Bobby Jindal’s Exclusive Club

As Jindal continues his delusional national quest to earn a spot as a presidential candidate it is important for voters to give him the recognition he deserves as a member of an exclusive GOP candidates club.  He is a proud member of what some refer to as the “Most Hated Governors Club.”  Other honorary members include Scott Walker, and Chris Christie.  Polls show all are rejected by their state residents.

Recent polls also show that Bobby is so despised by Louisianans that if the election were held today, and Hillary Clinton was the opposition, she would carry deep red Louisiana.   Bobby Jindal couldn’t ever deliver his home state for the Republicans.  Of course Bobby ‘s excuse for this catastrophic reality is that he had to make some unpopular decisions when he cut the fat at the state level reducing the state budget by over 26%, as he recently bragged on national news.

 

However, Bobby must be in need of some Common Core math because according to the Cato Institute which just published a report on state governors’ fiscal spending habits, that 26% number is substantially exaggerated.  Most of the money that Bobby claims as evidence of his reduction in the size of our state budget came from the drying up of Katrina federal funds which had little to do with Jindal’s frugality.

But let’s give credit where credit is due.  After the Katrina funds adjustment, the Cato Institute did give Jindal credit for an actual 7% reduction in state spending.  And he is the only GOP governor competing for a presidential nod that did this.  Of course these results mainly came about through draconian cuts to health care and education funding while at the same time increasing the costs for outside legal and consultants’ contracts.  This behavior was coupled with inaction with regard to reducing tax breaks for favored businesses and special interest entities.  Jindal deserves an ‘F’ for his failure to reduce any of these costs. 

Sadly, part of being a good politician is the ability to self-promote by distorting the facts and Bobby Jindal ranks right up there with the best of them; and he needs to, because he is running almost dead last.