Income Taxes More Popular Than Bobby Jindal
According to informed sources, (that’s everyone with a pulse), Bobby Jindals SIGNATURE TAX SCHEME is not going forward. The bill must
TAXES ARE DUMB. ERGO ELIMINATE THEM.
originate in the Louisiana House Ways and Means Committee, and that body’s Chairman Joel Robideaux put out this statement this morning:
“Over the last several months we have all grappled with the issues involved when considering the repeal of the income tax…I have reviewed the analysis of the policy community…my preference is that we should indefinitely defer consideration of these bills.”
CB Forgotston, who originated the dead-or-alive clock on the tax swap, isn’t convinced:
Regardless of what you are told by #LaLege no tax bill dead until motion made & passed on hse flr to "withdraw from files of House."—
C.B. Forgotston (@CBForgot) April 15, 2013
Bobby Jindal: Let’s Teach Them Creationism.
Today, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal finally admitted, for the very first time, that the controversial Louisiana Science Education Act, which he signed into law during his first year in office, was designed and intended to allow public schools the ability to teach creationism as legitimate scientific theory.
Jindal made his comments to NBC News correspondent Hoda Kotb, during tail end of an interview at the Education Nation conference in New Orleans.
Mary Landrieu Lands Impressive Fundraising Quarter
With the first major fundraising quarter under the belts, Senator Mary Landrieu continues to draw serious dollars to her campaign side. And most surprising, some of that money is coming from major Republican donors.
Landrieu, D-La., is announcing she raised about $1.2 million during the first three months of the year, which compares favorably with the more than $500,000 brought in by her only 2014 opponent thus far, U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge.
Those dollars leave Landrieu with a $3.46 million war chest thus far compared with Cassidy’s $2.4 million, though the election is nearly 18 months away.
The $500k raised by Cassidy must be a disappointment to republicans, who were hoping their moderate nominee would draw strong interest from establishment conservatives seeking a new US Senator from Louisiana detached from the teabag crew.
Landrieu’s strong showing also included some interesting names:
Landrieu also promoted the support she has from top Republican donors, such as New Orleans developer Joe Canizaro and Lockport shipyard magnate Boysie Bollinger, who is a former state Republican Party chairman.
“Any challenger to Sen. Landrieu will have a hard time building support as more and more prominent business leaders back her,” Bollinger said in a prepared statement. “People know that at the end of the day, Mary always fights for our state. For me and many Louisianians, that’s more important than anything.”
The fracturing of conservative over Cassidy’s coronation and strong-arm tactics to clear the field continue to show that hardcore wingnuts aren’t buying into Cassidy’s weak tea moderation. Major GOP donors recognize this, and would rather have a Senior Senator with real pull that disagrees with them on issues than a Mary Landrieu-lite candidate like Cassidy.
Do states without an income tax really have the strongest economies?
By Tom Swain
Guest Blogger
Governor Jindal wants to do away with state income taxes. His earlier proposals attempted to raise an equivalent amount of revenue from sales taxes. He now stresses his desire to end income taxes, but seems willing to let the Legislature find the replacement funding.
In his speech to the Legislature on Monday, he spoke about wanting people to stay in Louisiana, of wanting people to move here from states like Texas and Florida.
Talking Points Memo: Jindal’s Political Collapse
So yesterday went well for the Governor, huh? Apparently all that tax-hiking talk was for naught, because he just got right up 
there and asked the legislature to go ahead and get rid of the income tax… and that’s it. Let’s not worry about replacing that revenue with a sales tax hike anymore.
His reasoning was basically, “My brother lives in another state, and he won’t come back until we get rid of the income tax. So do it for MY BROTHER!“
Talking Points Memo took note of the larger context, and it wasn’t good for BJ or the GOP:
Governor Bobby Jindal (R-LA), considered a leading presidential contender in 2016, is suffering a political meltdown in his home state. His approval rating plummeted to 38 percent in a poll last week by the non-partisan Southern Media Opinion & Research, down from 60 percent just a year ago. In an ominous sign for national Republicans, the immediate cause is a sweeping economic agenda with strong parallels to the House GOP’s latest budget.
On Monday, Jindal scrapped his own proposal to eliminate the state’s income and corporate taxes and replace them with a statewide tax on sales and business services. His retreat was a concession to the reality that the proposal was headed towards a humiliating defeat — and taking Jindal down with it along the way. Jindal said in a speech to lawmakers that the backlash against his plan “certainly wasn’t the reaction I was hoping to hear,” but that he would respect the public’s wishes and start again.”
Some questions about Jindal's big speech
By Robert Mann
Gov. Bobby Jindal addresses the Louisiana Legislature Monday at noon and will, presumably, make a forceful pitch for his tax “reform” plan.
In his five years as governor, Jindal has never been politically weaker. And he has never faced a legislature more skeptical of his policies.
In short, the stakes for him have never been higher.
What happens in the next three months could determine whether he is a failed governor.
My advice to Bobby Jindal: Quit while you're behind
By Robert Mann
Not that he will ever ask me for political advice, but here's what I'd tell Bobby Jindal if he asked what he should to salvage what's left of his political career:
Resign.
Seriously, quit. Walk away. Vamoose.
It makes perfect sense.
Whose Side Is Bill Cassidy On?
Congressman Bill Cassidy, whose career has been spent working for the State of Louisiana as a Doctor in a Charity Hospital, has blandly announced his candidacy for Senate in 2014 against Mary Landrieu.
Ironically, while Cassidy touts his work for the poor in a “public” hospital, Governor Jindal’s civil service board voted to privatize it on the same day of Cassidy’s announcement. Maybe Congressman Cassidy is running for Senate because he just lost his old job.
You can watch his announcement video below, and marvel at how these many months of preparation and meditation on the race could have produced such a boring, content-less video:
Cassidy repeats several meaningless, conservative boilerplate agenda items in the video, including his support for the ridiculous “balanced-budget amendment,” a policy that prominent conservative commentator Ramesh Ponnuru calls “a terrible idea.”
Cassidy also plans to “run against” Barack Obama, who according to recent polling, is actually more popular than Governor Jindal, the guy who is shutting down Cassidy’s old hospital. Perhaps he should be running against Jindal? Look, we can see that the President is not very popular in Louisiana, but unfortunately for Bill Cassidy, Barack Obama isn’t on the ballot anymore. He’ll have to actually face his real opponent, Mary Landrieu.
Cassidy also intertwines some interesting pseudo-populist “conservatism,” totally off-loading libertarians and shunning the Rand Paul-section of the GOP. Cassidy, the “conservative,” wants to
- replace Obamacare with… something that sounds like Obamacare.
- He wants to preserve and protect Medicare and Social Security. Hello, socialism?
- His wife and he continuously mention their connection to “public” schools, including the “public charter school” she works at, and the “public college” that their son attends. I thought that was socialism?
- Cassidy treats the “uninsured.” Isn’t this the agenda of the takers? The 47%?
As liberals, it’s hard to tell if this is Cassidy’s platform, or moderate Mary Landrieu’s. Conservatives cannot be happy with Cassidy, and in deep-red Louisiana, we know the tea baggers ought to be grumbling about Cassidy’s weak-tea conservatism, at least compared to today’s “stupid party.”
Is he just Mary Landrieu-light?
POLL: Jindal 38%. Obama 43%. In Louisiana
Crash. Bobby Jindal’s approval rating is 38%, according to a new SMOR poll. This matches the 37% that PPP found only a month and a half ago.
Key findings here:
The governor received a 38 percent approval rating in the spring 2013 survey, compared to 51 percent last October. A number of issues contributed to Jindal’s low performance, including state cuts to higher education and health care, plans to privatize the charity hospital system and the governor’s proposed state tax overhaul.
Gov. Jindal’s proposed tax reform plan was particularly unpopular. Sixty-three percent opposed the plan to abolish personal and corporate income taxes and raise state sales taxes, while only 27 percent supported it.
That second piece is incredible. 63% of people are OPPOSED to the sales tax swap that Jindal has proposed.
Medicaid expansion continues to show majority support:
Gov. Jindal has refused to take part in a Medicaid expansion available under the new health care reform law, claiming it would cost too much money. Sen. Landrieu says the governor is putting his political ambitions ahead of the state’s health and economic interests.When respondents were asked whom they agreed with more,Landrieu had a slight edge over Jindal–49 percent to 46 percent…
Oh, and the kicker. Obama is more popular than Jindal:
Overall, 43 percent approved of the president’s job performance compared to 56 percent who do not,which is slightly better than Jindal’s rating.
Mary Landrieu also looks fairly good, with a 56% approval rating.
You can read more on Lane Grigsby’s latest poll here. Lots of his pet issues, including term limits for all statewide elected officials and more.
BRUCE OFF HEALTH
Jindal choirboy Brucey-Bruce, the health care hunk, Greenstein, is toast. Announced his resignation today, effective May 1, under the cloud of a Federal Grand Jury investigation.
Happy Easter.
Governor Bobby Jindal’s office announced today that Bruce Greenstein has resigned as secretary of the Dept. of Health and Hospitals during federal and state investigations of a controversial Medicaid contract.
The Jindal administration canceled the nearly $200 million Medicaid contract with CNSI after word of a federal grand jury probe came out.
Greenstein used to work for the Maryland-based company. Greenstein denied having anything to do with CNSI’s choice when they were selected two years ago. He did acknowledge that a change he pushed in the bid solicitation made CNSI eligible.
