroted the same line about how it’s important for the House to be free of “outside” influences and how all the decisions ought to be made inside those brass rails.

And Paula Davis, who from what we understand is going to chair either the Insurance Committee or the Ways and Means Committee, also parroted that line in a tweet on Monday…

We were sworn in today for a new four-year term then elected a conservative Republican for Speaker of the House, truly independent of outside influencers. #LaLege pic.twitter.com/5gXbKPcCo4

— Paula Davis (@RepPaulaDavis) January 13, 2020

Please understand what they’re saying here.

What they’re really responding to is the campaign by the Louisiana Committee for a Conservative Majority, which raised and spent millions of dollars to produce what’s supposed to be the most conservative state legislature in Louisiana history, and particularly Sen. John Kennedy and Attorney General Jeff Landry who chair LCCM, to elect Sherman Mack as the House Speaker.

Davis said on Twitter that she was opposed to a “billboard trial lawyer” as the Speaker, which she’s correct that Mack is.

These people might have a point, if they were telling the truth about what they did. But they’re lying through their teeth.

First of all, when your candidate for Speaker wins because 35 of his 60 votes come from Democrats delivered to him by Edwards making phone calls and whipping the vote for him, you simply are not allowed to claim that this is a speakership which is independent of outside influences. The Governor is not inside those brass rails. He is no more appropriate an influence on the House’s leadership – assuming the House wishes to remain independent as they were during the four years of Taylor Barras’ speakership which just concluded on Monday – than Jeff Landry, John Kennedy or Lane Grigsby, whose name they’re all trashing now.

It’s a lie, it’s a disingenuous lie, and it’s not even a lie well-told. It’s evidence these people are crappy, uninspired, talentless politicians who honestly don’t care what the rationale is for their own power so long as they get it.

This isn’t just an opinion, by the way. It’s a fact. Because what happened on Monday morning before the vote went down, as reported by the Advocate’s Sam Karlin and corroborated by our own sources who were in the room, proves it…

Republicans backing Mack knew they didn’t have the votes on Monday morning, hours before the House was set to vote for speaker, Miguez said. Members convened in an “emergency” delegation meeting, where Mack agreed to step down as a speaker candidate and back a third candidate if Schexnayder stepped down also, he said. But Schexnayder had nailed down more than the 53 votes needed to win and stayed in the race.

What we’ve heard from multiple people who were there was that the majority of the delegation offered up Lance Harris, Ray Garofalo and Jack McFarland as options for a middle way between Mack and Schexnayder so that the Republicans would be in control of selecting the leadership of a House with a near-supermajority of Republicans in it.

Schexnayder, who for more than six weeks had declared to anyone who would listen that he would not accept a speakership paid for with Democrat votes, made a liar of himself when he had an opportunity to put that statement of principle into practice. He chose power over his own word. And several of his supporters had vowed not to support a speakership built on Democrat votes, which was a lie.

And no, the condemnation of Mack as a trial lawyer doesn’t wash. Not when you were given an opportunity to compromise and support one of the three other candidates.

Schexnayder ended up with 60 votes, 23 of them Republicans. Several of those had been with Mack and threw in with Schexnayder when it was obvious he had won simply as a means of gaining favor with the winning candidate and perhaps dragging a good committee assignment out of the new status quo. What that meant, though, was that at the time Schexnayder refused to compromise, which would likely have given him the Speaker Pro Tem position as a consolation prize, he was only a few votes away from being in the same position as Mack – namely, that he couldn’t get a majority. He was probably sitting at not much more than 55 votes.

Which means this speakership is built on a handful of Republican state representatives who fraudulently declared themselves as supporters of the principle that a Republican majority should choose a Republican speaker before selling that principle out. They had an opportunity to melt off of Schexnayder in the face of a potential compromise Speaker, which would have forced Schexnayder to make a deal and end up as the Speaker Pro Tem in a solidly Republican and solidly conservative House.

Mack ended up with 45 votes. All of those 45 would have likely backed any of the three compromise candidates. All that was needed was eight more Republicans coming away from a majority-Democrat coalition, as many of them promised they would if it came to that, and yet they made themselves liars by sticking with Schexnayder.

We’ll not name names of those people at this time.

Instead, here are the 23 Republicans who voted for a lie, for whatever reasons they might have chosen.

Larry Bagley
Beau Beaullieu
Stuart Bishop
Ryan Bourriaque
Dewith Carrier
Jean Paul Coussan
Paula Davis
Stephen Dwight
Les Farnum
Ray Garofalo
Stephanie Hilferty
Mike Huval
Barry Ivey
Tanner Magee
Wayne McMahen
Greg Miller
Buddy Mincey
Clay Schexnayder
Vinny St. Blanc
Joe Stagni
John Stefanski
Chris Turner
Zee Zeringue

Be watching when the committee chairmanships are announced. And feel free, when you see how those turn out, to ask these 23 so-called Republicans whether it was worth it to effectively be John Bel Edwards’ pet poodle for the next four years.