Free Republic

Officials in the Louisiana Secretary of State's office say a recall petition has been filed for Governor Bobby Jindal, making him the fifth elected official to face a recall attempt since the state legislature voted itself a payraise earlier this month. For a recall election to be called, the signatures of one-third of all registered voters in the state must be collected. That would be a total of 960,285 voters. Ryan Fournier of Jefferson submitted the recall petition. Other lawmakers facing recall attempts include House Speaker Jim Tucker (R-Terrytown), Rep. Steve Pugh (R-Ponchatoula), Rep. Joseph Lopinto (R-Metairie) and Rep. Franklin...

Gov. Bobby Jindal was back in the New York Times this week, with a picture, but for all the wrong reasons. The toxic pay raise controversy enveloping him has gone national and his political world has changed. Within days, Jindal went from being a legitimate vice-presidential prospect to having his character questioned in his first crisis of public confidence, without his having done a thing. Meanwhile, pay raise-supporting legislators, who thought the worst was over, are now seeing recall movements popping up around them. So far, drives are directed at three freshmen represenatives and Speaker of the House Jim Tucker,...

Surrounding my condo entrance is a cedar fence. When Gov. Bobby Jindal was campaigning for election in 2007, I had no need to put up a sign to show my support and hope. A bumper sticker was already attached from his campaign four years earlier. The sign remained fresh, as the fence is covered by a patio and carport awning. This sign represented a feeling of hope and trust that Louisiana would finally elect a governor “of the people.” A leader who would live up to campaign promises and when it came time ... would do the right thing. I...

Gov. Bobby Jindal admitted Tuesday that he blundered in allowing legislators to pass a bill that would more than double their base pay. “I’ve learned my lesson,” he said during a news conference outside the Governor’s Mansion. However, Jindal said he still plans to allow the pay raise to become law. Vetoing the bill would give legislators a reason to reverse his initiatives, including changes to the state’s ethics laws, he said. “Everybody knows it would be in my own self-interest politically to veto this bill,” he said. “I’d probably be the most popular governor in modern polling history if...

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, in Shreveport for a ceremonial signing of a tax cut bill passed by the Legislature, was met today by protesters upset over state lawmakers doubling their pay and the governor's decision not to veto it. Residents around the state want the governor to veto the pay raise bill. Jindal said he thinks the raise is a bad idea but he won't veto it, saying the Legislature should deal with the consequences of its actions. Jindal went to Chamber of Commerce Plaza in downtown Shreveport at noon today for a ceremonial signing of a bill sponsored by...

The reformist image of Gov. Bobby Jindal, considered by Republicans a top potential vice-presidential choice, has recently taken a beating after Mr. Jindal refused to veto a sizable pay increase that Louisiana legislators voted for themselves this month. The increase would more than double the salary of the part-time legislators effective July 8, to $37,500 from $16,800, with considerably more money available once expenses are added in. It has touched a nerve in this impoverished state. Conservative talk-radio show hosts and bloggers have denounced it, newspaper editorials have inveighed against it — The Times-Picayune of New Orleans called the increase...

The Louisiana Legislature adjourns today. Gov. Bobby Jindal should mark the occasion by vetoing the session's most offensive and self-centered legislation: the 123-percent pay raise lawmakers gave themselves. It won't be easy for him. He's said repeatedly that he won't veto the measure, and if he does now, he will have misled lawmakers. But if he doesn't veto it, he will have misled voters, breaking an unambiguous promise he made on the campaign trail to "prohibit" raises such as this. Perhaps Gov. Jindal will do right by voters if a few more call him with their objections to the pay...

The Legislature completed its work Saturday on the nearly $30 billion state operating budget, sending Gov. Bobby Jindal a spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year that maintains most state programs at current levels and plows new money into education, health care and legislators' pet projects. The House agreed unanimously to adopt the Senate's changes to House Bill 1 by Rep. Jim Fannin, D-Jonesboro, marking the third year in a row that lawmakers have adopted the budget without a House-Senate compromise committee. State general-fund spending will grow by more than $1 billion, or 12.4 percent, in the fiscal year that...

Pay increases part of government trend The Legislature's newly approved salary increase is but the highly visible tip of an iceberg of substantial pay raises for Louisiana public employees in the past year, building pressure on the state budget. Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration has shown some results in stemming government job growth, but he also has set an example of substantial salary increases for a few elite members of his team while refusing to stop the lawmakers' raise. When he took office in January, Jindal inherited a bulge in personnel costs for state workers as well as for a long...

Veto Heat on Jindal Pay raise becomes character issue The governor is trying to keep intense public opposition to the legislative pay raise directed at legislators, but, more and more, the volcanic controversy is turning into a test of character: his own. Speaker Jim Tucker dismissed the governor's latest demand that lawmakers suspend the pay raise they voted for themselves. With no further action expected from lawmakers before Monday's final adjournment, the issue, like the bill, lies with the governor. With editorial and public pressure mounting for a gubernatorial veto before the July 8 deadline, some Fourth Floor staffers, with...

House pay bill vote due Friday Gov. Bobby Jindal said Wednesday he would let a bill that would triple legislators’ pay become law rather than use his veto pen. House Speaker Jim Tucker told the state House of Representatives on Wednesday that the pay raise bill would be scheduled for a vote on Friday. Jindal said he did not want to give legislators a reason to sidetrack the bills he wants passed. “I don’t want to give anybody any excuse for slowing down any of the important reform going through the legislature (that are) important to the people of Louisiana,”...

...try it: pick a day next week, walk into your boss’s office and inform him/her that you have voted yourself a 34% raise, with a clear 1/3 tax-free, with all the perks that go with public office. Depending on your boss, you will be considered the ‘life of the office’, tagged for some ‘employee therapy program’, or escorted out the front door....

ANNAPOLIS — Gov. Martin O'Malley created a new pay grade for top members of his administration, including Public Service Commission Chairman Steven B. Larsen, according to documents obtained by The Washington Times. The discovery follows recent findings that Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, gave more than $600,000 in pay raises to 47 of his top aides, even as state workers face potential cuts in pay raises. Under the new pay grade, EX91, Mr. O'Malley will pay four employees as much as $235,000. The previous cap for high-ranking employees of a Maryland governor was $159,632, but governors frequently exceeded the figure. "The...

WASHINGTON – Fortunately for members of Congress, their pay isn't tied to their approval ratings. Lawmakers in 2008 will receive salaries of $169,300, a boost of $4,100 over the pay they have lived with since January 2006. That 2.5 percent increase is mirrored by similar raises for associate justices of the Supreme Court, who will see their pay go from $203,000 to $208,100, and Chief Justice John Roberts, whose pay will rise to $217,400 from $212,100. The salary figures were published in Tuesday's edition of the Federal Register. Last year was the first since 1999, when the pay was $136,700,...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 31, 2007 – Military members will receive a 3 percent pay raise effective tomorrow, as President Bush urges Congress to revise some provisions regarding Iraq contained in the fiscal 2008 National Defense Authorization Act. The president authorized the 3 percent pay raise in an executive order. The act includes authorization for a 0.5 percent additional pay raise for U.S. troops, but the president has, for now, elected not to sign the defense authorization bill in its present form while Congress is adjourned, a practice known as a "pocket veto." On Dec. 28, President Bush announced his displeasure...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite low approval ratings and hard feelings from last year's elections, Democrats and Republicans in the House are reaching out for an approximately $4,400 pay raise that would increase their salaries to almost $170,000. The cost-of-living raise endorsed Wednesday evening gets lawmakers back on track for automatic pay raises after a fight between the parties last year and again in January killed the pay increase due this year. That was the first interruption of the annual congressional pay boost in seven years. The blowup came after Democrats last year fulfilled a campaign promise to deny themselves more...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite low approval ratings and hard feelings from last year's elections, Democrats and Republicans in the House are reaching out for an approximately $4,400 pay raise that would increase their salaries to almost $170,000. The cost-of-living raise endorsed Wednesday evening gets lawmakers back on track for automatic pay raises after a fight between the parties last year and again in January killed the pay increase due this year. That was the first interruption of the annual congressional pay boost in seven years. The blowup came after Democrats last year fulfilled a campaign promise to deny themselves more...

Say What? That’s right the most “ethical” congress in history voted itself a payhike today. I am looking for the roll call and I will post it when it when I find it. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., worked the floor during the vote to make sure there was relative balance between the warring parties in delivering votes. Working through Blunt, Hoyer forced more than a dozen Republicans to switch their votes in support of accepting the raise, including Mike Pence and Daniel Burton of Indiana and Fred Upton, Dave Camp and Vernon Ehlers...

Despite record-low approval ratings, House lawmakers Wednesday voted to accept an approximately $4,400 pay raise that will increase their salaries to almost $170,000. The cost-of-living raise gets lawmakers back on track for automatic pay raises after a fight between Democrats and Republicans last year and again in January killed the pay hike due this year. That was the first interruption of the annual congressional pay hike in seven years. The blowup came after Democrats last year fulfilled a campaign promise to deny themselves a pay hike until Congress raised the minimum wage. Delays in the minimum wage bill cost every...

It’s time to tell the dirty politicians “Hello, NO!” They want a 62% pay raise before doing any of the people’s work in Montgomery this legislative session. We, at the Matt Murphy Radio Program and at 101.1 FM The Source, want to do something! Nothing less than a March on Montgomery will do the trick! Matt Murphy and the Source are asking for concerned citizens to commit! It’s A March on Montgomery to stop this obscene pay increase! If you are as mad, then sign up with this link! By signing up, you are making a commitment to join US...