By James D. Kirylo
Guest Columnist
Governor Jindal recently appeared on Meet the Press. The host Chuck Todd peppered the Governor with a variety of questions, asking why he didn’t expand Medicaid, being that it would be helpful for the 200,000 uninsured people in the state (although the number is likely more toward the 750,000 range).
Todd also reminded the Governor how Louisiana nearly has a billion dollar hole in our budget; how at every midyear review, our deficit has grown; how the big tax cut at the beginning of the governor’s term has not been followed by revenue; and that a majority in Louisiana disapprove of his job as governor.
Governor Jindal predictably deflected much of what Todd said, and stated at the onset that he doesn’t care about the poll numbers and never has. He also proudly mentioned that he’s cut our state budget 26 percent, cut the number of state employees 34 percent, and declared how not spending on Medicaid is another dollar we don’t have to borrow from China, and that we shouldn’t waste those federal tax dollars.
Furthermore, the Governor asserted how we’ve actually improved healthcare access and outcomes here in our state. Citing an example—how it used to take ten days to get a prescription filled—now one can get it done in ten minutes. Finally, the Governor also touted his so-called school choice program, and concluded that he has balanced the budget every single year without running deficits, and without raising taxes.
As I watched Meet the Press, listening to the least transparent governor in the nation, I was amazed, though not surprised, by what the Governor did not mention, some of which I will, therefore, do here. First, when the Governor says he does not care that the majority of Louisianans disapprove of his job as governor, it obviously means he doesn’t care what I think, what state workers think, and what the hundreds and thousands of us who have been greatly harmed by his policies think. It is obvious there is only one person the Governor cares about.
Of course, he didn’t mention that when he talks about how he has sliced and diced the state budget, it has resulted in the near decimation of higher education. Indeed, universities have been cut 80% in the last several years, tuition has exponentially risen, and the LA Grad Act is simply a devious scheme that fosters a system that unduly taxes students in order to fund higher education. In a poor state like ours, this is simply a formula that further widens the opportunity gap, and further widens the gap between the proverbial “haves” and “have-nots.”
He also didn’t mention that numerous underpaid university people have endured near poverty wages, have endured furloughs, have had no cost of living allowances now inching toward the ten year mark, that numerous individuals can’t afford health care, that top flight faculty have left the state, that public school teachers have been blamed for everything that ails our state, that Louisiana has the nation’s fourth highest high school dropout rate, that our high school graduation rate ranks 45th in the nation, that we have one of the highest childhood poverty rates in the country, and that we have the highest incarceration rate in the country, if not the world.
Of course, he didn’t mention that Louisiana ranks 50th among the states in overall health, and that we lead the nation in the highest infant mortality rate, the highest diabetes-related death rate, and the highest rate of death from breast cancer, and third-highest rate of cancer deaths overall.
And of course, he wouldn’t mention that according to a Washington Post report a short while back, the state of Louisiana is expecting a $1.2 billion budget shortfall next year, which has now risen to 1.4 billion. And this is despite the Jindal administration hiring a New York-based consulting firm for $7.3 million to find ways to generate and save revenue. Finally, he didn’t mention what can be characterized as the Office of Group Benefits (OGB) scandal, where many are asking about the half of the $500 million dollars that was in the OGB reserve fund, but is now gone.
It should be no surprise critics are calling Jindal’s handling of the budget his blind-spot. But that is not his only blind spot. The other one is that he is blind to the fact that he has hurt the lives of so many hard-working Louisianans. And the irony of ironies when the Governor concluded his visit with Meet the Press, he stated that the American Dream was in jeopardy and that should he run for president, he would focus on restoring that dream.
It was then I turned off my television set, had to shake my head, and grabbed my dictionary to double-check the definition of delusional.
James D. Kirylo is an education professor, a former state teacher of the year, and his most recent book is titled A Critical Pedagogy of Resistance. He can be reached at jkirylo@yahoo.com
Louisiana Voice 
Thank u, James.
I am hoping you submitted your eloquent, factual respose to every major newspaper in La.! Thank you!!
Yes, spread this info around!
I agree. It I would be great if Meet The Press would read your letter as a rebuttal to Jindal’s appearance!
When you looked up delusional, did you find Jindal’s picture next to the definition? Or maybe his mug, with that fake smile of his that is one for the ages, was pictured next to the definition of heartless…
I wonder if Tim Russert, RIP, could have been more assertive on MTP. Jindal is one slick sucker. You can’t really have a dialogue with him because he spouts off his talking points at breakneck speed. You get the feeling that he has stood in front of a mirror and practiced his spiel and simply unrolls it verbatim when he is asked a question that remotely touches on a given topic. But maybe that approach comes with the territory when you are delusional.
Jindal wouldn’t have dared accept the invitation to appear on MTP had Tim Russert been alive to issue it.
I’d like to have seen Jindal with Lawrence Spivak across the table. Spivak would have ripped Jindal and his lies to shreds. Yes, I am old.
Can’t believe he said that with a straight face.
Now, Fredster, I think you are missing the absolute truthfulness in the quote you mentioned. He cares nothing for the state workers, the university workers, the teachers, and the rank and file people in Louisiana. We have known that for some time, but he admits it with his statement about not caring about poll numbers, and in turn the truth. Since we have eliminated most of the people in Louisiana, at least, who might have some skin in the American Dream, let’s look at who is left. When he says the American Dream is in jeopardy, he is talking about his personal American Dream. I believe he will spend the rest of his life trying to better his place in the world at the expense of everyone else and wondering where he went wrong. To say that should he run for president, he will focus on restoring THE (read HIS) American Dream is probably one of the most honest and transparent things he has ever said. He is looking more like the small time snake oil salesman that he is, right here in River City. Or wherever he is tonight. At this point we are better off with him out of state. Well written, Mr. Kirylo!
What a great article. I cannot find the words to tell you how just seeing him much less hearing his voice turns my stomach.
I listened to him on meet the press as long as I could stand his bull .
What truly baffles me is how we continue to let this low life go without answering to us.
Outstanding column and ditto the comments.
The only way a reporter (or anybody else) can win one-on-one with Governor Jindal is to hit him with a rapid-fire, but long, recitation of his failings. Had Chuck Todd simply listed the state’s rankings on a whole range of factors, as Kirylo has done here, he would at least have approached equaling Jindal’s air time – extremely important with anybody who attempts to totally dominate the interview as Governor Jindal did and effective whether his response was b. s. or not. So far no reporter here or elsewhere has attempted this – and Jindal is not the only public figure on whom such a strategy should be used.
I think you’re right. An interviewer would then be deemed as unfair, bullying, etc., but it would be worth it.
Regarding Stephen Winham’s advice, shall we begin to challenge Jindal to appear opposite Rachel Maddow? Given 15 minutes to prepare, she will out think, out speak (including speed of delivery), and more logically present her arguments than Jindal could ever dream of doing. He will have met his match.
Great point, John and a probable reason we’ve not seen him opposite her. Another might be she doesn’t take him seriously enough to invite him.
Rachel Maddow could eat his lunch. You hear that, Bobby, I mean Piyush? She is of the same intellectual caliber, even superior to him in verbal skills, plus she would have the truth on her side, which would put the little feller at a huge disadvantage. Hell, Jindal is afraid to even go on WWL radio and face their softball questions, because his schtick works only with an audience that is unfamiliar with his disastrous performance as governor.
This article needs to go to every national newspaper so the entire nation knows about this character before the next election. It needs to be said again and again so folks won’t forget when it comes time to vote.
AMEN!!!
Thank you, James. Very well said, but what a depressing read.
I seem to recall that in the middle of the years, when Jindal had a hiring freeze and wage freeze, the Treasurer said that Jindal has managed to lower staffing by a quarter (or third) and still increased the payrolls. This was obviously due to the massive numbers of solid gold cronies he bought himself.
Just when I think it can’t get worse…