Some of my friends in Livingston Parish sent something to me yesterday that I just had to write about.

WAFB put out an eye-opening interview with Livingston Parish President Randy Delatte yesterday.  Generally, we think of Livingston Parish as being a bastion of conservatism in what is already a very conservative state (despite the large population of RINO’s that always seem to be present in state government).  They call themselves the Free State of Livingston out there, and you can’t throw a rock without hitting a pickup truck with a Gadsden flag on it!

However, the WAFB interview with Delatte regarding a property tax renewal to fund the parish health unit sounds like it comes straight out of a deep blue state.

You can find the interview here.

There are so many things wrong with this interview that it is hard to even know where to begin.  But let’s start with a little flashback.  Do you remember when John Bel Edwards told us that if we didn’t pass that temporary half-cent sales tax, LSU football would have to be cancelled?  It seems that Delatte thought that speech was so great that he would take it and edit it for his own use yesterday.  The guy claimed with a straight face that if the health unit loses its funding, they can’t inspect restaurants anymore, so all of the restaurants in Livingston Parish will have to close.  That is so ridiculous, that it is hard to believe that it was said on television!  Does anyone prepare this guy to go out in public?

Apparently he also plans to prevent people from moving or building new homes if the health unit closes.

Seriously?  I don’t think that is how that works Mr. Delatte.  The world does not come to a halt because your health unit is not funded by people who are tired of being overtaxed and not getting their money’s worth.

He also said that they cut the tax from 5 mills to 2 mills, which is not true either.  That statement didn’t even survive the interview.  The reporter states that the current tax is 2.5 mills, not 2 mills.

But the real firebomb here is Planned Parenthood.  You know, group that is the leading provider of abortions in the United States?  Delatte stated in the interview that Planned Parenthood is one of the things that the tax pays for.

That absolutely blew my mind.

Planned Parenthood in Livingston Parish!!!???!!!  Say it ain’t so!

Now to be fair, Delatte made some kind of retraction on social media Wednesday night.  In it, he said, “I did not mean to imply that the national organization known as Planned Parenthood would be funded by the health unit tax renewal on the November ballot.”

I honestly don’t know what this means.  Is it an actual retraction of a mistake?  Or is it wordplay?

Is Livingston Parish funding a local chapter of Planned Parenthood, but not the national organization? Or is there really no funding of Planned Parenthood?

I don’t know the answer to that question.

I would hope that someone out there could dig up that information.  One thing is for sure, after saying Planned Parenthood was funded, then (sort of) saying that it wasn’t, I don’t believe anything else coming out of Delatte’s mouth.

You must be very careful when listening to politicians.  They are usually very good at making you think they are saying what you want to hear, when they actually are saying something different.  And the most definitive statement that I heard (and read in the transcript) in that interview was, “Planned Parenthood is another thing this tax pays for…”

If he is going to walk that statement back, he better use some clearer language than we saw in that social media post.

On second thought, Delatte probably should just produce some proof that he is not funding Planned Parenthood.

And one more thing Livingston Parish:  If you don’t pass this tax, you better not die.  Because if you do, they won’t give your death certificate…