For those of y'all that ain't Louisiana Conservatives, living under the goobernorship of Bobby Jindal, please give me a moment as I collect myself, and try to stop laughing.
In September of 2007, I proudly opened up the polls in my voting precinct as #1 in line to vote for Bobby Jindal for goober. I was so sick of the inept leadership of Gov. Kathleen (BlankCheck) Blanco, and was thrilled out of my stinkin' gourd to have a real Republican Conservative to vote for, for once in my life.
Hopes were high for our "boy Governor." Bobby was elected in the Primary (we have a weird system for Statewide elections). Then Governor Bobby immediately began running for President. Those of y'all throughout the rest of these United States see a brilliant young conservative mind...no less revered conservatives than Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, and Grover Norquist have championed Bobby as one of our hopes (if not "the" hope).
Don't buy it. You see, you have to learn how to interpret the things that Bobby says. For instance, "We've passed the strongest ethics laws of any State in the nation." Interpretation: We passed some laws, but slid in provisions that make them unenforceable.
"We have frozen State hiring, and returned fiscal sanity to our State Departments." Interpretation: "We've only added 4,200 State employees since I took office."
"We've cut State spending at unprecedented levels." Interpretation: My first State budget was only a billion dollars bigger than Blanco's last one.
"We passed the largest personal income tax cut in the history of Louisiana." Interpretation: Over my kicking and screaming self...but it doesn't matter...we made it so complicated that nobody knows how to get it anyway, so we're still collecting the taxes at the old rate."
So, when Governor Bobby makes a big splash in conservative circles by saying, "We may not take the stimulus funds. It will depend on the strings that are attached. This is something we're going to look very closely at."
What he means is "We're taking it baby! I'll crow and blow, and keep my stock up with the national Republican Party...but we're taking it! I'm looking at a $1.3 Billion deficit next year, and this is gonna save my cookies. Oh, I'll act like I don't want it. I might even come out and decline the funds...that'll look good with the conservative base of the party. But it doesn't matter, the State Legislature can over-ride me, and those greedy bastards aren't gonna pass on one penny's worth of DC cheese.
(There was an amendment added to the stimulus bill by a South Carolina Congressman that gives State Legislatures the authority to access the funds regardless of the wishes of the Governor. So, we're taking it. And so is Texas, and South Carolina, and Florida, and Alaska, and...)
Bobby's enemies in the State Legislature are gonna vote to take it. His friends in the Legislature are gonna help him out by letting him look good...but by grabbing every last slab of fatback on the plate...over his "loud objections," I'm sure. At the end of it all, Bobby can act disappointed...but he'll be smiling all the way to Iowa (he's already been there a couple of times, btw). You hide and watch...that's the way it's gonna come down.
Friday, February 20, 2009
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You are truly a comical dude. I am from Louisiana, born in New Orleans, raised in River Ridge. Lived most of my adult life in New Orleans until being displaced by Hurricane Katrina. I was watching Bobby Jindal this morning on 'Meet the Press' and I must say, this guy is very scary! I wanted to see exactly what 'tax cuts' in Louisiana he kept talking about and came across your site. I still haven't found any info on 'tax cuts' for Louisiana, were they for the wealthy or corporate businesses or by some chance did he actually help out the people who really need it, the middle to lower income families? Can you enlighten me? Bobby Jindal strikes me as a 'wolf in lambs clothes'. I now live in Austin Texas and though I desperately miss my home town, I do not miss the cluster f- of the politics in Louisiana. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, I am grateful that I am in Texas where I was able to get medical care (Medicaid) because I KNOW if I were to have been diagnosed in Louisiana I would have most probably died waiting for treatment due to the 'red tape' and bureaucracy of Louisiana's governmental politics/policies. I really wish someone (either political party) would truly fix the mess Louisiana is and has been for as long as I can remember.
ReplyDeleteOkay Anon: The "tax cuts" that have been passed are actually the repeal of the "Stelley Tax." So, they do return back to the middle class folks the confiscatory mess that Governor Mike Foster (Republican) put in place during his administration.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with the whole mess is that Bobby had to be threatened within an inch of his political life to support those tax cuts. My State Senator (Dr. Buddy Shaw, Republican Shreveport) proposed the repeal as his first bill in Bobby's first year as Governor. It was like trying to drag a wheel-less pickup backwards to finally get Bobby to sign the legislation.
Dr. Shaw had to relent in the timing of it...and Bobby's hand-picked Senate President added an amendment to it that has insured that almost nobody has actually gotten the relief of the tax cut.
Bobby is a lot of talk. Don't get me wrong...I think he might finally become one day the tax-cutting, conservative guy that he claims to be. But he ain't there just yet.
Sorry about your cancer...get better.
Happy Mardi Gras!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your reply. What do you think of the recovery package and of Bobby giving the Republican response to President Obama tonight? I am curious to see what he says.
Thanks for the 'get well' thoughts. I have been fine for over a year now and with any luck at all my health will remain well.
Take care!