As Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal approaches the oncoming legislative sessions, budget crises, and elections, voters will begin to ask these questions:The ultimate question, of course, will likely be whether the voters will re-elect the GovernorJindal?
Bayoubuzz's first focus will be whether Governor Jindal has so far lived up to his promises. For starts, here is a message from Jindal from his campaign of 2007.
"Dear Fellow Louisianians,
I always keep close to my heart the core belief
that this election is much more important than
any one person or agenda.
To put it simply, this election could be one of
our last chances to decisively break free from
themistakes of the past and finally put our
state on the path to success.
No more settling for last place on all the good lists
and first place on all the bad lists.
No more being content with leaders that put their personal interests
before those of the people who put them in office.
No more reckless spending habits from the State Capitol that will
bankrupt our state in the years to come.
We can, and must, do better than that.
We have a state government that has grown addicted to spending.
The Legislature spent over $30 billion this year, double the amount from
just six years ago. The state budget is a ticking time bomb, waiting to
explode in future years.
Instead of acting responsibly with the taxpayers’money, our
government has taken the easy way out. While some investments this
year were for important items, such as pay raises for teachers and crucial
funding for law enforcement, state spending is completely out of control.
There was no money allocated to fund ethics training for state employees
or to make a long-term commitment to transportation, but there was
plenty to fund over 1,000 new state workers without a comprehensive
plan and add more than $1 billion in new, recurring spending
funded by one-time dollars.
This Legislature also chose to leave no slush fund behind. Over 600
line-item special Legislative projects, totaling over $62 million,were
funded without real disclosure. This is nearly double the amount in
earmarks passed just one year ago!
When citizens, good government groups and the media asked
Legislators for specifics on the projects they inserted into the
bloated budget, the politicians refused to release the details
claiming that it was not public record. This is outrageous.
Louisiana cannot afford politicians making irresponsible fiscal decisions
over real choices to transform and strengthen our state.Working to
grow bureaucracy rather than instill reformwill do nothing to
move our state forward.
My Plan of Action will take the fundamental reforms wemust
embrace to slow down in its tracks this runaway spending train
coming from the State Capitol."
Below are links to campaign literature found on Forgottsen.com
Jindal on Economic Development
Jindal on Crime and Safety
Jindal on Hurricane Recovery
Bayoubuzz will be taking a serious look at whether Jindal has kept his campaign promises of four years ago.
Our first focus is whether Jindal has fulfilled those general promises in his prose above. We ask that you contribute to this discussion by sending your comments to us which we plan to republish. You can also add your comments to the buzzbacks below. The same question will be posted on Facebook. We will include your comments from that post.
Over the upcoming weeks, Bayoubuzz will concentrate upon Jindal's campaign promises based upon the above links starting with a focus upon state finances. We will also discuss his promises related to links to the Healthcare, ethics, education, economic development, crime and safety and hurricane recovery campaign materials.
We want to hear from you to discuss all sides of these issues.
Discuss: Will the Democrats field a candidate for Governor?
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