Free Republic

Bobby Jindal, a Republican, is governor of Louisiana. While President Obama publicly celebrated the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech last week, his administration took action behind the scenes in Louisiana that was a complete rejection of King’s dream. The Justice Department has challenged my state in court for having the temerity to start a scholarship program that frees low-income minority children from failing schools. In other words, Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder would rip children out of their schools and handcuff them to the failing schools they previously attended. And, in the ultimate...

Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution provides, in pertinent part: No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.**snip**This political season, the eligibilities of Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal and Ted Cruz are the subject of debate. As much as we want certainty, the term “natural born...

Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal found out late on Friday, August 23. Attorney General Eric Holder was suing to block the state’s school voucher program, which aims to give low-income kids in terrible schools the opportunity to attend better public schools and even private schools. The Justice Department claims the two-year-old program could interfere with federal desegregation orders in several Louisiana parishes, holdovers from the Civil Rights era. “This was a complete shock,” Jindal says. “A complete surprise.” Maybe it shouldn’t have been. Liberals have been fighting the Louisiana voucher initiative, officially called a “scholarship” program, from the beginning. “The teacher...

President Obama would like us to believe he is in favor of helping the middle class. How many times did we hear that farce during the 2012 campaign? Enough to make me sick to my stomach, knowing it for the lie that it is. To see another great example of just how big of a lie that claim is, just point your eyes and ears south, to the state of Louisiana. Ask Governor Bobby Jindal if he believes the Obama administration is for the middle class and helping the children. It is being reported the Justice Department is taking aim...

I don’t think there could be any better way to put it. Take it away Governor Jindal: “There are no logical reasons to oppose construction of the pipeline other than an irrational liberal ideology that blindly and unscientifically opposes all forms of energy which they themselves do not deem to be sufficiently ‘green’ or ‘renewable’.“ Governor Jindal made these remarks in a speech to the Oilmen’s Business Forum up in the Canadian Rockies. In his speech earlier this week, the republican governor blamed “blind leftwing ideologues” for holding up construction of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline. He mentions his left-wing...

Democratic senator Mary Landrieu says she's embarrassed to go to places in Europe like France and Spain because some Americans do not have health insurance. Landrieu, who is up for reelection in 2014, represents the state of Louisiana. “People are scared when they’re sick, and they’re much stronger when they’re well,” Landrieu said at a Friday lunch, according to the American Press. “It’s embarrassing to me to go to places like France and Spain ... and their workers all manage to have health insurance that can’t be taken away.” The report adds: Landrieu said Louisiana has “more working people that...

Louisiana and the Fifth District, welcome to your likely new U.S. House member for probably as long as he’ll want it, state Sen. Neil Riser. As previously noted, the statement by Republican U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander yesterday that he would not run for reelection vaulted the likes of Republicans Riser, fellow state Sen. Mike Walsworth, and state Rep. Jim Fannin into contention for taking over from him. It also presented a bit of a quandary for Gov. Bobby Jindal, for whom Fannin had been a loyal soldier in assisting Jindal budgets into being as the chairman of the state House...

A train carrying highly flammable and corrosive materials derailed in north Louisiana on Sunday. Over 100 homes have been evacuated as a precaution, Gov. Bobby Jindal said, adding there were no fatalities or injuries and air monitors have not picked up anything to cause concern. According to a press release from Jindal's office, three cars were leaking as of late Sunday. One is leaking lubricant oil while a second is leaking Dodecanol, a tasteless, colorless alcohol that can cause mild skin irritation. The third, however, is carrying a highly corrosive substance called caustic soda, or lye. Two other cars containing...

NEW ORLEANS, July 29, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In the wake of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast's (PPGC) $1.4 million Medicaid fraud settlement with the state of Texas, two state pro-life organizations have called for Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal to end all state funding to PPGC. The abortion provider operates two facilities in the state, which received $575,000 in taxpayer funds from the Louisiana's Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) during the 2012 fiscal year. The Planned Parenthood affiliate agreed last Wednesday to refund Texas Medicaid $1.4 million in fraud for overbilling, billing for services it never rendered, and falsifying medical records...

Boom indeed! Governor Jindal’s tweet blasting President Obama for the Obamacare delay has been retweeted over 300 times and counting.

It may not be the only case, or even the most pressing case, in need of an independent investigation, but there’s little doubt the targeting of White House opponents by the IRS needs a lot more sunlight than the Obama administration has thus far provided. Republican Governors Association chair Bobby Jindal and vice-chair Scott Walker demanded a special prosecutor to start an investigation of the expanding scandal: Two Republican governors are urging President Barack Obama to appoint aspecial prosecutor to investigate the Internal Revenue Service’s admission that it targetedconservative political groups.Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker call...

Second Amendment rights advocates in Louisiana claimed another victory Wednesday, when the lower house of the Legislature approved a bill to allow for lifetime concealed-carry permits. House Bill 265, which passed with a vote of 65-19, was the first lawmaking foray by Central Republican Barry Ivey, who beat Metro Councilman Scott Wilson in a special election in early March. Currently, concealed-carry permits cost $125 and last for five years. Ivey's bill would allow Louisianans to choose between the five-year permit or one that would last for life. The lifetime permit would cost $500 and would require the permit holder to...

Reading the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg, and pretty much every other news outlet, one would think that Governor Bobby Jindal has given up on his efforts to eliminate the Louisiana income tax. But in fact, pretty much every reporter who has written on this has the story wrong. In his State of the State address on the first day of the 2013 session of the Louisiana legislature this week, Jindal announced that he was “parking” the tax-reform proposal that he unveiled last month, in response to opposition from the public and members of the legislature. While his...

Monday’s article on the nation’s least popular governors did not include Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, because he is not up for re-election in 2014. (Louisiana’s next gubernatorial election will be in 2015, and Mr. Jindal will not be eligible, having served two consecutive terms.) But recent surveys suggest that Mr. Jindal has become very unpopular in his home state amid a series of battles on fiscal policy. A March poll from Southern Media & Opinion Research put Mr. Jindal’s approval rating at just 38 percent, against 60 percent disapproval. His numbers had been similarly poor in a February survey...

Earlier this year, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal promised to undertake the major task of simplifying the state's tax code in the interests of promoting economic competition, business friendliness, and job growth; and last month, he unveiled his plan to get rid of income and corporate taxes in favor of a sales tax increase from 4 to 5.88 percent. There was quite a lot of grumbling about the specifics of his plan, however, and in a surprise move on Monday, he opened the 2013 legislative session with the announcement that he’s going to at least temporarily shelve his proposal in favor...

(Reuters) - Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, one of the nation's most prominent Republicans and a possible 2016 presidential candidate, has fallen out of favor with local voters, and his bold plan to scrap the state income tax is running into trouble. Jindal was re-elected to a second term with two-thirds of the vote in 2011. But his Louisiana approval rating was down to 38 percent in a recent poll, worse than Democratic President Barack Obama in one of the most conservative states. The poll suggested voters think he is spending more time traveling outside the state and burnishing his credentials...

Washington - Indian-American Governor of Louisiana Bobby Jindal has said it is too early to think about the 2016 presidential run as people of the country are not in a mood to have another four years of campaign. "It's way too early for folks to be thinking about that. We just lost a presidential election. I don't think the people want another four-year presidential campaign," Jindal said at a Republican Party fundraiser in Jackson, Mississippi. Jindal is considered to be a key Republican presidential aspirant, but so far has publicly denied. "I know there's a lot of speculation about who...

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is at the center of the latest "birther" conspiracy. But he's not the first to face this line of questioning. A handful of politicians have been targeted in the last few years with the same accusation -- that they are not fit for the Presidency because they do not meet the constitutionally-mandated eligibility requirement of being a "natural-born" U.S. citizen. Confusion around who qualifies as a "natural born" citizen has contributed to the debate, as the Constitution does not explicitly define the phrase. Some incorrectly presume it only includes people born within the boundaries of the...

On Tuesday, Kentucky senator Rand Paul delivered a speech in favor of legalizing the status of illegal immigrants and opening up a path to citizenship for them. Immigration hawks were not pleased. "He just pissed away the [presidential] nomination quite honestly," said Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies. "That's what he did today." Paul had previously supported the idea of immigration reform, but the speech removed any possibility that he might move right and challenge the establishment on the issue. Amnesty opponents were left feeling glum about their prospects for a presidential candidate. "I'm honestly looking for someone...

President Obama and the Democrats have been talking a big game about closing loopholes on "the wealthy," "big oil companies," "corporate jet owners" and all manner of greedy societal bottom-feeders (or something) as an ostensible method of (ever-so-slightly) reducing our budget deficit, and it isn't that Republicans are so very opposed to the idea of closing tax loopholes --- but they need to come as part of an at least revenue-neutral effort to simplify the tax code and lower overall tax rates. Otherwise, it's just a fancy and deceptive way of saying, hey, let's hike taxes to try and bring...