Bobby Jindal's Downside (Jindal as POTUS? Take a closer look at his record as Louisiana governor)

American Thinker ^ | 11/26/2010 | Tom Roberson

[SeekAndFind]

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is busy promoting his new tome Leadership and Crisis with book tour stops all over the country. This latest tour comes on top of his previous speaking tours to raise campaign cash for himself and various Republican candidates around the country. The only place Governor Jindal has trouble visiting is his home state of Louisiana. The joke in Louisiana is that Bobby is known as a governor in 49 states.

Governor Jindal is intelligent and very well-educated, and he manages to look like a creditable leader during a crisis. In this he learned well from former Governor Kathleen Blanco's disastrous handling of the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. He can spout numerous statistics off the top of his head and make complicated situations understandable.

However, as we've learned from the current occupant of the White House, command of statistics and the ability to explain the complicated do not necessarily indicate that one is destined to be a great leader.

Louisiana's last budget was balanced with numerous accounting tricks, one-time funding sources, and massive cuts to health and higher education. Jindal has been criticized for pushing hard decisions down the road to avoid offending anyone in preparation for a presidential bid, and it is well-known in Louisiana that Jindal is preparing to run and campaigning across the country on trips funded by Louisiana taxpayers.

Louisiana is a populist state that tends to overspend in flush times and flail in lean times. In Louisiana, health and higher education are not constitutionally protected from budget cuts and are routinely savaged when the economy dives. To be fair, there is a great deal of waste in higher education that needs to be eliminated, and LSU professors are not helping their cause by threatening to unionize in a state where unions are not looked on favorably. Also, LSU System President Dr. John Lombardi, Louisiana's highest-paid state employee, recently refused to trim his salary for the good of the school and further exposed the hypocrisy in Louisiana higher education.

During Jindal's administration, Louisiana has added over 3,100 new employees, and its budget has increased from $12 billion in 2008 to $24 billion in 2010. The governor seems to think this surge in state government will somehow conquer the budget in the long run.

When it comes to cutting spending, the governor can't cut even his own travel budget. One of Governor Jindal's favorite Louisiana campaign tactics is local church attendance by helicopter in rural areas rarely visited by any governor.

Jindal's celebrated ethics legislation promoting transparency in Louisiana government has backfired (see also here): it has been revealed that enforcement powers were stripped from the Ethics Board, resulting in several resignations in protest, and Jindal has zealously guarded the records of the governor's office from the light of day. The law's most notable accomplishment has been to drive worthy citizens away from serving on state boards by requiring draconian disclosures of every conceivable financial detail and close association in a futile effort to prevent political corruption. Are you kidding? This is Louisiana!

Governor Jindal devotes a sizable portion of Leadership and Crisis to detailing Louisiana's natural beauty, recounting political anecdotes, and listing boilerplate conservative talking points without ever mentioning his plans to deal with the state's looming $1.5-billion budget shortfall or the numerous challenges faced by Louisiana as its graduates flee in search of opportunities the state can't provide.

Jindal doesn't seem to understand is that status quo governing is currently not in vogue. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is talked about as presidential material precisely because of his willingness to shake up New Jersey's insular political culture without thought of higher office. Christie is willing to take on the special interests and make the hard choices New Jersey needs to survive, while Jindal is doing his best not to offend any powerful interests in Louisiana. This type of timid leadership is exactly what the Tea Parties are railing against.

Those promoting or considering Bobby Jindal as presidential material need to take a much closer look at his record as Louisiana governor. Jindal talks the talk, but he doesn't walk the walk.

Hat tip: C.B. Forgotston

Tom Roberson is an independent conservative holding finance and engineering degrees and doing his small part to save his country.

[Notary Sojac]

an associated “truth file” so we can torpedo each and every one of them

I have a feeling that FR is going to have exactly that for every candidate (except Her Grizzlyness) before it's all over.

If Cal Coolidge were to walk among us again in the flesh, no doubt some here would be ready to explain why he is a RINO.

[Hardastarboard]

Thanks for that. I like Jindal from what I’ve seen, but he has the charisma of a clam. I don’t think he’s Presidential material just because of his personality.

[abb]

Here’s my documentation to the claims I made in post #67

1.)http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/03/state_senate_waives_spending_c.html
State senate waives spending cap; Jindal can spend additional $1 billion

2.)http://forgotston.com/2008/05/02/hiring-freeze-continues-to-melt/
The first state payroll after Jindal took office as governor (January 18, 2008) was $84,714,179.81
The latest payroll (April 11, 2008) was $85,068,935.98.

3.)http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/politics/20553974.html?showAll=y&c=y

But the sponsor of the tax-cutting Senate Bill 87, which is sitting on Jindal’s desk awaiting his signature or veto, said he was impressed that Griffon gave up money rather than run an untrue advertisement.
“Moon Griffon went way up in my estimation,” said state Sen. B.L. “Buddy” Shaw, R-Shreveport, on Wednesday.
Shaw said the commercial sounded like Jindal initiated and led the effort. “That was not the case,” Shaw said.
Shaw said, “The governor’s people were there to prevent it from coming out of the Senate committee. Then there was a major effort by the governor’s people to kill it on the Senate floor.”

[Notary Sojac]

he has the charisma of a clam

Frankly I think that a no-glitz, green eyeshade, pocket protector nerd is EXACTLY what America needs as a President today.

[flintsilver7]

The idea behind this is very simple - support one good conservative candidate throughout the primaries. It makes perfect sense and I would be 100% onboard with it. I just wonder whether everybody else would be.

[BigBobber]

From the article:

During Jindal's administration, Louisiana has added over 3,100 new employees, and its budget has increased from $12 billion in 2008 to $24 billion in 2010. The governor seems to think this surge in state government will somehow conquer the budget in the long run.

The FACTS:

Governor Fiscal Year Total Budget Federal Assistance State Funds

Blanco____2006-7______$26.7B______$14.0B__________$12.6B

Blanco____2007-8______$29.8B______$15.8B__________$13.9B

Jindal_____2008-9______$29.7B______$14.9B__________$14.7B

Jindal____2009-10______$28.9B______$14.7B__________$14.1B

Jindal____2010-11______$25.4B______$11.5B__________$13.9B

These figures are easily obtained from the Louisiana Budget and Planning Dept. website.

Draw your own conclusions. To me, the article looks like a poorly researched Internet lynching of Gov. Jindal by some so-called conservatives.

[abb]

And here’s more!!

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/louisianas_growing_state_payro.html

Louisiana’s growing state payroll strains budget

During Gov. Bobby Jindal’s first 11 months in office, when the total state budget decreased because of declining federal subsidies, the state’s employment rolls increased by 3,198 jobs, or 3 percent, according to Office of Civil Service reports. The new employees and pay raises boosted the state’s base payroll by $278 million, or 7 percent.

[Georgia Girl 2]

For the 49th time Bobby Jindal is not eligible to be POTUS. He is not a natural born citizen. His mother was only in this country for 5 months at the time of his birth. She was not a naturalized citizen. He cannot be President. Pick somebody else.

[abb]

And there’s more yet!

http://blog.nola.com/graphics/2009/02/STATEJOBS021509.pdf

GOVERNMENT JOBS AND PAY
State government employment and salaries have grown substantially under Gov. Bobby Jindal, following a trend of rising personnel costs that is putting immense pressure on the public purse.

[abb]

You’ll note the nearly $1 billion increase in state funds from Blanco’s last budget compared to Jindal’s first budget. It went from $13.9 billion to $14.7 billion.

That’s the money that is referenced in post #83.

[BigBobber]

From the state budget figures it looks like the Louisiana budget is going DOWN by $3.5 billion in the current fiscal year- a 12% total budget reduction.

I would love to have Jindal in the White House if he could do the same thing to the federal budget.

[abb]

Yes, Louisiana’s budget decreased. It did so because revenues fell off a cliff over the past two years. Jindal and the legislature had no choice.

But I still go back to his very first action in early 2008 when Louisiana had money rolling in from oil/gas severance taxes.

He pissed the money away just like any tax and spend Democrat, to the tune of $1 billion. And you damn right I’m still pissed about that.

[flintsilver7]

Yes, let’s hold our own candidates to the strict interpretation of the rule while the socialist in the White House ignores them.

[Republican Wildcat]

However, as we've learned from the current occupant of the White House, command of statistics and the ability to explain the complicated do not necessarily indicate that one is destined to be a great leader.

When was this ever characteristic of Obama? His campaign was based on "hope" and "change" and other various feel good catch phrases like the oceans will stop rising, etc.

[Republican Wildcat]

I also get the usual “He’s not a natural born citizen, therefore disqualified” argument.

Well, he is - born on U.S. soil to legal immigrant parents. I'm sure you already knew that...where do people ge that he wasn't? Do they just say that without looking it up?

[goldstategop]

Good points here. Republicans that pander to the status quo are not the Republicans who will turn this country around.

[Republican Wildcat]

And he only got the GOP 'nod' because he selected Bush from the GOP elite column as his VP.

He didn't select him until after he had already wrapped up the nomination...unless you think his own delegates on the convention floor wouldn't have stood by him without that selection.

[Republican Wildcat]

He was born on U.S. Soil to legal immigrant parents - he’s a natural born citizen. Under current law even a child born to parents who are illegal are citizens by right of birth - so certainly someone born to legal immigrants on U.S. soil is.

[rogue yam]

I know Tom Robertson and he’s a friend of mine.

You misspelled your "friend's" name.

[abb]

Just damn. My spellchecker must be on the blink...