Posted on 06/24/2015 1:43:16 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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Jindal took office in January of 2008, and 2015 will be his last year in office. He has scored well on the Cato Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors earning an “A” in 2010, and a “B” in both 2012 and 2014. All three report cards commend Jindal’s resolve to cut Louisiana state spending.
Since fiscal year 2009, the first full fiscal year of Jindal’s term, state general fund spending has decreased by 7 percent. Per capita state spending has fallen from $2,089 in 2009 to $1,883 in 2015, a decrease of 10 percent. This spending restraint is quite remarkable. For comparison, per capita state spending grew nationally by 8.5 percent during the same time period.
Total state spending, which includes money from the federal government for programs like Medicaid, stayed constant while Jindal was in office. It was $28.9 billion in 2008 compared to $29.1 billion in 2014.
One way that Jindal reduced spending was cutting the state’s workforce. State government employment has decreased 26 percent since he’s been governor, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Additionally, he passed broad pension reforms. All state employees hired after July 2013 receive a cash-balance retirement plan, similar to a 401(k) plan, instead of a traditional defined-benefit pension.
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(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
Jindal is one “R” I could vote for in this race.
Unfortunately, he hasn’t been effective on law-and-order. Republicans are supposed to be tough on crime, but Jindal has continued the traditions of his Democrat predecessors by allowing his state to rack up the highest murder rate of all 50 during every single year he has been in office.
If he can’t control the murder crisis in his own state, what kind of policies would he be able to implement in DC?
“Jindal is one “R” I could vote for in this race.”
Me too — don’t think he has much of a chance, but he’s a fallback option if both Walker and Cruz flame out. He’d also be a great VP choice for either of those two.
I live in Louisiana. This whole article is nonsense. Jindal will never win another election in Louisiana.
Did you read the article? It doesn't talk about his popularity, it talks about his spending cuts.
Why would he be so unpopular?
The teacher's union declared war on him a couple of years ago after he went after tenure and their retirement. Unfortunately, the state's newspapers parroted their spiel and it took a toll.
Milquetoast.
Milquetoast.
Milquetoast.
Upon leaving office, the democrat governor (female) left a billion dollar surplus in the state treasury. When Jindal assumed office, he raised the spending level by a billion dollars. He has been in office for almost eight years, and it would be impossible and boring to recount all he has done. He has been running for president for almost eight years, and will leave the state in financial shambles. His supposed spending cuts are outrageous, laughable. He raised spending drastically.
Only partly true. The GOVERNMENT sector is in shambles. Private sector employment is quite healthy, if one wants to work.
We have about 1.5X too many higher education facilities for our population, but no one wants to touch it, because the newspapers and TV stations swarm when higher ed is cut. They’ve become jobs programs, instead of universities.
All that said, I was critical early on of Jindal when he busted the spending cap in 2008. But his attempt to take on the government deadhead union, I’m ALL for.
Jindal is the one in charge of the government sector, the same sector he would be in charge of if he were president.
Except for maybe some community colleges, the number of higher education facilities is about the same as it was 50 years ago.
Jindal has cut about $700 million from higher education. Look it up. The resultant cost will price a lot of students out of college.
Louisiana, like most Southern states, does not have powerful unions. He turned public education upside down for teachers, and there are all kinds of teacher unions. They were helpless.
As long as we have “higher education” facilities in our state with 11% graduation rates (SUNO, look it up), and remain open and continue to be funded with taxpayer dollars, then they have too much of my money. No private enterprise of any kind could stay in business that provided such a poor product.
There were too many “universities” in Louisiana 50 years ago, just as there are today. About 1/3 of them need to be shuttered, right now.
Any time government, any government at any level, receives less of my money, it is a good thing. If you want to send them more of YOUR money, help yourself.
“There were too many “universities” in Louisiana 50 years ago, just as there are today.”
My obvious point was that the educational situation has existed for many years, rightly or wrongly, and it did not cripple the state’s finances, even with Jindal’s drastic cuts.
I’ve lived in Louisiana for 65 years, save for a summer job in New Jersey, and a USAF tour of duty in Thailand. In all that time, Baton Rouge has NEVER had enough money. NEVER.
No matter if its an oil boom or bust, it ain’t never enough. The roads need fixing. The pore ‘ole schoolteachers aren’t up to the “southern average,” whatever the hell that is. The government retireds need a COLA. College professors will leave for other states if they don’t get paid more.
And on, and on, and on, and on.
Well, I don’t believe the bastards. They are PLENTY well paid, especially when their retirement and medical bennies are added in. And also when you figure they can retire on average 5 to 10 years younger than their contemporaries in the private sector.
And they damn sure are well paid when their work output is measured and compared.
Jindal’s made his share of mistakes, but trying to put the government beast in Baton Rouge on a fiscal diet ain’t one of them.
“I’ve lived in Louisiana for 65 years, save for a summer job in New Jersey, and a USAF tour of duty in Thailand. In all that time, Baton Rouge has NEVER had enough money. NEVER.”
The state budget had a billion dollar surplus when Jindal took office. However, Louisiana has the same problem as most states; corrupt politicians who overspend for personal gain and to stay in office. One of the things you mentioned, roads, is a prime example. Louisiana has the worst roads in the nation. Politicians use the tax money for their own purposes. The state group insurance plan had a five hundred million dollar, or more, surplus. Jindal did some reconfigurations and spend every bit of it. Log on to C.B. Forgotston’s site.
The fiscal health of government employees and politicians doesn’t concern me. If they’re unhappy with what they’re paid, they can quit and get a real job of work.
I don’t owe them a living.
“The fiscal health of government employees and politicians doesn’t concern me.”
Where did I express concern for the above?
In your posts you express dismay that universities have been “cut.” Louisiana taxpayers pay millions into higher ed. They are by definition government employees. If half of them lost their jobs, it would be a boon for the state, as that money could be used to fix the roads. The same with primary and secondary education. Online learning needs to be utilized MUCH more than it is now. But if you even mention such a thing, the teacher’s union squeals like a stuck pig.
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