“I’ve learned my lesson,” Governor Jindal said Tuesday during a news conference outside the Governor’s Mansion.
Which raises the question--which Bobby Jindal will show up at the next legislative session?
The contrite Governor who told reporters at the Mansion on Tuesday that “Going forward, we’re certainly going to keep a much tighter rein on the Legislature in future sessions”?
Or the candidate Jindal who recently broke his campaign promise to not grant the very type of pay raise to the legislators that he says he won’t veto.
Poor Governor Jindal, he just doesn’t get it.
But, he does get his now talking points which he uttered in North Louisiana at a bill signing marked with a protest, “Everybody knows it would be in my own self-interest politically to veto this bill.I’d probably be the most popular governor in modern polling history if I did that.”
Yet, he also said at the mansion press conference, “I don’t want to give the Legislature any excuse to slow down the reforms we’ve started. I don’t want to give them any excuse to throw sand in the gears”.
He also said he would be more involved with the session with veto threats and dealing with bills before they go through committee.
The latter would be a start since many legislators feel he went AWOL except when Team Jindal showed up at hearings opposing legislation instead of talking to the authors before the bills went to committee.It would also be a start since Louisiana is looking for a leader, not a wimp to the legislature.
But, he is still not listening to the people who want him to veto the pay raise legislation and all of the promises being made are worthless when he can now live up to his campaign promise but appears to be demurring.
So, how do we know he will do anything different in the future?
Jindal has tremendous intelligence, but, is short on wisdom.
Nobody wants him to be popular, they want him to do right, that’s all.
By vetoing the legislation, it will give legislators the time to make their case to the people in a fair open way.That is exactly what Representative John Labruzzo has written the Governor—veto the legislation and start over.
Labruzzo, a young Metairie legislator who is trying to raise a family and who has been a strong advocate of the pay raise said it best, “"It has become obvious to me that we, the Legislature, grossly misjudged the issue of legislative pay during this past session.As a result, I am recommending that you veto (the bill) so that we can come together with our constituents to determine a more reasonable compensation plan for Legislators."
The bottom line with the people versus Governor Jindal is trust.
The people are doubting Governor Jindal’s decision-making ability, his word and his willingness and ability to “reign in the legislators” when he won’t act now.
We are not talking about popularity.We’re talking about trust and knowing that Governor Jindal will not be trying to make waves on the national scale for his own personal prestige when he cannot even live up to his commitments to the very people he serves.
We’re talking about fortitude of a Governor now, not promises in the future that could easily vaporize during the next session.
So, which Governor will show up at the next session? Frankly, nobody knows and few believe he will live up to his now current promises to change.
But, he has time to veto a bill hated by the people.The proof are in his deeds, not in his now hollow words for the future.The proof is reality he cannot hide.
An "Anti-Pay Raise Rally" WILL BE HELD JULY 7 at the STATE CAPITOL from 2 to 4 p.m. so please save that date. For more information, contact steve@bayoubuzz.com or call 504-339-3924 to help or to attend. The rally is being sponsored by Citizen Can and was idea initiated by Bayoubuzz Publisher, Stephen Sabludowsky.
What is Governor Jindal hiding?
