What will Gov. Bobby Jindal say when he appears on Meet the Press Sunday?
Of course we know he will attack President Obama and the Affordable Care Act, aka ObamaCare while ignoring the fact that his decision not to expand Medicaid may end up costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars. That’s a given.
At the same time he is criticizing Obama for not being more proactive on the Ebola crisis, he will fail to mention his rejection of the Medicaid expansion has been at the expense of health coverage for a couple hundred thousand low-income Louisianans.
He will condemn the president for his lax immigration policy while turning a blind eye to the indisputable fact that Latin Americans who do enter this country generally take low-paying jobs no one else wants. He won’t mention companies like IBM, Dell, ACS, and Pfizer, to name but a few, that have taken advantage of an obscure work visa (the H-1B program) to lay off more than 250,000 Americans from high-tech IT jobs. These companies lay Americans off in favor of importing hundreds of thousands of Indians who work for far less, thus saving these companies billions of dollars.
He will no doubt boast of his accomplishments as governor—claims that simply will not stand up under close examination—apparently pulled off by remote control. This is especially the case during his second term when his title would more accurately be governor in absentia. He has spent an inordinate amount of time traveling outside the state in an attempt to build support for a anemic campaign for the GOP presidential nomination that, despite his near-desperate efforts, is gaining no traction.
He could lambast the Common Core curriculum, once again ignoring that fact that he was in favor of Common Core before he was against it.
There are so many other things he could discuss but probably won’t.
He won’t mention, for instance, his abysmal record in the state’s courtrooms. One of these was his miserably failed effort to jerk retirement benefits from under the feet of active state employees, some of whom would have seen their retirement income plummet to as little as $6,000 a year—with no social security—had he been successful.
He will attempt once again to convince the nation—those of us in Louisiana know better, of course—that he has balanced the state budget while cutting taxes and reducing the number of state employees.
Yes, he has reduced the number of state employees, but at what cost? The Office of Group Benefits (OGB) is a shell of the once smooth-running state office that handled the medical claims of some 230,000 state employees, retirees and dependents. Not that that matters to Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols who, we are told, is a member of the LSU health plan and thus unaffected by the changes.
And of course Jindal, through his smoke and mirrors game of premium reductions, has managed to siphon off more than half of OGB’s $500 million reserve fund. He also recently attempted to slash benefits and pile unaffordable co-pay and deductible increases onto the backs of state employees and retirees. In short, his grand scheme to privatize OGB has proven nothing less than an unmitigated disaster of politically humiliating (to him) proportions. His firing of respected CEO Tommy Teague and the mess that has ensued stand as a monument to unparalleled mismanagement and political meddling.
And his budget balancing has produced unprecedented cuts to higher education. Colleges and universities in Louisiana have seen their appropriations gouged by nearly 70 percent during Jindal’s almost seven sorry years in office. God help us if he should somehow be placed in the position of inflicting such carnage on the nation as he has on Louisiana.
And what of that claim of balancing the budget, anyway?
Let’s review.
We will take figures provided to us by State Treasurer John Kennedy that reflect the general fund balances as of Oct. 31. And while we are quick to acknowledge the fact that the numbers will certainly improve next spring when revenues start picking up from state income tax and corporate tax collections, a comparison of the last five Octobers is both startling and sobering.
As of Oct. 31 of this year, the general fund balance reflected a deficit of $924.6 million. That’s just $75.4 million shy of $1 billion—and OGB alone is losing $16 million each month.
And yes, the numbers will improve next spring but let’s look back just one year. As of Oct. 31, 2013, the balance reflected a deficit of $656.7 million. That’s nearly $268 million less in negative spending than for this year.
Still not convinced? Well, for Oct. 31, 2012, the deficit was $476.6 million, about $448 million less than for the same month in 2014.
And while it was slightly higher at $565.2 million on Oct. 31, 2011, the number for 2010 was only $181.5 million—almost three-quarters of a billion dollars billion better than this year.
In five short years, the October deficit for the state general fund balance has increased fivefold.
The historically high negative balance, which arrives just a few months into each new fiscal year (which begins on July 1), “is forcing fund borrowing to sustain cash flow,” Kennedy says. “It darkly foreshadows the challenge ahead for lawmakers and the governor in the 2015 regular session. A budget shortfall of at least $1.2 billion is expected, but it’s clearly a figure that could move. It also increases the likelihood of midyear budget cuts in the minds of some.” (The administration finally admitted this even as this post was being written on Friday. Spending for the next seven months will have to be slashed by at least $171 million because of lower than anticipated revenues.) http://theadvocate.com/news/10833948-123/state-needs-mid-year-budget-correction
And here is the rub that has Kennedy and Nichols crossing swords: Kennedy says to some lawmakers, “the negative balance is at a critical high because the state started the fiscal year with a deficit cash balance of $141 million and because expenses actually are greater than revenues,” Kennedy said.
Nichols, however, vehemently disagrees, claiming instead that the administration stumbled upon some $320 million in extra cash from prior years lying around in agencies scattered across the state which she claims gives the state an actual surplus of nearly $179 million.
The problem she has, however, is that no one believes her—including two former commissioners of administration interviewed by LouisianaVoice, both of whom say it’s just not feasible that that much money could have been just lying around all these years without anyone’s knowing of its existence.
Nichols, of course, has to maintain a brave face in order that her boss can save face.
You see, as Bob Mann points out in his latest posting on his blog Something Like the Truth, Jindal “must never have raised a tax” and “must never have presided over an unbalanced state budget” if he wishes to cling to any fading hopes of the GOP presidential nomination.
“All your advantages—your personality, your policy credentials, the importance of your state in Electoral College politics—won’t help you much if you don’t meet these basic qualifications,” Mann said. http://bobmannblog.com/
“Jindal knows Republican audiences in Iowa and elsewhere will pay him little mind if they learn about his fiscal recklessness,” he said. “So, he and Nichols tried to cover their tracks, including dishonestly blaming their budget deficit on state Treasurer John Kennedy.”
Jindal, of course, won’t address any of these issues. But were he of a mind to do so, he could even discuss on his Meet the Press appearance how he tried to frame Murphy Painter, former director of the Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control after Painter refused to knuckle under to demands that he look the other way on behalf of New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson over Budweiser’s application for an alcohol permit at Champion’s Square. He could tell how that effort backfired and the state was forced to pay Painter’s legal bills of some $300,000. But he probably won’t
He could discuss how he attempted unsuccessfully to circumvent state law and obtain a hefty $55,000 per year increase in pension benefits for his state police commander. But most likely, he won’t.
And he could disclose how much it has cost Louisiana taxpayers in terms of payroll, meals and lodging for state police security as he jets around the country in pursuit of his presidential aspirations. But don’t expect him to.
Yes, Jindal could discuss these and other matters during Sunday’s program, but he won’t.
The simple fact is, by virtue of his bottom-feeding position as the anchor in the GOP nominee sweepstakes, he just can’t afford to.
And saddest of all, no one on the program’s panel is likely to inquire about these issues.
Louisiana Voice 
Why not encourage your followers to bombard @MeetthePress with questions to confront Jindal with?!
You just did. Thanks.
We may find MTP suddenly has to relay that “an unexpected development came up requiring Gov. Jindal’s immediate attention, so we have _________________ as our guest for this morning’s program in Gov.. Jindal’s absence.” If they do get the email and ask him about any of this, he’ll begin by saying it’s not from a credible MSM source and that he won’t dignify it with a response. Either arrogance or pompous should be Jindal’s middle name.
I wonder what Jindal will have to say about his $250 million BP oil spill containment sand pile? How’s that working out for you Bobby?
Since he is not on anybody’s radar as a serious contender for POTUS, one has to wonder why he is even asked to appear on this program. Could it be they believe his extremist views are entertaining or engaging? If so, it says a lot about the sad state of this once most prestigious Sunday news information program.
this once most prestigious Sunday news information program
Yep MTP has definitely gone downhill and I don’t see Chuck Todd doing much to make it any better.
Here’s a thought: Maybe Chuck is inviting lil booby on there to get his opinion on the frontrunners in the race for the GOP nomination! That would be funny: ignore his own delusional chances but ask him about, oh say, Christie, Rubio, Jeb Bush and the rest! 😆
I would LOVE for this to happen, Fredster! It would be payback for when Sen Claitor was brought in at the start of Jindal’s second term and “interviewed” for the Senate Presidency. They just asked, “Whom do you think we should select?” Sen. Claitor responded, “Well I was hoping me. That’s kind of why I’m here.” Could Jindal have possibly have made a bigger insult to Sen. Claitor? Of course, we all know he chose Alario, and I’m sure that was because he was told Alario could help ram his initiatives through the legislature. Judging by some of the cronyism Tom uncovered during the Edmonson investigation entailing Alario family members obtaining “jobs” at LSP, http://www.lspripoff.com/act14.htm, it appears Alario extracted a nice price for his ramming talents.
Robert, it would just be too funny and I’m sure lil booby’s reaction would go viral. And, I didn’t know that about Claitor. Now *that* is funny!
Tom,
Perhaps we should send a copy of the enclosed Louisiana Voice email to Meet The Press staff. I would love to see him squirm his way out of that. I can understand if you do not want to or feel that you should not but I do not have qualms about doing it. Please keep up the good work. I am sorry that I am not financially able to help your efforts at this time. My husband and I are retired state employees and we are helping to support our two grandchildren and things for us are a little tight financially. We TRULY enjoy reading your articles and hope that you will continue to send them. If it were not for you, we the people would not know what is going on behind closed doors. Take care Tom and let me know if you want me to send your email on.
Rita Adams
First of all, please do not feel bad about not being able to contribute. The very reason I don’t charge a subscription fee is so that everyone may have access to LouisianaVoice regardless of financial status.
Second, of course you may send my post to MTP. I have no qualms about it being used for that purpose.
I sure hope Chuck Todd and his staff do their homework. This is a golden opportunity to nail this sucker with some hard facts. I have this sinking feeling it won’t happen, though. Jindal is slick. He’s not called a snake oil salesman for nothing. He’ll talk fast and throw numbers out, and to a national audience unfamiliar with him, he might even appear reasonable. But, please, please, please, Chuck, rise to the occasion! Don’t let him get away with it. At least ask Jindal why he is scared to death of Louisiana media. There are so many facts working against Jindal that a well-prepared interviewer willing to play hardball could land some body blows. Let it be you, Chuck.
Chuckie is not really good at doing his homework. Either that, or he doesn’t use what he finds when he talks to his guests. Still, it would be fun to bombard him with emails suggesting questions to ask Jindal and see what happens.
Just sent this article to Meet The Press.
Do as others have suggested, have Chuck do his homework and lambast Jindal with questions that Jindal has no clue on how to answer and in his mind he’s thinking WTF!!!
Another thing he won’t talk about is the 17% to 26.5% special “tax” he has levied on state workers by withholding the raises for 4 to 6 years that are part of their compensation package. If the average state worker makes $40,000, then that is a $6,800 to $10,700 annual tax in addition to the regular state income tax.
This punishing tax is so he could give away billions to corporations who don’t deliver the jobs they promised. So many billions given away and so little in jobs and other taxable activities created that he can’t balance the budget anymore. Another example of his fiscal incompetence and putting ideology and personal ambition over reality.
He might brag about his ethics reforms and transparency in government, but he won’t talk about his non compliance with public information requests. And he won’t talk about the ethics of corporations selling billions of Louisiana gas without any compensation to the state.
touché. There so very many things and we’re so limited in space here. But not to worry; there will be plenty of space in the book.
I have sent this article to Meet the Press host Chuck Todd and requested that he read it in preparation for his interview with Jindal. I hope that many others will do the same! MTP needs to be bombarded with the same request!
I did the same. Be civil when you write, as Chuck seems to get hurt feelings rather easily. Here’s the address: Chuck.Todd@nbcuni.com
I did, too, and I was (I think) civil. He probably already has a set agenda for the program tomorrow from which he is not likely to deviate, but we can always hope he and others in the national media will consider at least looking beyond the rhetoric to Governor Jindal’s actual record.
Jindal, and all of the other hopefuls, agree in advance of what lies they can tell.You are right, it will be how the Repuglicans can now take credit for the invention of the wheel, preparation H, and air conditioning .ron thompson
Despite a half-hearted attempt to address the budget problem, Todd allowed Governor Jindal to roll over him with his rhetoric and come out unscathed. Sad, but not surprising.
Here’s a transcript of the interview. I thought Todd grilled him pretty well…
CHUCK TODD:
And now joining me since the Affordable Care Act was implemented, 23 states have not expanded Medicaid to help cover low-income individuals, leaving 3.8 million in a so-called coverage gap where their income is above Medicaid eligibility limits, but below the threshold for marketplace premium tax credit. Why does it matter? Let me show you an example in two states.
Arkansas did expand Medicaid coverage. They saw their uninsured rate decrease by 46%. Next door in Louisiana, which did not expand Medicaid coverage, the uninsured rate was only reduced by 15%. So to talk about this and some other things, I’m joined now by the governor of Louisiana, Republican Bobby Jindal. Governor, welcome back to Meet the Press.
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL:
Chuck, thank you for having me.
CHUCK TODD:
Let’s go right there to that number. You look at Arkansas, your neighbor to the north. I know you don’t want to talk about Arkansas right now.
(OVERTALK)
CHUCK TODD:
–that issue last night. But obviously, expanding Medicaid coverage, you’d have more people off of the uninsured roles in Louisiana if you did it. Why aren’t you doing it?
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL:
Chuck, look. Democrats and Republicans both want to help the vulnerable, want to help people get affordable, high-quality healthcare. Medicaid is not the right way to do it. The problem with expanding Medicaid, the problem with the Affordable Care Act, the problem with Obama Care, is that it chooses a top-down, closed approach, where the government is running your healthcare.
Medicaid’s already a program with bad healthcare outcomes. You look at the Oregon study, they showed by expanding Medicaid, there was no improvement in physical outcomes. It was a program designed to take care of the disabled, of vulnerable children. It was never designed to be there for able-bodied adults.
By expanding and creating a new entitlement when we can’t afford the ones we’ve already got, the Affordable Care Act, the president basically is doubling down on a failed approach for providing healthcare. There’s a better way to help those uninsured.
CHUCK TODD:
Here’s the thing though. It would cost your state nothing. In fact, look, you’ve got your own fiscal problems right now with the deficit issue. You’d have more money from the federal government. They’re paying for it. It’s not going to cost Louisiana taxpayers any extra state money. Why not do it while the law is enacted?
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL:
So, look, two things. Chuck, I’m glad you asked that. One of the things I love is when Democrats say, “Oh, this is free money.” This is not free money. Every dollar we don’t spend on Medicaid is another dollar we don’t have to borrow from China. This is the reason we’ve gotten nearly $18 trillion in debt.
Louisiana taxpayers are federal taxpayer. These are federal tax dollars. Why waste these tax dollars? We’ve got to stop acting in this city like all of this money is free money. Secondly, secondly, when you look at the best way to help folks, it is to decrease the cost of healthcare. I propose a detailed plan to repeal and replace Obama Care. If the president were really serious, why not give states more flexibility? Why not go to states and say–
CHUCK TODD:
But he has. I mean, you look at in Indiana. So why is, I guess, John Kasich wrong? Why is Mike Pence of Indiana wrong? Mike Pence did get the federal government to approve a much different plan. Why not negotiate with the government and do something that you want to do?
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL:
In Louisiana, if we were to expand Medicaid, it would cost my taxpayers $1.7 billion over ten years. For every uninsured person we’d cover, oh, we’d have to kick more than one person out of private insurance. Now, think about that. I know that this president likes to define success as more people dependent on the government. I would have to take over 200,000 out of private insurance and put them into Medicaid. To me, that’s a huge mistake.
CHUCK TODD:
Yeah, but you have 200,000 not insured at all, though.
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL:
Well, but no, I’m saying for every uninsured person you’re covering, you’re taking more than another person out of private insurance. In Louisiana in particular, we inherited a decades-old public hospital system, unlike other states. We’re the only state, we had ten state-operated hospitals. The private sector, public/private partnerships, we’ve actually improved healthcare access and outcomes.
For one example, it used to take ten days to get a prescription filled, now you can get it done in ten minutes. Through Bayou health, we reformed our program, we had before 5% of our adults were getting preventive care screenings, now over 80% of our– Chuck, my point is This. There are better ways to provide healthcare to the vulnerable, to the uninsured. The answer’s not for the government to be running healthcare. The answer is not to expand a failed program, a one-size-fits-all approach like Medicaid.
CHUCK TODD:
You think Medicaid’s a total failure?
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL:
No, I think Medicaid–
CHUCK TODD:
But why do you implement any of it?
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL:
I think Medicaid, when it was targeted for the disabled, for children, in Louisiana, over 95% of our children have coverage. I think that it can be improved and more flexibility. Oregon, the Harvard– now, this wasn’t a conservative study. The Harvard study showed when you expanded Medicaid after two years in Oregon, there was no improvement of physical healthcare outcomes. Simply giving people a card without giving them access to healthcare, to doctors, to hospitals doesn’t improve anything.
CHUCK TODD:
Very quickly on immigration. If the president goes through with his executive action, do you think Republicans and Capitol Hill ought to use even the power of shutting down the government to stop him from doing it?
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL:
Two things. I don’t think the president should shut down the government to try to break the Constitution. The reality is this. I do think the–
CHUCK TODD:
You think the president would be shutting down the government?
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL:
Oh, absolutely.
CHUCK TODD:
So you do want Republicans to fight him on this to the point that it could shut down the government?
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL:
Absolute– I don’t think the president should shut down the government.
CHUCK TODD:
But you’re twisting my question.
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL:
But wait, wait.
CHUCK TODD:
That means you want that kind of showdown?
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL:
Let’s step back and understand what we’re talking about. So the president said, “I want to break the law.” He purposely said I’m going to wait till after the election, because I know it’s not going to be popular to grant amnesty to millions of folks here that are here illegally. We had an election. He said his policies were on the ballot.
He lost in red states, purple states, blue states. The American people overwhelmingly rejected and rejected his policies. Now he’s saying, “I’m still going to break the law.” Talk about arrogance. This president used to say, “Elections have consequences.” We’re talking about how can the Congress force the president to follow the law?
I would expect even Democrats who may agree with him on substance, to say the right way to do this is to follow the Constitution, follow the law. No, we shouldn’t shut down the government, but absolutely Republicans should do everything they can to force the president to follow the law. Let’s secure the border. No, the president shouldn’t shut down the government so that he can break the law.
CHUCK TODD:
All right. I’m going to ask you about your own presidential ambitions. A majority in Louisiana disapprove of your job as governor. Why is that a launching pad to Iowa and New Hampshire?
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL:
Chuck, I don’t care at all about poll numbers. I never have. The reality is, I was elected in Louisiana to make generational changes. Look at what we’ve done in Louisiana. So now, we’ve cut our state budget 26%, cut the number of state employees 34%.
We’ve got the best private-sector economy in a generation. Our economy has grown twice as fast as the national economy. More people working than ever before at a higher income than ever before. We transformed the charity house. That’s, like, the third rail in Louisiana politics.
Statewide school of choice, so our children have the opportunity to get a great education. If I were to run, and I haven’t made that decision, if I were to run for president, it’s because I believe in our country. The American dream is at jeopardy. This president has defined the American dream as more dependence on the government. We need to restore the American dream. So it’s more about opportunity and growth and not redistribution.
CHUCK TODD:
But very quickly, one part of your record, you now have nearly a billion dollar hole in your budget. Every midyear review, your deficit has grown. You did a big tax cut at the beginning of your term as governor. Revenues haven’t followed.
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL:
That’s not actually true, Chuck. The billion dollars is if you assume we grow government next year. Our budget’s been balanced every year. We’ve never raised taxes. I’ve had eight credit upgrades in three of the major credit rating agencies. Best credit ratings in decades in our state. We’ve actually balanced our budget every single year without running deficits, without raising taxes.
CHUCK TODD:
Well, you constitutionally have to balance your budget.
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL:
And we need to do that in D.C. as well. But my point is, we’ve actually made the tough choices. Unlike D.C., we cut our spending $9 billion. I’m not talking about cutting growth. We cut our budget by $9 billion. So we’ve actually balanced our budget and we’ve done it by growing the private sector.
We’ve got, right now in Louisiana, we’ve got more than 80,000 jobs, more than $50 billion in private investment coming into our state. We actually, our economy’s doing so well, when I was elected, our worry was we were losing our sons and daughters. Today, our biggest challenge is filling all these great jobs.
CHUCK TODD:
Governor Bobby Jindal, I will have to leave it there. You’re going to decide when, by the 1st of the year?
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL:
First half of next year. We are praying about this. But bottom line is let’s restore the American dream for our children and grandchildren.
CHUCK TODD:
Governor, thanks for coming back to Meet the Press.
I agree he made the attempt, but Governor Jindal’s replies to key questions were unresponsive repeats of his campaign rhetoric. Also, the written transcript gives equal weight to Todd’s questions and Jindal’s answers. In the live interview, Governor Jindal rolled over Todd as if some questions were never actually asked.
Chuck Todd did fairly well, I thought, considering that Jindal is one slick sucker. But slickness comes with the territory when you are a snake oil salesman. Jindal talks so fast and throws such much out there that it is really hard to have a dialogue with him, which is what Jindal wants, of course. The consolation is knowing that Jindal ain’t going nowhere, that’s for sure. His political career is dead, it just hasn’t keeled over yet.
Thank you, Scott Zentner, for posting the transcript from Meet the Press. I am deployed and couldn’t see the actual show although I will make my best attempt to find it on youtube so I can get the ‘fullness’ of the interview. I have a feeling that I already know how it will play out.
I read the transcript, and I agree Chuck tried. Is the video available online? The very first time I heard Jindal give a speech was a long time ago when he was still in the US House, and I pegged him for a fast-talking flim-flam man at the time. I was part of a very small minority of those present, as most folks thought he was great, which mystified me then and mystifies me now.
HE LIED.
HE LIED.
YES, AGAIN, HE LIED.
He has so much to pray about other than running for President!
He needs to pray that Greenstein keeps his mouth shut.
I couldn’t bear to watch or listen; thanks for posting the transcript. Mr. “I don’t care about poll numbers”‘s disdain for the people of this state came through loud and clear.