The Progressive Mile: January 2015

Is This Man a Genius?!

Why is it that Louisianians always have to learn the hard way? And we keep making the same mistake over and over again. That lesson being that whenever the state is run by democrats, it runs like a well oiled machine. The mistake being that someone can always convince us to become dissatisfied when we are doing so well. No matter how well the state is doing, republicans can always convince us that something is wrong with the way the state is being run. Each time democrats run the state, the budget is balanced and the state has enough revenue to fund all agencies, with extra funds for rainy day years. The last democratic governor, Mrs. Kathleen Blanco left a rainy day fund, and had a settlement with the tobacco corporations to continue to pump money into state coffers for the next twenty years. The state highways were in a great of repair, hospitals and education were fully funded. and Louisiana had plenty of jobs for it's citizens. The state was running like a dream! What happened in the state since then for it to be in the mess it's in now?

Well for one the republicans in the state began to talk down the states economy, and about that same time republican talk (hate) radio began to take off with people like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. They hated "big government", welfare queens (poor black women), and taxes. But what people seemed to have forgotten is that government's purpose is to help the citizens, no matter what size is needed. We forgot that many of our citizens (more white than black) need help from the government. And we also have forgotten that it's business that has benefitted more than anyone from our taxes, yet we would rather take money from our own citizens and give it away to corporations, believing that somehow the state would be better off by giving tax money away as subsidies to businesses, rather than using that money to maintain our state's economic balance.

So, enter Bobby Jindal. The people behind Jindal knew that perception is everything to a great many people. They saw a man who spoke English more perfectly that either you or I, and who was well groomed, smart, highly intelligent and "sounded" wise. They perceived him to be what he seemed to be. He looked and sounded white and intelligent. That made him acceptable to many people, especially republicans, who wanted no part of a black governor, but knowing that it would be extremely difficult for a white republican man to become governor again for quite a while.

Since before his first election as Governor of Louisiana, republicans have held up Bobby Jindal as one of the smartest and most intelligent men ever! But smart and intelligent together don't equal wisdom. And that's what Jindal has displayed a lack of.

It wasn't long before the lack of wisdom began to show. But not only was it lack of wisdom, it also shows just how smart he WASN'T. Upon entering office, Bobby Jindal immediately began giving tax cuts to business and the wealthy. He also sold the state's tobacco settlement money for short term gain at much less than it was worth. Once he had given all of the rainy day fund away and had used all of the tobacco settlement money, the state began to once again, as it had when previous republicans were governors, to go into debt. As unforeseen need for more expenditures arose, the governor then had to resort to hokus pokus to fill holes in government spending gaps. Then he began to rob Paul to pay Peter. He began to shortchange the healthcare delivery system, mostly by laying off workers. That meant even less revenue because workers were no longer able to pay taxes if they had no money. Next came cuts to the educational system, which also meant layoffs and even less revenue. With every action the governor took, there was less and less money for revenue. As revenue dropped, there were more cuts. Where does the cycle end? It ends in a failed state. Where is the governor's contingency plan? Didn't he realize that the price of oil had to go down again sooner or later?! Why did he not feel that the state should have a little extra money jus in case......? The governor didn't any wisdom in this.

An article in the Monday January 26, 2015 issue of the Lake Charles American Press tells us that in 2002 the VOTERS of this state approved a progressive tax plan, called the Stelly plan, named after former state representative Vic Stelly who authored it, that eliminated regressive sales taxes in exchange for higher income taxes. The VOTERS approved this tax structure, but in 2008, the governor backed a plan to repeal the tax that VOTERS put in place with HIS OWN regressive tax plan, and that has led to six consecutive years of budget deficits.. How smart is that? The Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy of Washington D.C. said that people making $32.000 a year in Louisiana pay an average of ten percent in sate and local taxes while those who make $471,000 pay only slightly more than 4 percent in state and local taxes. We have the 19th most unfair tax system in the nation. That's where more revenue is lost. The tax institute went on to say that if the Stelly plan had stayed on the books, the state would be among states with the least regressive taxes.

In another article on the American Press that same day said the state was facing a $1.4 billion shortfall for the 2015-16 fiscal year. And they already had to rebalance last year's budget when a shortfall of $170 million appeared. The article also said that the governor is considering cutting the health care budget by $250 million dollars, which had already been cut by at least that much since Jindal has been in office. Mr. Jindal has already turned down billions of dollars in federal money because he has refused to expand Medicaid for poor people in this state. There is also the possibility of the higher education budget being slashed by $300 million, which has already been cut to the bare bones.
In the Tuesday January 28th edition of the Lake Charles Press, it stated that there is a $103 million deficit for the remaining five months of this fiscal year, partly due to the drop in oil prices. That is in addition to the $170 million shortfall that was closed with patchwork financing earlier this year. Next year's shortfall has been estimated upward from $1.4 billion to $1.6 billion, which could increase even more as the year wears on. This is sure to involve some very deep and harsh cuts to education and health care. One solution to the problem would be for Governor Jindal to expand the state's Medicaid program. The money from this move alone would just about solve ALL the budget woes this state has. Why does Jindal continue to refuse money that would fund health care for the poor of this state, provide jobs and close the state's budget deficit? It's solely for the sake of political ideology! Jindal has put political considerations ahead of the interests of the state's citizens?
Is this what the voters of the state intended when they voted for Bobby Jindal for governor. If it is, then they sure as hell got what they asked for! But I seriously don't think they knew what was coming. I'll give Mr. Jindal an "A" in intelligence because he was intelligent enough to convince the voters of this state to vote for him, not once but twice. The only question that I have left is "what the hell is wrong with the voters in Louisiana"?!