IS OUR GOVERNOR LEARNING?

From the Baton Rouge Advocate yesterday:

WASHINGTON — A new national poll focused on Louisiana shows Gov. Bobby Jindal with only a 37 percent approval rating and it also indicates that Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., leads several potential opponents in her 2014 re-election bid.

The poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling, of North Carolina, which conducts polls for Democrats and progressives, focused on Landrieu’s re-election chances, but also took note of Jindal, whom the firm polled at a 58 percent approval rating in 2010. The poll was not done for the Landrieu campaign.

The new poll that places Jindal at a 37 percent approval rating was conducted Friday to Tuesday by surveying 603 Louisiana voters through automated telephone interviews. Jindal had a 57 percent disapproval rating in the new poll.

From the Advocate today:

Gov. Bobby Jindal said Thursday everything is on the table as he tries to develop a plan that eliminates personal and corporate income taxes in a “revenue neutral” way.

“We don’t have a proposal yet,” Jindal said.

Jindal met briefly with local reporters following an event at the Governor’s Mansion honoring couples who had been married in excess of 70 years.

He fielded a half-dozen questions in his first availability to State Capitol reporters in about four months.  (My emphasis)

 Perhaps his low poll numbers got the governor's attention, and he decided to throw a bone to the local media and meet with them briefly and answer a few questions.

Note that Jindal's new tax plan is not yet ready.  The next regular session of the Louisiana Legislature will convene on April 8, 2013.  Will the tax plan be presented to the lawmakers at the eleventh hour and rushed through without giving the legislators time to examine the plan closely, as was the voucher bill for private schools, the financing of which has already been called into question by the State District Court?

Judge Timothy Kelley of State District Court ruled that the way in which the state finances its new voucher program violates the state Constitution, as it relies on money intended in “plain and unambiguous” terms solely for public schools.

As Jindal's minions in the legislature speeded the voucher bill through, Louisiana legislators, with few exceptions, meekly went along.  What could they do in the face of Jindal's awesomeness?  We'll see what happens to the tax plan.  When the lawmakers see the poll results for Jindal, they may begin to think for themselves when the time comes time to vote for a massive restructuring of the tax system in Louisiana.  Since the ideas of Jindal and his admirers in the legislature seem not to be firmly planted in reality, I don't see a good outcome if the tax restructuring plan, whatever it is, passes in the legislature and becomes law.