Washington Watch for Sept. 15, 2008

• By GERARD SHIELDS
• Washington Correspondent
• Published: Sep 15, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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The Louisiana congressional delegation joined Gov. Bobby Jindal last week in sending a letter to President Bush asking that the federal government pay the full costs of Hurricane Gustav damage.

“The extent of Hurricane Gustav’s destruction is massive, and it has impacted almost the entire state of Louisiana,” the letter says.

"Every parish in Louisiana declared a state of emergency and was either directly affected by the storm or is now assisting evacuees from the hardest-hit parishes.”

In a typical cost share, the federal government picks up 75 percent of the recovery costs with the state paying the remaining 25 percent. The storm is expected to result in up to $5 billion in lost economic activity and up to $15 billion in property damage.

“We urge you to quickly approve the governor’s request so that our state, which is still struggling to restore its economy in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, can quickly move forward,” the letter says.

TV station wants ad pulled

New Orleans television station WVUE is asking Republican U.S. Senate candidate and state Treasurer John Kennedy to pull a campaign ad that includes footage from one of its news reports.

The Kennedy ad criticizes his opponent, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Democrat, for being against domestic energy production by supporting a Colorado senator opposed to oil shale harvests in his state. WVUE attorneys sent Kennedy a letter calling the commercial an illegal infringement on copyright.

The letter said the ads might give viewers the false impression that the station was involved in the production of the ad or that it endorses Kennedy. Kennedy spokesman Lenny Alcivar said the campaign has no intention of canceling the ad, saying it is no different from using clippings from newspaper stories in ads.

“Footage used squarely falls under fair use and is fully within traditional bounds, and no different than Landrieu using selected newspaper headlines or one-sentence clips from print stories in her ads,” Alcivar said.

Rape law revived?

The U.S. Supreme Court might revisit its recent decision to strike down a Louisiana law that allows the rapist of a child to be put to death.

The court has asked defense attorneys and prosecutors in the Jefferson Parish case of Patrick Kennedy, of Harvey, to file briefs by the end of the month. Kennedy was convicted of a 1998 rape of an 8-year-old girl and sentenced to death.