From the Advocate: After months of calling members of the state legislator corrupt crooks and a special session rife with open charges of hypocrisy and feastering hostility, will Governor Jindal look buy some friends in Baton Rouge with cold hard cash?
From the Times-Picayune: Tucked and misnamed in Jindal budget, $10 million for school vouchers.
From the Associated Press: After campaigning against “out of control” spending in Baton Rouge, Governor Jindal’s proposed budget seeks a nearly billion dollar increase over 2007.
Last year, when Jindal was about to launch his “war on out of control spending” Rolfe McCollister’s Baton Rouge Business Report, the propaganda arm of the Jindal campaign, ran a July 4 article penned by Jindal decrying the legislature’s $29.6 billion budget. Here Jindal wrote:
The budget passed by the House totals $29.6 billion dollars. This is not a typo, though it should be. Turn the clock back to 2001 and you will find that year’s budget was about $14.1 billion dollars. This massive increase in government spending cannot be entirely blamed on hurricane recovery efforts.
The simple truth is that government spending is out of control.
PBJ made ethics happen, and Michigan has taken note. The Lansing State Journal reports wistfully on Louisiana’s new ethics legislation. About Michigan, the Journal said:
…the state’s current rules are so lax that this week Louisiana…passed higher ethical standards.
Of course, they took the requisite swipe at us. Referring to Louisiana:
a winning gubernatorial candidate once printed bumper stickers that read “Vote for the crook. It’s important.”
This is probably just the beginning of attention the state will enjoy due to the national perception of its ethics reform. People like hearing the story. It’s feel-good, and it has a familiar punch line, smack dab in the middle.
Perception’s a powerful thing. But each legislator needs to watch his or her step, since perception also shatters easily.
From the New York Times: Confounding conservatives, the gray lady embraces the conservative hope.
The Louisiana legislature just completed its first special session under newly elect Governor Bobby Jindal. “We batted a thousand and set the gold standard when it comes to ethics,” ballyhooed Bobby Jindal. It was more like a double rather a home run, but there is little doubt that the Jindal team got off to a good start.
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Top Jindal cronies, Rolfe McCollister and Julio Melara celebrated the close of the ethics special session on Tuesday at crooner Michael Buble’s concert at the New Orleans Arena. For Melara it was a return to the scene of the crime (or at least the really bad move) where last month he helped spark Montana-Gate. Whether Rolfe and Julio were taking in the show in similarly “gate-like” fashion is as yet unconfirmed.
More to come…
From the Associated Press: Republican race for the nomination to succeed Rep. Richard Baker heats up as Paul Sawyer hits Woody Jenkins with the David Duke stick.
Even as Governor Jindal launches his state-wide spin-cycle today, good government groups are already beginning to line up to criticize the results of the special session. First up, the Public Affairs Research Council, the non-partisan group that had been instrumental in helping shape the governor’s ethics proposal, comes out with a sour review, particularly in regards to the Governor’s push to gut the state ethics board.
Fearing the move will undermine any reforms that came out of the session, PAR, is holding back on the “good government” seal until further review. More here from 99.5 FM.
As the heat continues, the question is whether Governor Jindal can run around the state fast enough to stay one step ahead of the chorus of critics. And has the Governor built-up enough good will with the media to stave off the criticism?
From the Advocate: Jindal Praises Session, Glitches Need to be Fixed
From the Shreveport Times: Jindal’s Wins and Loses
From the Times-Picayune: Ethics session ends with solid results
Bayou Buzz calls for removal of Jindal flak
