Recalls, Anyone?

The Louisiana Legislature voted, without debate, to double their salaries. Starting next month. Our state is near dead last in everything; our education system stinks, as do our roads and bridges, the Recovery is stalled, and the State says they are broke. This is (generally) a SFW blog, so any honest comment I have on this issue most certainly could not be published here.

It appears my Representative, Hunter Greene, voted for it. Unless suddenly he walks on water or makes oil appear out of thin air, I will have a VERY hard time voting for him again. For anything. Peppi Bruneau once told me that Greene was one of the most capable people he'd ever seen in the Legislature. I'm not so sure about that anymore.

Look, I agree that the position of legislator in Louisiana is more than a part-time job, and worth more than $16,000 a year, plus expenses. At that rate, only those who can afford to hold office actually can. So I think some kind of increase is due. But it should only be enacted by a vote of their bosses, the people, be phased in, and only happen AFTER we see some results.

But the big surprise, and disappointment, is not greedy pols at the Capitol - that is nothing new - but how our new wizz-kid governor, the "next Ronald Reagan," has handled this.

He hasn't.

Bobby Jindal has utterly wimped out on this issue, and said that he will not veto the pay raise even though he opposes it, as this is the Legislature's issue. Wow. That's some leadership. He sounds more like the "next John Kerry" or maybe the "next Mary Landrieu" - not the "next Ronald Reagan." He has allowed the Legislature to tell him who's boss (not him), and define their relationship for the next three and one-half years. Jindal was tested. And he failed.

Because of the near unanimity of public opposition to this pay-raise, Jindal had a golden opportunity to go toe-to-toe with the Legislative leadership over this, and win. He would have come out a hero - a real man of action - and defined the relationship with the Legislature on HIS terms. But now he is looking like just another failed revolution; our "next Buddy Romer." Were it not for who would take his place, I'd say let McCain have him.