Today's Advocate Opinion page ran a syndicated column by the conservative Cal Thomas, which makes the following claim:
Jindal claims to be saving $341 million in the state's fiscal '09 budget. "We will continue to pursue policies to move Louisiana forward while we tighten our belts in government and ensure we are living within our means," said Jindal, which, he criticizes, is something Washington is not doing.
First of all, Jindal ain't saving the state shit. He created this mess by signing the rollback of the Stelly Tax Plan last summer. So Jindal cost some hard working Louisianans social services the state once provided.
He's also hurting LSU, which is cutting some $109 million from its' expenses. Education and health care are the most important things a state can spend money on, as they are investments in our future. And what are we doing? Cutting them.
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* I don't agree with Jindal's comment, as I would listen to Nobel Prize winning economists on what should be done, rather a conservative, right wing politician who has his eye on placating the conservative wing of the Republican party in the hopes of running for the White House one day.
Days before Governor PBJ heads to Iowa, ostensibly to inflame the hearts and minds of the nation's Christian conservatives, The Ouachita Citizen's Sam Hanna, Jr., penned an impressive editorial, entitled Jindal May Be Acting Prematurely:
"As we all know as well, Jindal's stock has been rising as of late among Republicans, who have been scratching their heads on the heels of John McCain's defeat at the hands of Barack Obama. In other words, Jindal's success as governor in Louisiana, though narrow in scope, has catapulted him onto a list of rising stars in the GOP. And yes, discussion about who will take on Obama in 2012 is already being bantered about ..."
Yet, Jindal should be reminded that he is the governor of a state (Louisiana), which faces a host of problems, including a projected $1 billion revenue shortfall that his administration and the Legislature must tackle when they craft the state's spending plan for the 2009-10 fiscal year. The governor also should be reminded that Louisiana holds the dubious distinction of possessing one of the worst public education systems in the country. Louisiana also can lay claim to being the home of some of most impoverished people in America, while our inadequate workforce serves as a deterrent in attracting new business and industry to the Sportsman's Paradise.
It will be a very interesting year ... to see how Governor PBJ tackles the problem of the budget shortfall, especially since education is one of the few discretionary areas of the budget that can be CUT, along with health care spending, as they are not mandated by our Constitution.
While I know heading to Iowa means that Governor PBJ is already casting his eyes to the national scene, something tells me that the modus operandi of his thus far fly-by-night political career is going to be pulled down to Louisiana for the next few years in dealing with the problems that are coming our way.
And I haven't mentioned the International Paper Mill in Bastrop ... which announced today that they are closing "indefinitely." That's 550 Louisianan families put out in the cold ... the month before Christmas.
I imagine that Mr. Hanna could pen the following lines, and they would be pretty damn accurate:
Where have you gone, Governor PBJ? The Louisianan heartland turns its lonely eyes to you ...
