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Team Jindal exposed

At last Thursday’s State Bond Commission meeting the Jindal Administration requested lines-of-credit for capital projects. The projects receiving the credit lines were determined to be the highest priority by the Jindal Administration and the Lege.

Money will have to be borrowed via the sale of state bonds to fund the lines-of-credit.

State Treasurer John Kennedy, chairman of the commission, questioned some these “brick and mortar” projects for Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs).

What they said

Among the responses Kennedy got to his questioning of why the state’s taxpayers are funding NGOs were:

Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater, the governor’s top budget aide, said … the projects are lingering remnants of prior governors’ administrations, not new projects backed by the Jindal administration. Baton Rouge Advocate, July 22, 2011 (emphasis mine)

Senator Rob Marionneaux (who is considering running for governor this fall) added: “We’re really flushing these old projects out”…. ibid. (emphasis mine)

The facts

One of the more egregious projects questioned by Kennedy was $140,000 for a new fence in the private Kingwood (sic) Subdivision in eastern New Orleans. (Actually, the name of the subdivision is “Kingswood.”)

Despite the responses above, Governor Kathleen Blanco’s last Capital Outlay Budget (HB 2 of 2007 Regular Session) does not contain any such funding.

The first time the fence appeared in the state’s Capital Outlay Budget was during the 2008 Regular Session. It was added via an amendment in the House Ways and Means Committee.

Thus, the fence was added on Bobby Jindal’s watch. Additionally, since 2008 the fence was elevated from the Priority 2 funding category to Priority 1 by Team Jindal.

Team Jindal has been caught with its butt exposed and is now trying to cover it up.

C.B.икониПравославни икониикони на светци

1 CB 7:00 am

A public servant topping off
a taxpayer-funded meal.

Recently, there have been a lot of media accounts of politicians and government bureaucrats abusing the taxpayers with government-issued credit cards.

We’re not talking about a few hundred dollars here and there; the abuse of taxpayer-funded credit cards could be in the tens of millions of dollars statewide.

Why use credit cards?

Most, if not all, of the public servants issued credit cards make salaries of a sufficient amount that they can certainly wait a week or so to be reimbursed for expenses related to their jobs.

One of the greatest areas of credit card abuse is dining (and wining) on the taxpayers’ dime. It has become a very costly secret perk.

Whenever one of these public servants is caught charging personal expenses on public credit cards, they claim they “accidentally used the wrong card.” Eliminating government credit cards prevent these public servants from “accidentally” using the wrong card.

Lavish meals

According to the media reports, the standard fare at many of these taxpayer-funded meals seems to be steak and/or lobster with lots of side dishes. Brain food I suppose.

There are also a lot of “adult beverages” consumed at these “meetings.” According to the LA Attorney General such beverages cannot be legally paid for with taxpayers’ money, but often are, “accidentally” of course.

Considering the prevalence of these lavish meals there is little wonder our state ranks as one of the most obese states.

Constituent service

Some of these credit card toting public servants say they need to meet with constituents and at lunch is the only time that part-time, elected, officials have available.

It makes one wonder what their taxpayer-paid land-line and cell phones are used for, but I digress.

Regardless, most likely the constituent asked for the meeting. Surely, the constituent doesn’t expect the taxpayers to pay for the meal.

Never eat alone

Public servants never seem to eat alone. It seems whenever it is mealtime and a constituent hasn’t asked to meet with them, public servants dine with another public servant and call it a “business meeting.”

One of the pubic servants pays the tab with OUR credit card that time and the other the next time. In the future “Go Dutch” with your OWN money.

Action needed

Ask these questions when someone asks for your vote in this fall’s elections:

A. For incumbents:

Do you have a taxpayer-funded credit card?
If yes, considering the current financial conditions, will you give it up if reelected?
If no, will you make the charges on the credit card available to the public on a monthly basis?

B. For challengers:

Who pays for your meals each day?
If elected will you pay for your own meals?
If elected will you refuse to take a taxpayer-funded credit card?
If no, will you make the charges on the credit card available to the public on a monthly basis?

Help a politician lose weight; take their credit card away.

C.B.

1 CB 7:00 am

At least I’m consistent.

The only thing consistent about the policies of the “Roads Scholar” is his lack of consistency.

Several people have contacted me about Jindal’s signing of a bill which expands legalized gambling in Louisiana. ( HB 420)

It’s not a new form of gambling, but merely allows for the expansion of gambling. The bill allows the practice of account gambling to expand from the horse track in New Orleans to all horse tracks in the state.

A few years ago, Jindal opposed opening more horse track casinos (“racinos”) because it was an expansion of gambling.

Racinos already existed in Louisiana so it was not a new form of gambling, but was an expansion of gambling.

The concept of “expansion of gambling” to Jindal is sort of like the politician who said it depends on what your definition of “is” is.

If Jindal had not signed this bill, it would have been inconsistent with his history of consistent inconsistencies.

C.B.

1 CB 8:00 am