From the News Star in Monroe, Louisiana:
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal brought most of his Cabinet here Monday afternoon to offer moral and tangible support to a group of 500 desperate Pilgrim's Pride contract growers and employees whose livelihoods are at risk following the company's decision to idle its northeastern Louisiana and southern Arkansas operations.
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Pilgrim's Pride announced its decision on Friday, saying it will eliminate 1,300 jobs in Union and the surrounding parishes and 800 jobs in El Dorado, Ark., within 75 days. Almost 300 independent growers will also likely be ruined by the closures.
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Jindal said that the state would apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance from the federal government, which would expand unemployment benefits to employees and provide benefits to growers who aren't eligible for unemployment benefits. The state was recently granted Trade Adjustment Assistance for International Paper workers who lost their jobs when IP closed its Bastrop paper mill late last year.
From Politico just a couple of weeks ago:
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announced Friday that he will decline stimulus money specifically targeted at expanding state unemployment insurance coverage, becoming the first state executive to officially refuse any part of the federal government’s payout to states.
Different federal money? Not stimulus money? Still federal money. Still running up the deficit. What's the deal, Guv?
And the latest in the saga of Governor Jindal's wide-ranging travels from the Times-Picayune:
Gov. Bobby Jindal's string of out-of-state fundraising visits continues this week with a California trip that will include four stops to raise money for his 2011 re-election campaign.
Jindal traveled to Malibu, Calif., for a Tuesday evening fundraiser in a private residence, according to the governor's press office. Today, the governor is scheduled to raise money in San Diego, Fairfield and Palo Alto before heading back to Baton Rouge.
Since the start of the year the governor has visited Mississippi, Arkansas, North Carolina and Florida to meet donors and raise campaign cash. Jindal raised $3.5 million in 2008 for his 2011 campaign despite having no challengers in sight.
Some might say that Governor Jindal should spend a tad, just a tad, more time minding the store in the state which elected him governor.
When I saw a Republican had been elected governor of this state, I was totally, incredibly, stunned. Then I remembered an article I read about LA (state of my birth) that said northern LA was much more Baptist than the southern, more Cajun part of the state. The Republicans did not experience Katrina, I guess.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is what happens when Republicans rule. People starve.
Laurelew, north and south Louisiana are not just like two different states, they're like two different countries.
ReplyDeleteAlso, New Orleans, which usually voted Democratic, lost population after Katrina. The result was Jindal.