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Boasso's 'boogers' surface
 If a candidate for governor slings mud, or goes negative, on an opponent over a particular issue, the candidate who's doing the mud slinging had better be free and clear of any "boogers" in his closet concerning the issue in which the mud is being thrown.
Maybe someone needs to bring that to the attention of Sen. Walter Boasso, a Democratic candidate in this fall's gubernatorial contest.
In the past couple of weeks, Boasso paid for some campaign television advertising that criticized Congressman Bobby Jindal for his position on some insurance matters. The attacks were a stretch at best; Jindal shouldn't waste his time in responding to them.
While it shouldn't have surprised anyone that Boasso popped Jindal since the Republican from Kenner continues to enjoy a comfortable lead in that hum-drum affair we're calling the 2007 governor's race, Boasso should have known that his own record involving insurance matters was fair game. He also should have known that information relative to his record in the insurance arena was easily accessible by the media, especially newspaper columnists who have made it clear that the old ways of operating state government in Louisiana need to fall by the wayside.
So let's take a look at Boasso's record on insurance and his relationship with the industry.
During the 2007 Regular Session of the Legislature, Boasso voted for legislation that increased the mandatory coverage automobile owners should be required to carry on their vehicles.
Currently, residents of Louisiana who bother to purchase liability insurance can get by with the standard 10-20-10 coverage. That's $10,000 for bodily injury per person, $20,000 for bodily injury per accident and $10,000 for property damage per accident.
The legislation Boasso supported, which passed the House and the Senate, would have required automobile owners to buy at least 25-50-25 coverage, or insurance that's more expensive for the consumer.
Citing the increased costs Louisianians would have incurred had the legislation become law, Gov. Kathleen Blanco vetoed the bill that would have raised insurance limits. In this case, the people who would have been negatively affected the most had the bill become law were the average man and woman in Louisiana who Boasso is trying to court in his campaign for governor as a man-of-the-people Democrat.
In 2005, Boasso backed legislation that imposed an $87-million tax on net patient revenue at Louisiana's acute care hospitals. The bill passed the Senate with the exactly two-thirds vote it needed for passage; it eventually became law.
Boasso explained that the $87-million tax was some kind of a fee.
He was wrong.
It was a new tax any way you cut it or describe it or try to explain it.
Let's bear in mind, that the medical industry throughout the country, especially in Louisiana, is doing its best to stay afloat in an atmosphere that's not conducive for turning a profit.
What did Boasso do?
He supported a tax on a member of the business community that's struggling to survive.
In the past four years, Boasso has collected thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from insurance agencies and individuals who make their living in the insurance industry. Since Boasso is taking money from insurance companies and from people who work in the industry, we certainly should expect Boasso to extend a sympathetic ear to the concerns of the insurance industry should he become governor.
Requests for rate increases at the expense of the consumers, too.
The hot-button topic, though, concerning insurance in general that Boasso most likely doesn't want to discuss involves health insurance for state legislators.
Yes, we're talking about House Bill 1028.
House Bill 1028 is Boasso's "booger."
Last year, the Legislature, in its infinite wisdom, passed HB 1028, which extended health care insurance for state lawmakers for the rest of their lives.
Of course, there were some stipulations, such as lawmakers had to serve at least 10 years in the Legislature before the Office of Group Benefits would include legislators in the insurance program, which is made available to all retired state employees.
HB 1028 provided that the state, meaning the taxpayers, would pay 75 percent of a legislator's health insurance costs after he or she left the Legislature, voluntarily or involuntarily, forever. Lawmakers would have paid 25 percent of the costs.
To her credit, Blanco vetoed HB 1028. It should noted that the governor vetoed the bill after a public outcry against the bill ensued thanks to talk radio show hosts and other members of the media who exposed the bill for what it was—an under-the-table perk for part-time state employees who tried in vain to take the taxpayers of Louisiana for a ride.
Boasso was one of those legislators who voted for HB 1028, or he's one of those lawmakers who tried to sneak one by the people at the people's expense.
He wasn't the only one.
There were others, and you can bank on it that they will be exposed before the Oct. 20 primary election arrives.
For now, though, Boasso is learning that you don't throw stones if you live in a glass house or have a "booger" or two in your closet.
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