June 24, 2008 - Pensito

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has come into a world of hurt this week for acting like a Republican. Not for something he did, but for what he didn’t do â€” he didn’t veto a bill that would almost double the pay of the state’s part-time legislators.

Effective July 8, the legislators get a raise from $16,800 to $37,500, plus a generous expense budget. Of course, in a state still ravaged by hurricane damage and a permanently depressed economy, you could understand why folks would be upset at the “shameless” and greedy government goobers.

More confounding to many citizens here than the action by the lawmakers is the inaction of Governor Jindal, who came into office this year with promises to overhaul Louisianaâ€™s reputation for dubious ethics.

During his election campaign, he vowed to prohibit legislative pay raises. Once elected, he quickly pushed through a package of measures increasing the Legislatureâ€™s transparency and stamping out conflicts of interest, basking in the subsequent glow of his image as a youthful Ivy League reformer doing battle in a shady subtropical outpost.

That image and his solid standing with the religious right helped propel Mr. Jindal, a 37-year-old former Rhodes scholar, into the front ranks of Senator John McCainâ€™s possible running-mate choices. But now some conservative critics are saying the pay-increase episode demonstrates weakness as well as Mr. Jindalâ€™s unreadiness for the prime time of the vice presidency.

Ah, but I see it differently. I see a bold play on Jindal’s part to curry favor with McCain. As McCain slides further toward the conservative end of the scale, he’s going to need somebody with proven Republican behavioral traits, and it would appear that Jindal’s got them:

a1: Jindal got elected for saying one thing and once elected did the opposite
b2: Jindal didn’t do anything, so he can’t be held accountable for an actual action
c3: Jindal shows he is not one to be swayed by popular opinion or indeed by the will of the people or even their needs

What pundits are calling weakness is actually extraordinary strength and conviction. Right-wing critics overlook the fact that Jindal’s nonveto protects his legislative gains â€” vouchers for private schools in New Orleans, government spending cuts and a program to teach creationism in public schools â€” all pillars of the Republican Party platform.

All in all, I think Bobby Jindal has shown himself to be an excellent choice of running mate for John McCain, based on his faithful execution of the Republican agenda. Plus, Jindal’s not Caucasian, so he’s a twofer.

It’s no wonder America’s mayors feel their cities have been discarded by the federal government under the Bush administration. As one source earlier this week put it, things seem to be falling apart, whether you’re a home owner, a driver, a polar bear, or a Midwesterner living near a levee.*

As Miami’s mayor Manny Diaz told the U.S. Conference of Mayors after he was sworn in as organization president, the lack of federal leadership is crippling.

Look for more “undeclared” disasters, calamities the federal government will decline to declare as such, leaving it to local officials, and increasingly, to local volunteers to fund and handle.

”It’s plain and simple — they have abandoned us,” Diaz said to the hundreds of mayors gathered for his induction ceremony.

…Diaz cited federal budget cuts in housing, education, and crime-fighting as proof of Washington’s failure to invest in cities.

It’s only going to get worse, Manny, according to a friend of mine of who works for an area non-profit. He said his agency and many others were summoned by county emergency managers for a presentation on the coming hard times. Look for more “undeclared” disasters, they were told, calamities that the federal government will decline to declare as such, leaving it up to local officials, and increasingly, to local volunteers to fund and handle.

Or maybe not. A lot depends on who is the next resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Barack Obama addressed the mayors, listening to their concerns and pledging his support as president.

John McCain…didn’t attend the conference.

* I would quote from the story but it’s by AP so I’ll skip it.

H/T to Ray

Day: June 24, 2008

Jindal’s Republican Creds Qualify Him for McCain Veep

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“One woman at a rally in New Jersey told me last week that she was ‘nauseously optimistic.’ That may capture a lot of people’s last-minute jitters.”

— Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), quoted by Axios, on what Democrats feel ahead of the midterm elections.

“I think Congress made a mistake not protesting turning the Rose Garden into what looks like the entrance to Liberace’s bathroom.”

— Former President Bill Clinton, quoted by The Wrap.

“Boy, they are scraping the bottom of the barrel. It feels like a real desperation play to me, because it has got zero basis in the law.”

— Republican election law expert Ben Ginsberg, quoted by Politico, on the Trump administration’s effort to invalidate Alaska’s election results.

Numerati

3,824

$1.4 billion

-35 points

31%

63% to 38%

KFF Poll: “With the 2026 midterm campaigns in full swing and early voting about to begin, there is a wide enthusiasm gap between partisan voters, with Democratic voters 25 percentage points more likely than Republican voters to say they are ‘more motivated’ than usual to vote (63% vs. 38%).”