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*Jindal Alert*

JINDAL VETOES $16,000,000 IN NGO’S

Gov. Bobby Jindal vetoed $16 million in legislative projects Monday from the state operating budget. In the past, Jindal characterized the projects as “slush funds” and vowed to take a hard line against them. House Bill 1, the budget bill, had $53 million in projects — also called “nongovernmental organizations,” or NGOs — before the governor’s vetoes.

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LANDRIEU-KENNEDY SHOWDOWN

Nola.com reports that the two candidates both plan three-day tours of the state this week to launch a contest that features atypical juxtapositions.

Kennedy four years ago endorsed John Kerry for president and campaigned for the U.S. Senate as a Democrat with a platform arguably more liberal than Landrieu's record in the Senate. Kennedy criticized some of President Bush's tax cuts that Landrieu supported.

Those are points that Villere, the GOP chief, conceded Kennedy must address. "He can't run from it," Villere said, adding that Kennedy has been well-received among rank-and-file Republicans.

Why?

JINDAL BREAKS PROMISE TO LEGISLATURE

When he was running for governor, Bobby Jindal proposed in a campaign mailer in a section titled "Make the Legislature accountable to the citizens they represent" that he would 'prohibit the legislature from giving themselves raises that take effect before the subsequent election."
The only way a governor can 'prohibit' anything the legislature does is by the veto.
The legislature voted to more than double their pay - and it takes effect in July 2008.

Well, the governor caved in and broke his promise to the legislature to break his promise to the people.  He is afraid of the legislature, but he is more afraid of the people.

The governor got a transfer from the recall train, but we will be watching the legislative recalls closely.

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Louisiana Legislature Follies of 2008

This was the wrong thing to do at the wrong time. People are worried about gas prices, the housing market is in trouble, prices are rising fast (largely due to the price of gas) and people are looking for reassurance from their government. Of course, that is always a mistake, but nonetheless, people do look there for stability. The people in the legislature who voted to double their pay apparently are so out of touch that they can’t see that their constituents are viewing the raise as greedy and arrogant.  A lot of them will pay a dear price at re-election time, which is 3½ years away.  They believe that it will blow over by then, but a lot of people are determined to keep it alive.

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LINKS

• C B Forgotston
• The Dead Pelican
• Bayou Buzz
• Suspect Device
• The Daily Kingfish
• Liberty and Justice For All
• The Reduct Box
• CenLamar
• The Wounded Bird
• The Bossier Independent/My Bossier
• The Advocate
• Bossier Press Tribune
• Times Picayune
• The Mosquito Coast
• Your Right Hand Thief
• We Saw That
• Central La Politics

ABOUT THE VETO

Although he did veto, the governor repeatedly said that he would not veto the legislative pay raise. ""One thing is for sure, I will not bail them out on this and do their job for them."

Strange. He didn't mind doing their job for them when he vetoed Senate Bill 401 by Sen. (Dr.) Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, which was designed to increase access to organ transplants by the poor by allowing some transplant centers that don't meet Medicare requirements to still receive state reimbursement through Medicaid.

He also did their job for them when he vetoed House Bill 418 by Rep. Mickey Guillory, D-Eunice, which would make an exception to the state law governing "abuse of office" for elected officials who are responding to a request from a constituent "or any citizen of the state of Louisiana.

And again, he did their job for them when he vetoed House Bill 231 by Rep. Jean Doerge, D-Minden, which would have exempted the Firefighters Retirement System from a 2007 law meant to create pressure on public companies to avoid investments in countries that sponsor terrorism, such as Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria. The new law requires all public pension systems in Louisiana to take proactive steps to avoid such investments.

GOVERNOR VETOES RACETRACK CASINO IN

IBERVILLE PARISH

The governor vetoed a bid to let voters in Iberville Parish decide whether to build a horse-racing track and slot-machine complex in St. Gabriel.

The governor’s vetoes of House Bill 937 and Senate Bill 398 were expected, but the sponsors of the bills were nevertheless disappointed.

Backers of the legislation said the people should be able to vote on the expansion. The false analogy is with the recent vote in East Baton Rouge Parish to allow a third riverboat casino to be built. That is not a fair parallel. The Baton Rouge vote was caused by the relocation of a state riverboat license, not a net increase in the number of “gaming” establishments.

From The Advocate

This is a win-win for the governor.  A majority of the people don’t want additional gambling, the existing casinos don’t want expanded gambling and the religious-right base of the governor don’t want expanded gambling.

You can’t please all of the people all of the time, but you can sure as hell try.

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