Jindal looks to 2012

From CBS:

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a potential 2012 GOP presidential candidate, has suggested his state may not be interested in all of the roughly $4 billion allotted to it in the economic stimulus package to be signed by President Obama today.

"We'll have to review each program, each new dollar to make sure that we understand what are the conditions, what are the strings and see whether it's beneficial for Louisiana to use those dollars," Jindal said, according to CBS affiliate WWLTV.

Jindal is scheduled to give the response to the president’s not-exactly-a-state-of-the-union address next Tuesday.

Louisiana reportedly faces a possible $2 billion budget shortfall next year. It has been allocated $538,575,876 for infrastructure spending in the stimulus package, and the White House predicts the bill will create 50,000 jobs in the state.

Governor Jindal is doing the right thing politically for a man who is looking toward a possible 2012 or 2016 presidential run but the right thing for the state of Louisiana (funny isn't it how what is good for Republicans is generally good for the country while the opposite is usually true for Democrats).

The "strings" which will come attached to this money will have the effect of rendering state governments more powerless and concentrating more power in Washington. States which wish to retain whatever sovereignty they have left after over a hundred years of power grabs by Washington should say "no thanks" to any "gifts" from D.C. especially as long as this administration is in power.

In order to be "fair and balanced" CBS decided to balance the wisdom from Mr. Jindal, who is intelligent courageous and a true leader, with a statement from someone who is the governor's polar opposite:

As WWLTV notes, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has said he’ll take any money that Louisiana turns down.

I simply remind everyone of the calm and competent way that Governor Jindal dealt with the first hurricane to threaten Louisiana during his administration with the panic and incompetence which were the best that Nagin could do in the face of Katrina (remember also Nagin's massive sense of entitlement as he went about whining that someone should come in and do his job for him).

But back to our discussion of an actual man.

Gov. Jindal is taking advantage of not only the unity of Republicans in opposition to the massive and misnamed "stimulus bill" but of the fact that a majority of independents and a large minority of Democrats also oppose the legislation.

If Governor Palin of Alaska wishes to capitalise on her popularity with a 2012 run of her own she needs to climb on board and reject Obama's Trojan horse. She should point out that developing Alaska's oil reserves would provide ample tax revenue for the state and provide thousands of jobs, as well as moving America toward energy independecne, if she were only allowed to proceed with plans to extract the oil in an environementally safe way.

The GOP lacks the power in the federal legislature to stop any of the left's destructive programs however every legislative battle which is fought represents a teachable moment for the public. Republican governors like Palin and Jindal represent the "bench" from which Republicans should draw their next presidential candidate (please G-d, no more Senators!). Those governors who have White House ambitions need to take the lead in explaining to the public why the left's program is bad for the nation.

It really is an ill wind that blows no good. Carter gave us Reagan and Clinton gave us a Republican legislature. Obama may well give us a House and Senate under control of not just the GOP but the conservative wing of the GOP after 2010 and Palin/Jindal or Jindal/Palin in the White House in 2012.