Bobby Jindal's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

As Advocate capitol bureau chief Mark Ballard describes it here, last Thursday was a "new low" for Governor Bobby Jindal.

It's already been the subject of an EdLog entry, but Ballard's Sunday column deserves its own mention. It's not a stretch to say that the governor was spanked by his predecessors in a manner that few have experienced.

The columnist echoes complaints by the Public Affairs Research Council and others to the effect that Jindal needs to do more than just cut budgets in this time of fiscal crisis. He needs to produce a plan with a road map out of this wilderness. So far, that has not happened.

As PAR put it, “Slashing revenues without presenting specific proposals for cost-cutting … merely masquerades as a way to streamline government.”

Or as former Governor Kathleen Blanco said at Thursday's press conference:

“It’s the same thing as when a family member loses a job, and the family gathers
together and looks at the available dollars and you prioritize. You say, ‘The
No. 1 thing that we have to protect is our house. We have to have a place to
live.’ And I think higher education is our house, and that’s why you have to
protect it.”