Gov Bobby Jindal

Some budget crisis are truly unpredictable. Something unforeseeable happens and suddenly there's not enough money to go around. Let's be clear, this is not what we're seeing now. Republicans across the country have been cutting budgets, cutting taxes giving tax rebates for the last 20 years. Yet, for the most part, they have not cut spending. Sure, there's been some window dressing a little cut here a little cut their but as a whole spending has remained basically flat. It is true that all states have suffered a reducing revenues secondary to the economic downturn. Economic downturns are predictable and should be planned for. Yet, Republicans have taken this opportunity to give away more of the taxpayers money and then asked the middle class and lower class to tighten their belts.

Yesterday, I received one of the best comments I've read in a long time from LucyGirl576. She is clearly from Louisiana and has been  following Governor Bobby Jindal's budget ax for quite some time. Here's her comment:

Since Jindal took office,he has cut taxes aleast six times, including the largest income tax cut in the history of Louisiana - a cut of $1.1 billion over five years, along with helping to speed up the elimination of the tax on business investments.

In 2008, Jindal vetoed $16 million dollars in earmarks from the state budget and then declined to veto $30 million in legislator-added spending. He vetoed over 250 earmarks in the budget, which was twice the number of such vetoes by previous governors in the preceding twelve years.

In March 2009, Gov. Bobby Jindal said he plans to back $8 million dollars in tax breaks during that year even though our state government’s financial outlook was dismal financial. The tax relief was to benefit the entertainment industry and general businesses. I guess he thought they needed the help more than the people.

Our state cannot run on tax cuts. Everything in the U.S. has gone up and taxes in Louisiana have gone down, not for the middle class but for those making more than the average person in our state. Does anyone see anything wrong with this picture? Less tax, by Jindal, has hurt our state and brought us to where we are today.

Now, Jindal wants to increase college tuition making it even more difficult for our young people to go to college. He wants to cut jobs and health services in the Department of Health and Hospitals, and he want to sell and privatize our prisons to fix the budget after he helped to cause this problem.

Selling and privatizing the prisons will not fix Medicaid or save our health services. We need to change our laws to decrease sentences, finding other ways to help people on drugs and that drive under the influence. Even helping to make our state agencies (the prisons included) go green to save energy can help us. There are other ways to take care of our budget without adding to the unemployment and food card line by cutting jobs in the Department of Health and Hospitals and Department of Corrections.

According to CREW, a group that keeps watch on responsible and ethic reports that Jindal made the top ten Worst Governors List for the following reasons:
• Prevented the public release of government records and has fought legislation to make
government more transparent
• Weakened the authority of the state ethics board
• Refused to accept federal stimulus funds to expand unemployment insurance and to fund
other important programs
• Rewarded campaign donors with government jobs and contracts
• Has been fined for ethics violations

He is fourth on the list according to CREW:
■Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS)
■Gov. Donald Carcieri (R-RI)
■Gov. Jim Gibbons (R-NV)
■Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA)
■Gov. David Paterson (D-NY)
■Gov. Sonny Perdue (R-GA)
■Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX)
■Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM)
■Gov. Mike Rounds (R-SD)
■Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC)
■Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA)

You can read their full report here.

The cuts Jindal has been making and proposed to make by helping to make corporations rich off of crime will not help the citizens of the great state of Louisiana.
Join us on April 7th in Baton Rouge at the Capital to oppose Jindals budget cuts. You can make a difference in Louisiana’s future.