287 Chickens and a Goat: Kennedy's Warning About Political Power

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You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show March 10, 2026.

We start with a line that perfectly captures the moment: “287 chickens and a goat.” Louisiana Senator John Kennedy used that phrase on the Senate floor to describe the kind of country where political leaders threaten businesses simply for working with the current administration. It’s funny on the surface—but the warning behind it is serious. What happens when political power is used to intimidate corporations, silence opposition, and punish the “wrong” political alliances?

From there we dive into some of the biggest stories shaping Louisiana and the country. Three Baton Rouge judges file a lawsuit over judicial district boundaries, Lafayette schools prepare to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, and a federal program expands efforts to give Louisiana gun owners free gun safes to promote responsible storage.

We also take a closer look at Governor Jeff Landry’s plan to raise teacher pay without raising taxes—a proposal that focuses on paying down debt in the teachers’ retirement system to create permanent raises instead of one-time stipends. It’s a fiscal strategy that sparks a broader conversation about conservative principles, government priorities, and why opportunities for reform sometimes slip away even when one party controls the legislature.

Then there’s the never-ending saga of Louisiana infrastructure. A new Mississippi River bridge in Baton Rouge is now delayed another decade while the state spends millions more studying it. If everyone agrees the bridge is needed, why can’t it actually get built?

In our Digging Deep segment, we examine the early success of Amtrak’s Mardi Gras route between Mobile and New Orleans—strong ridership numbers that still don’t solve the bigger question: if the trains are nearly full, why are taxpayers still footing the bill?

We also break down upcoming Louisiana constitutional amendments, new efforts to address homelessness in New Orleans, and surprising new education data showing something few people expected: Mississippi and Louisiana leading the nation in academic improvement.