prevaricator
[pri-var-i-key-ter] /prɪˈvær ɪˌkeɪ tər/
noun
- a person who speaks falsely; liar.
- a person who speaks so as to avoid the precise truth; quibbler; equivocator.
Bobby Jindal loves to throw around the “L-word.”
So much so that we at LouisianaVoice are beginning to let it creep into our vocabulary when writing about Bobby.
Of course, his “L-word” and our “L-word” have completely different meanings.
For him, it’s invoked when reacting to the “Liberal” media’s calling him out on his claims of being the savior for Louisiana’s health care, education, economy, ethics and general well-being.
For us, the “L-word” denotes Liar, as pathological Liar.
A pathological liar is defined as an abnormally habitual liar, or a person who lies to the point that it is considered a disease or condition. That would be Bobby Jindal, the man who took ideas from medical experts when he headed up the Department of Health and Hospitals, implemented those ideas and called them his own.
Before you get the wrong idea, we don’t reside in a dream world where the sun is always shining and the grass is always green. We know politicians lie. Former Gov. Edwin Edwards once said it went with his job.
We understand that just as we can predict that in the upcoming gubernatorial election, one of the candidates is certain to stretch the truth a bit by claiming that then-State Rep. David Vitter’s vote against tabling House Bill 1013 way back in 1993 was because he supported gay rights. https://louisianavoice.com/
Anyone who knows Vitter knows better than that (maybe hooker rights, but that’s another story for another day). His voting not to table the bill that would have made it illegal for employers or insurers to discriminate based on sexual orientation was merely an effort to keep the bill alive for full floor debate where it was certain to have been defeated.
But Bobby Jindal elevates lying to an art form At least he tries to, but his prevarications are so disingenuous as to appear laughable—except the joke is on us.
Take that letter that Jindal recently wrote to the New York Times http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/03/bobby_jindal_defends_his_recor.html#incart_river in response to the paper’s editorial about governors being unable to hide from their records http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/opinion/sunday/governors-can-run-but-they-cant-hide.html?_r=0 and the column about the Jindal implosion http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/23/opinion/charles-blow-gov-jindals-implosion.html by Times writer Charles Blow who just happens to be from the north Louisiana town of Gibsland and who was a Grambling State University honor graduate.
In that letter, Jindal repeated the claim that he had cut the state payroll by “30,000 workers.”
Liar.
The Louisiana Office of Civil Services issues monthly layoff reports and contained in that monthly report is a year-by-year accounting of the number of civil service positions eliminated and the number of employees laid off. February 2015 Layoff Report
Since Fiscal Year 2008, which began six months prior to Jindal’s taking office in January of 2008, through the end February 2015, there have been a grand total of 13,577 positions eliminated and 8,396 employees laid off. The difference is apparently 5,181 eliminated positions were already vacant and simply not filled. Taking either number, you have far fewer than half the 30,000 claimed by Jindal.
“This fiscal responsibility resulted in eight straight upgrades by the major credit agencies,” he said in his letter, while neglecting to mention that two major rating agencies, Moody’s and Stand & Poor’s recently moved the state’s credit outlook from stable to negative while threatening the more severe action of a downgrade. https://louisianavoice.com/2015/02/14/two-major-investment-rating-firms-downgrade-louisiana-to-negative-state-is-now-officially-at-the-financial-end-game/
“And what did lower taxes do for our economy? They spurred growth,” he said. “Louisiana now has higher incomes…”
Liar.
The state’s per capita income while increasing 1.1 percent from 2012 to 2013, has actually decreased overall since 2008 and continues to lag nearly $3,500 behind the national average while the median family income decreased by more than $2,500 and trailed the national median family income by more than $8,000. http://www.deptofnumbers.com/income/louisiana/
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/09/louisiana_ranks_poorly_on_late.html
Were it not for Mississippi and the District of Columbia, Louisiana’s poverty rate (by household income) of 18.3 percent would be the highest in the nation. (Mississippi’s poverty rate is 20.1 percent and D.C. has a poverty rate of 20.7 percent.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_poverty_rate
Moreover, our already stratospheric poverty rate is continuing to rise. http://www.labudget.org/lbp/2013/09/poverty-on-the-rise-in-louisiana/
“…more jobs…”
Liar.
The February unemployment rate for Louisiana (the latest figures available) was 6.7 percent, compared to 5.5 percent for the rest of the country. The rate was 4 percent when Jindal took office but three years into his first term, the rate had risen to 8 percent before dropping below 6 percent in 2014 and spiking again this year. http://www.deptofnumbers.com/unemployment/louisiana/
“…and more people than we’ve ever had in the history of our state.”
Perhaps, but when those who were evacuated to other states in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita return, that does not signify population growth. That’s just folks coming home after a hiatus of a few years.
But no matter. Jindal long ago staked out his position on immigration reform. http://www.ontheissues.org/Governor/Bobby_Jindal_Immigration.htm
But while he is claiming “more people than we’ve ever had in the history of our state,” he may wish to take a closer look at what the numbers mean.
Yes, it’s true that the state’s population grew by 64,396 (an increase of 1.44 percent from 2000 to 2010). But the state actually lost 20,426 (-.47 percent) in the number of residents “not Hispanic or Latino origin” while registering a gain of 84,822 (78.7 percent increase) in the number of people of “Hispanic or Latino origin.” http://censusviewer.com/state/LA
How’re you gonna square those numbers with your stand on immigration reform, Bobby? You can’t very well boast of population growth and decry the influx of Hispanics in the face of those facts.
“A larger gross domestic product…”
Shoot, on this we don’t even beat Mississippi. Of the 12 states in the Southeast Region, our GDP ranks eighth and barely nudges out Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina. http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/gdp_state/2014/gspSE_glance.htm
Back in February, Jindal told a reporter for the Christian Science Monitor that Louisiana’s higher education budget “is actually a little bit, just slightly, higher than when I took office.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2015/02/11/jindals-claim-that-louisianas-higher-education-budget-is-slightly-higher/
“Wait. Wha…?
LIAR!
No, Bobby, that’s a DAMN LIE!
Anyone who can make that claim with a straight face has some serious mental issues of either being unable to separate face from fantasy or of just being unable to tell the truth—even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Even the Washington Post, for whom he often pens his op-ed pieces when not stumping for the Republican presidential nomination, called him out on that one. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2015/02/11/jindals-claim-that-louisianas-higher-education-budget-is-slightly-higher/
Remember when Jindal promised that premiums for the Office of Group Benefits would not increase and benefits would not decrease under his privatization plan?
Liar.
And remember how he told us that health care for the state’s poor population would actually improve and the state would save millions by jettisoning those burdensome state hospitals?
Liar.
Team Jindal moves toward developing a medical corridor along Bluebonnet Boulevard and Essen Lane in South Baton Rouge while creating a medical wasteland north of Government Street (thereby protecting medical care for the affluent population but not so much for the poorer, largely black population of North Baton Rouge). Baton Rouge General Mid City (north of Government by a couple of blocks), as part of that plan, is being forced into closing its emergency room facilities next week and there’s good reason to expect similar crises at private hospitals in Lake Charles, Shreveport and Monroe. In fact, the problems are already starting in Shreveport. http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268748/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=6CI2I0hA
And, of course, there was Jindal’s claim of the infamous “no-go” zones in England in the face of all those apologies by Fox News for initiating the story.
Liar.
It appears Bobby made that claim purely for the sake of political expediency, the worst reason of all. http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/19/politics/jindal-no-go-zones-london/
Jindal, of course, did that major flip-flop on Common Core and is somehow managing to link the Common Core to the radical teaching of American history at the cost of something called “American exceptionalism.”
Liar.
So you’ve changed your position on Common Core. But you overlooked (deliberately, we strongly suspect) one minor detail: Common Core deals only in math and English, not history. http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/02/06/bobby-jindal-what-happens-when-we-stop-teaching-american-exceptionalism-to-our-students/
Finally, there is the biggest Lie of all:
“I have the job I want.”
LIAR!
Tom, I love you columns. Thank you so much for being the number one force in keeping the spotlight on Jindal, focusing on all of his misdeeds and his total abandonment of the people he is supposed to be serving. Below is a letter I wrote which appeared in The Advocate on 10/10/12, pointing out issues as I saw them nearly 30 months ago. The most important point is that the legislature MUST rise up and oppose what Jindal is doing. They MUST NOT remain weak and inactive. Please keep up you great work.
Joseph Biundo
Letter: Jindal hurting state health care
October 10, 2012
I voted for Bobby Jindal three times, contributed to his campaign and was upset when he lost to Gov. Kathleen Blanco. Now, I am very disappointed in his performance and would not vote for him again.
The first omen appeared when he opposed mandating the wearing of helmets by motorcyclists. Yet, helmets increase safety and reduce costs because of injury.
He opposed a bill to maintain a tax on cigarettes, the income of which was vital to some health programs.
He is so often out of the state on fundraising ventures that he should be paid only for the days he is in Louisiana working.
Recently, Jindal unwisely rejected federal Medicaid dollars that could have helped fund mental-health programs and aided the state hospitals budget. This folly ends up with Louisianians paying taxes that go to other state Medicaid programs, while we suffer for lack of funding.
Jindal is currently making massive cuts in the state hospital system. This will be destructive not only to medical care to the poor and uninsured, but will severely and permanently damage the training of physicians in Louisiana. Predictably, there will be devastating effects on LSU and Tulane Medical Schools to educate physicians.
With a reduction in hospital beds, and training programs for primary care and specialties, there will be a decrease in the number of new doctors who will establish practices in Louisiana, as most physicians practice in locations where they are trained. Too, the reduction of beds will cause many patients to go untreated or have the cost absorbed by private hospitals. Additionally, there will be a huge loss of jobs in health care, adding to the economic woes of our state. The Lallie Kemp Hospital in Independence is their only local source of jobs.
What is it about Jindal that he cannot comprehend this unfolding travesty? He appears obsessed with running for “higher office.” He apparently chooses to do or not do something depending on how it might affect his attractiveness to prominent Republicans, even though the choices hurt his people and his state.
What can be done to block what is going on in mental health care and the LSU State Hospital System? Unfortunately, we citizens have no real power other than to push for a recall or voice public opposition. He, however, has declared he does not care what his constituents think of him. State hospital administrators have been told to resign when they have opposed Jindal. LSU board members have been replaced. This is too much power.
The only hope is that the members of the state Legislature must rise up and oppose what is going on. They need to be challenged to protect us.
Joseph Biundo
physician
Metairie
Angela Hill was just on the WWL radio with people calling in and complaining about Jindal. Where have the radio hosts and the people been all these years when Jindal was plundering the state and selling us out? One caller said there’s nothing left in the state to sell, as Jindal has sold everything that was salable already, which is not quite true, as there is tobacco settlement and the lottery money. It was noted that Jindal takes revenge on legislators who cross him by taking money for their communities out of the budget, which makes them fearful about opposing his policies. What about doing what’s right?
So the members of the lege couldn’t band together and add those monies back into the budget?
We need Stephen or Tom to explain but somehow the guv does control how or what on those dollars are spent in districts. Not sure exactly how it works.
Fredster, I don’t know, but there ought to be a way around him.
@June: Oh I agree, but I’m just not sure what it is. I hope Tom or Stephen come by to explain it.
The Legislature would have to override his veto and in all of Louisiana history, there has been only one override of a governor’s veto—in 1990.
Thanks Tom. I was hoping there might be another way around him.
As Tom points out, the governor has line item veto power and his vetoes are seldom overridden. But, remember, the legislature has to vote NOT to come into a veto session and they have consistently done so since 1990. Think about that – If they do not vote, a veto session is AUTOMATIC. It would be different if they had to do something extraordinary to come into a veto session to vote to restore things the governor vetoes, but they actually have to do NOTHING. So, they have proactively avoided veto sessions. And, if there is time enough left in a legislative session, the legislature can override a governor’s veto WHILE IN SESSION which I believe is what they did in 1990. So, do not let them off the hook. They’ll give you plenty of reasons why they don’t exercise this power, but none of them will be ones you are likely to accept. And never forget, the legislature holds the power to appropriate, NOT the governor.
On that last item, Governor Jindal’s statement was actually worse than Tom portrayed it. He used the old NRA ploy (don’t let them get a foot in the door – once they take away our assault rifles, they’ll come after our BB guns). He said IF we adopt Common Core for English and Math, History will be next and rather than teaching American Exceptionalism [not recognized by my spell checker as a real word], our children could be taught a history of victimhood.
Sorry to be late chiming in, but I was out of town and offline most of last week.
Thanks, Stephen Winham. I will never, ever, either in my mind or in my words, let the legislators off the hook. They were complicit every step of the way in getting us to the pitiful place we are now.
@Stephen-2:28: Thanks Stephen. I knew there was something that the lege had the option to do but couldn’t remember what it was. So, now would be the time for them to do something responsible…but I doubt they will.
This knocks it out of the park again. It’s too bad that at some point, even for a politician, there could not be legal penalties for excessive or egregious lying.
I wonder, did Jindal’s letter change even one person’s mind? I doubt it.
The penalty for excessive lying, payroll fraud, dereliction of duty ,etc. is impeachment. The legislature could do it if only the members had the courage. The voters would back their elected representatives all the way. So what if it’s only ten months til inauguration of s new governor? Get him out before session ends and mitigate the damage.
Prime Minister Cameron summed it up best: “Clearly, this guy (Jindal) is a total idiot.” The mere fact that such an incredibly high-ranking official feels compelled to make such a public quote about the chief executive of Louisiana is an extreme embarrassment. Oh well. The Forgotston clock shows only 289 days remaining!
There may be only 289 days remaining in his governorship, but, believe me, the damage Jindal has done isn’t leaving when he does.
Has PIyush “bobby” Jindal or PBJ ever had what would seem the minimum amount of courage necessary to govern to actually hold a news conference and answer unscripted questions from real reporters?
In a word, no.
Reblogged this on The Daily Kingfish and commented:
Prevaricator
Jindal’s lies are so egregious they glow in the dark. There is not much about him that is truthful or honest.
The Name, “Bobby,” — a lie.
That Smile: As artificial as an aluminum Christmas tree.
His Faith: Fake. He’s willing to let poor people go their graves for lack of healthcare, all to help keep his image “pure” as a small government conservative who hates Obama.
He’s willing to stir up hate to try to get political advantage.
He’s willing to pose with his wife holding high power weapons. I’m sure Jesus is proud of that one.
His Day Job: He’s abandoned it but keeps the paycheck and the helicopter rides.
He’s “Praying” about whether to run: Yeah right. If he’s still praying about it, why did he hire Bob Livingston? Why is he jumping in front of every camera within jumping distance (as long its not in Louisiana), to talk about international affairs? Why is he meeting with fat-cat potential donors? Why is he sucking up to Iowa?
How can you trust a man who even lies about praying?
This is just a small sampling, of course. If I run across something about him that’s honest, I’ll get back to you (don’t hold your breath).
Here’s the story
Of a boy born Hindu,
Who was causing quite a stir.
When he no longer liked his name Piyush,
Said call me Bobby, as I prefer.
Here’s the story
Of the man called Bobby,
Who got busy with a political agenda of his own,
There were elected leaders,
Yet they were all alone.
Till the one day when the gov who we called Bobby,
Knew that a run for POTUS was just a silly hunch.
But this group who chose to follow,
Would one day go down in history
forever known as the Jindal Bunch.
The Jindal Bunch,
The Jindal Bunch,
That’s the way Louisiana sold out to the Jindal Bunch.
🙂 As Tony the Tiger would say, “GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRReat!!!!!
Oh that was sooo wicked! 🙂
Jindal’s “House of Canards”.
Also, Melinda Deslatte in the Daily Comet today:
“Col. Mike Edmonson, head of the Louisiana State Police, told lawmakers today during a budget hearing that his agency spent $2.2 million on travel expenses related to Jindal’s protective detail this fiscal year.
“The spending has grown from $1.6 million when Jindal first took office in 2008, and it’s up from state police travel costs for Jindal’s two most recent predecessors, Edmonson told the House Appropriations Committee.”
Jindal’s travels around the country desperately chasing the Republican nomination for president cost the state money that isn’t in the treasury. Cut here, cut there, but, as we all know, Jindal will not entertain even one thought of cutting back on travel to spare the state the expenses of his police protection.
http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20150331/WIRE/150339897
But if it’s legitimate rape of our commonwealth, the state has ways of shutting the whole thing down, right?
Great Article. Thanks for the info. Does anyone know where I can find a blank “rita return Form” to fill out?