After going to the very large Alliance For Good Government gala this weekend in New Orleans, there is one thing for certain: I wouldn’t want to be one of “Bobby’s Boys” over the next two weeks.

That’s my reaction after talking to numerous “legislators and government officials at the gala and throughout this weekend after our hearing that Governor Jindal was inclined to “line item veto” funding for a number of projects within legislative districts, mainly those called Non-Government Organizations.

They told me they could understand not funding “brother-in-law deals”, but, a number of viable and critical organizations were on the budget chopping block.

Word had gotten out that the knife was sharpened and a blood bath was coming.  A number of legislators were uttering “veto session” which would take place in early August.   One political analyst told me that if Jindal has any of his bills vetoed overridden by the legislators, he will be a lame duck for the rest of his session.

Many legislators and government officials were saying that there was just not enough money on the street to keep many of these “critical organizations” afloat through private donations and that the only place to find money was state government.

A number of legislators were talking about the possibility of the elderly and the disabled not receiving critical care.  One legislator said that teenagers who people wanted to keep active after school would lose their playgrounds.  Others decried that nursing homes were being cut and could close within weeks.

Some officials were really upset that Jindal vetoed legislation last week that would allow for his own disclosure of financial information and jobs granted by him and smelled rank hypocrisy.   

The Jindal administration had months ago sent out general guidelines about the type of programs that would be line-itemed vetoed but one legislator said that the guidelines were too vague and that Jindal’s “boys” should have met with the legislators providing more details about these programs that would be cut or approved.

Not everyone is unhappy with the apparent vetoes.  Some say that Governor Jindal is finally standing up and showing fiscal responsibility.  Then, there are others who are critical that he can pay high salaries to his own administration and are ignoring the people.

One legislator warned that the relations between the Governor and the legislature is so strained that a session is an almost certainty.  He said the Governor was using the vetoes for “political payback”.  Another legislator said he would only agree with a veto session if the vetoes were patently unfair to a district, a community or to a legislator. And, then, another said he was tired and did not want to interrupt his family vacation.   

So, for now. the legislature will test to see how angry their own constituents are at them (because of the pay raise fiasco) compared to anger at the Governor for cutting programs those same citizens might feel are necessary.  Meanwhile, Governor Jindal will likely claim he is doing the “people’s will” and reigning in a “run-away-government”.

All of this friction comes at a time when the nerves are raw between the public and the legislature, the public and Administration, and the legislature and Governor.  It also comes at a moment when many still feel that Governor Jindal is still on the short list of Republican Vice President Candidates.  Some  feel that had he not been campaigning for Veep, he would have been focused upon the legislative affairs and not have been in such a political mess right now.

Governor Jindal says he loves his job and this is the job that he wants.  We will know in the next few days if he can weather the brewing storm, use his immense abilities to talk directly to the people while maintaining his love for being Governor.  Meanwhile, the summer days are getting hotter as legislators debate whether they want to spend more time at the Capitol where few can predict the directions of the political winds.