Bobby Jindal: One of the worst governors in the US

[General Zod]

So much for that Presidential bid?

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a liberal watchdog group that says its purpose is to "promote ethics and accountability in government and public life" has named Louisiana's Bobby Jindal as one of "America's Worst Governors."

A spokesman for Jindal questioned the basis for the rating.

"It appears the folks who put this together aren't paying attention," Kyle Plotkin said. "The Associated Press just announced Louisiana ranks first in the nation for economic improvements from January to February, and we have made economic announcements totaling more than 35,000 new jobs and $4.6 billion in new capital investment since taking office. We also passed transformational ethics reforms rocketing our state to the top of the CPI's index for legislative disclosure, and for two years in a row we have passed bills supported by the Louisiana Press Association to open up more public records. This is a clear record of success in moving Louisiana forward."

CREW said it "reviewed the job performance of all 50 of our nation's governors to determine which are the worst. We considered whether governors had violated ethics, campaign finance and personal financial disclosure rules as well as whether they had complied with state transparency laws. It is nearly impossible to compare governors' adherence to the laws because state rules and laws vary so widely. Each state has its own ethical rules and standards. Requirements regarding disclosure of campaign contributions and expenditures and personal finances differ significantly as do state open records laws. Some states make much more information publicly available than others.

"Despite these difficulties, CREW was been able to reach some general conclusions about which governors violated agreed upon notions of competence, transparency and integrity."

The 11 governors on the list include nine Republicans and two Democrats:

* Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS)
* Gov. Donald Carcieri (R-RI)
* Gov. Jim Gibbons (R-NV)
* Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA)
* Gov. David Paterson (D-NY)
* Gov. Sonny Perdue (R-GA)
* Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX)
* Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM)
* Gov. Mike Rounds (R-SD)
* Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC)
* Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA)

[Mr. Coffee]

This just in, Louisiana politicians (and southern politicians in general) are crookeder than a lightening strike. In science news, CERN just announced stunning research suggesting that water is wet. And now for sports with Bart Rockman...

[Losonti Tokash]

They list Schwarzenegger, a person who's pretty well regarded on both sides, and fail to mention Corzine? Interesting.

[MKSheppard]

Aw; I'm sad that Maryland didn't make the cut.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

Schwarzenegger's popularity is in the toilet right now, but that's more due to the economy than anything. I certainly wouldn't put him on a worst list.

[The Kernel]

Schwarzenegger's popularity is in the toilet right now, but that's more due to the economy than anything. I certainly wouldn't put him on a worst list.

I would, he has failed to address the budget issue or the prison spending problem and he has allowed the California school system to fall apart on his watch.

Now granted, he isn't the cause of any of these problems (which have been building for years) and there is only so much he can realistically do but he is the governor and like it or not, he is expected to fix these problems as that is what he was elected to do.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

His special election items would have seriously alleviated all of the problems you mentioned, but the idiot voters bought the advertising blitz from the teachers' and other unions hook, line, and sinker and killed all of the items. You can't blame him for being sabotaged by short sighted, entitlement minded unions with hundreds of millions of dollars to blow on attack ads and a voter base that still thinks you can magically pay for all the spending the Union's largest state needs without raising it through taxes. I certainly don't agree with the man on everything, but I don't see how anyone could have succeeded where he failed. The state's political system is just fundamentally broken in a way that can't ever be fixed without it literally going broke and being forced to default on its obligations.

[The Kernel]

His special election items would have seriously alleviated all of the problems you mentioned, but the idiot voters bought the advertising blitz from the teachers' and other unions hook, line, and sinker and killed all of the items. You can't blame him for being sabotaged by short sighted, entitlement minded unions with hundreds of millions of dollars to blow on attack ads and a voter base that still thinks you can magically pay for all the spending the Union's largest state needs without raising it through taxes. I certainly don't agree with the man on everything, but I don't see how anyone could have succeeded where he failed. The state's political system is just fundamentally broken in a way that can't ever be fixed without it literally going broke and being forced to default on its obligations.

Yes I can (and will) blame him for those things. You are right in everything you say, but it is up to him to sell these things to the voters despite all that. The fact that it's a tough job is not an excuse.

Besides, after his election he had plenty of popularity and political capital to get this stuff done, but he chose to spend it on other (granted pretty good) things rather than try and deal with the looming fiscal crisis and fixing California's broken political system.

[Alyeska]

His special election items would have seriously alleviated all of the problems you mentioned, but the idiot voters bought the advertising blitz from the teachers' and other unions hook, line, and sinker and killed all of the items. You can't blame him for being sabotaged by short sighted, entitlement minded unions with hundreds of millions of dollars to blow on attack ads and a voter base that still thinks you can magically pay for all the spending the Union's largest state needs without raising it through taxes. I certainly don't agree with the man on everything, but I don't see how anyone could have succeeded where he failed. The state's political system is just fundamentally broken in a way that can't ever be fixed without it literally going broke and being forced to default on its obligations.

Yes I can (and will) blame him for those things. You are right in everything you say, but it is up to him to sell these things to the voters despite all that. The fact that it's a tough job is not an excuse.

Besides, after his election he had plenty of popularity and political capital to get this stuff done, but he chose to spend it on other (granted pretty good) things rather than try and deal with the looming fiscal crisis and fixing California's broken political system.

Your a fucking idiot. He did everything that was within his power. He cannot reform half of the states budget because of the idiotic state initiative process. And when he is does everything he can to try and fix the problem but gets out spent by special interests, you still blame him.

[Uraniun235]

Yes I can (and will) blame him for those things. You are right in everything you say, but it is up to him to sell these things to the voters despite all that. The fact that it's a tough job is not an excuse.

You don't believe in the no-win scenario, eh?

(I'm not specifically defending Schwarzenegger - I'm not nearly informed enough to judge his performance.)

[The Kernel]

Your a fucking idiot. He did everything that was within his power. He cannot reform half of the states budget because of the idiotic state initiative process. And when he is does everything he can to try and fix the problem but gets out spent by special interests, you still blame him.

Get the fuck over yourself. When an elected official fails to deliver on an agenda, it doesn't matter if it was special interests, state initiatives or the wrath of god himself, the buck stops with them. During his tenure I have watched my state fall apart around me with massive deficits, tax increases, cuts to public education and a seemingless endless rise in the prison population. And what has Schwarzenegger done to address ANY of this?

Besides, saying that he couldn't have done any of these things is delusional. When Schwarzenegger was elected into office he had massive popularity and he got tons of voter approved initiatives passed. He COULD have taken advantage of his position then to get the looming budget crisis done with (we all knew it was coming) but he didn't.

[Alyeska]

Get the fuck over yourself. When an elected official fails to deliver on an agenda, it doesn't matter if it was special interests, state initiatives or the wrath of god himself, the buck stops with them.

So rather than actually blame those at fault, you blame him as a scape goat.

Indeed, get the fuck over yourself you pompus ass.

During his tenure I have watched my state fall apart around me with massive deficits, tax increases, cuts to public education and a seemingless endless rise in the prison population. And what has Schwarzenegger done to address ANY of this?

Your own fucking state is to blame because of its absurd initiative program. The legislature and the governor CAN'T cut the budget adequately. The fucking voters did this. What has the Governator done? Everything in his power.

Besides, saying that he couldn't have done any of these things is delusional. When Schwarzenegger was elected into office he had massive popularity and he got tons of voter approved initiatives passed. He COULD have taken advantage of his position then to get the looming budget crisis done with (we all knew it was coming) but he didn't.

When he was elected into office there was no a budget crisis. You cannot expect him to fix a problem that did not exist at the time. Your fucking delusional and have unrealistic expectations. You blame Schwarzenegger rather than the obstructionists. Your a fucking idiot.

[Serafina]

Get the fuck over yourself. When an elected official fails to deliver on an agenda, it doesn't matter if it was special interests, state initiatives or the wrath of god himself, the buck stops with them.

So by your reasoning, no matter why someone fails he is to blame?

Suppose you promise to mow someones lawn.
However, as soon as you want to star the lawnmower it breaks down. You try and manage to repair it however. But it's out of gas, so you walk a mile to get a canister of gas for it and you even pay for it with your own money (for now, at least). But ten minutes after you started the police arrives because some neighbour complained about the voice...and so on.

See where i am getting here? You DO get points for effort - if it's actual effort and not just a lazy try.
If you had just said "fuck this" after the lawnmower broke, you wouldn't get any.

So, let's go back out of Hypotethictown and into Realityland. A politican who makes a genuine, skillfull effort to fulfill his promises is better than one who doesn't. He can't influence certain events - that's my point by the way - but if that only increases his effort, i still give him credit for that.
Because those are the people who ARE more sucessfull in the long run - not those who merely have a lucky break where nothing goes wrong.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

I think it helps to remember that we're not talking about nominating Schwarzenegger as the best politician of all time, but discussing whether he belongs on the top 10 list of worst governors in the country. "The buck stops here" reasoning could certainly apply to keeping someone off the first kind of list, but it's no justification for putting them on the second.

[The Kernel]

So rather than actually blame those at fault, you blame him as a scape goat.

Indeed, get the fuck over yourself you pompus ass.

He's the governor of the fucking state, that position comes with certain responsibilities such as not letting the entire state go to shit on his watch.

Your own fucking state is to blame because of its absurd initiative program. The legislature and the governor CAN'T cut the budget adequately. The fucking voters did this. What has the Governator done? Everything in his power.

The Legislature is just as much to blame as the voters, they are constantly deadlocked because neither side is willing to compromise. And for all his high minded talk, Schwarzenegger has been unable to get them to properly address the budget and instead has allowed them to rack up massive deficits.

When he was elected into office there was no a budget crisis. You cannot expect him to fix a problem that did not exist at the time. Your fucking delusional and have unrealistic expectations. You blame Schwarzenegger rather than the obstructionists. Your a fucking idiot.

There is plenty of blame to go around that much I will agree with.

And sorry but YES THERE WAS A BUDGET CRISIS when he came into office. Despite the fact that the economy was in great shape we were still running deficits and it was clear to anyone that the real estate sector was a ticking time bomb. THAT would have been the time to address the state budget issues but instead he focused on initiatives like stem cell research (granted an important thing that I supported, but it should not have been his first priority).

[The Kernel]

I think it helps to remember that we're not talking about nominating Schwarzenegger as the best politician of all time, but discussing whether he belongs on the top 10 list of worst governors in the country. "The buck stops here" reasoning could certainly apply to keeping someone off the first kind of list, but it's no justification for putting them on the second.

Maybe. But as a person who lives in this state I'm livid about how fucked we are despite being the wealthiest state in the nation by far. My wife has been completely unable to find a job and will probably have to switch careers because of the education cuts, I can't even imagine sending my children to the deteriorating public schools, and we are still throwing people in jail left and right for drug offenses who are sharing cells with the mentally ill because we don't have the money for mental hospitals.

This shit just hits way too close to home for me to think objectively about it.

[Alyeska]

He's the governor of the fucking state, that position comes with certain responsibilities such as not letting the entire state go to shit on his watch.

Your a god damned broken clock. You are blaming him for things totally out of his control.

The Legislature is just as much to blame as the voters, they are constantly deadlocked because neither side is willing to compromise. And for all his high minded talk, Schwarzenegger has been unable to get them to properly address the budget and instead has allowed them to rack up massive deficits.

The Legislature CAN'T properly fix the budget because it requires the voters as well. And if the Legislature is grid locked, thats not his fucking fault.

There is plenty of blame to go around that much I will agree with.

You are blaming him for things you recognize as being outside his control.

And sorry but YES THERE WAS A BUDGET CRISIS when he came into office. Despite the fact that the economy was in great shape we were still running deficits and it was clear to anyone that the real estate sector was a ticking time bomb. THAT would have been the time to address the state budget issues but instead he focused on initiatives like stem cell research (granted an important thing that I supported, but it should not have been his first priority).

There was a crisis, but nothing like today. And blaming him for not seeing the real estate sector? For fucks sake man. Your a god damned retard.

[The Kernel]

The Legislature CAN'T properly fix the budget because it requires the voters as well. And if the Legislature is grid locked, thats not his fucking fault.

The hell it does. Ballot initiatives is one way to deal with budget issues, but the legislator is still responsible for passing the budget which includes all tax and spending items. Jesus Christ, you think the voters actually vote on the budget every year? Are you that retarded?

[Alyeska]

The Legislature CAN'T properly fix the budget because it requires the voters as well. And if the Legislature is grid locked, thats not his fucking fault.

The hell it does. Ballot initiatives is one way to deal with budget issues, but the legislator is still responsible for passing the budget which includes all tax and spending items. Jesus Christ, you think the voters actually vote on the budget every year? Are you that retarded?

It is my understanding that the ballot initiatives in California must be funded and that the legislature cannot take funding away from them at all. So in a budget crisis the Legislature cannot properly reform the budget because half of it is completely out of their control.

Voters enact an expensive law. Economy takes a dump. Instead of the Legislature trimming everywhere, they have to trim only certain programs because they cannot even touch the initiative budgets.

[ShadowDragon8685]

Exactly what do you expect the Guvenahtor to do?

Call up his old pal Jessie to load up the minigun, strap on the carrying belt of an M16, and march into the state legislature demanding that they compromise or he starts shooting people until the vote margin has reached the appropriate level to pass a budget?


This is not Somalia. (No, not even the worst parts of L.A.) There's only so much one man can do - Arnold Schwarzenegger has no more power to force functionality on the State of California than Barack Obama has to force it on the United States of America.


Maybe in these troubled times a benevolant dictator is called for. But our system does not - can not - allow for that, so it's not on the chips. It's no use blaming one man for failing in the face of heel-dug-in never-compromise-never-surrender-fuck-you-all politics; at that point, it's up to the constituancy - the voters - to kick the obnstructionists out of office and vote in new ones. Unfortunately in this country, we don't have a no-confidence mechanism, we don't have a means to simply dissolve the legislature and try again when the current one becomes hopelessly horn-locked butting their heads together.

Blame the Republicans who refuse to consider anything with the word "tax" and "levy" or "raise." Blame the Democrats who refuse to consider anything with teh words "cut" and "social services" or "public funding." Blame the idiotic public who demands everything and refuses to pay the bill when it comes due. Blame special interest groups who successfully lobby that same public to fuck themselves for the interest group. But don't blame one man without the power to force those groups to do anything who's trying his level best and failing.

[The Kernel]

It is my understanding that the ballot initiatives in California must be funded and that the legislature cannot take funding away from them at all. So in a budget crisis the Legislature cannot properly reform the budget because half of it is completely out of their control.

Voters enact an expensive law. Economy takes a dump. Instead of the Legislature trimming everywhere, they have to trim only certain programs because they cannot even touch the initiative budgets.

Yes, but prison/school reform and levying new taxes are completely under their control. The real problem is that they need a 2/3 majority to pass a budget.

But your point is well taken, I'm just pissed off that we need to watch our state burn around us before everyone realizes that the process has failed us and it's time to rip up our constitution and start over.

[The Kernel]

Blame the Republicans who refuse to consider anything with the word "tax" and "levy" or "raise." Blame the Democrats who refuse to consider anything with teh words "cut" and "social services" or "public funding." Blame the idiotic public who demands everything and refuses to pay the bill when it comes due. Blame special interest groups who successfully lobby that same public to fuck themselves for the interest group. But don't blame one man without the power to force those groups to do anything who's trying his level best and failing.

I do honestly believe that he had good intentions (which is why I voted for him twice), but the fact remains that he didn't pull off the things he promised to do.

[ShadowDragon8685]

I do honestly believe that he had good intentions (which is why I voted for him twice), but the fact remains that he didn't pull off the things he promised to do.

And exactly who could have?

Like I said, short of marching into the state legislature with a gun and shooting people until one side or another had the requsite 2/3rds voting majority, exactly what could the Guvenator have done that he has not already done?

[wautd]

Wait, Bobby Jindal, I knew this was an intelligent design advocate, but I didn't know this tool was also a bloody gourverner

That said, unsurprising he scored poorly. I heared enough of one of his "debates" to see his lack of competence.