Mr. Jindal

I find something about Governor Jindal to be quite unsettling.  Watching his response to President Obama's speech earlier this week, I began to notice some disturbing assertions.

First of all, I found Jindal's claims about passing tax cuts in Louisiana to be dubious at best.  He claimed that, "[t]o create jobs for our citizens, we cut taxes six times . . . . Republicans and Democrats put aside their differences.  We worked to make sure our people could keep more of what they earn.  If it can be done in Baton Rouge, surely it can be done in Washington, D.C." 

Here is what I heard: "Louisiana Democrats set aside their differences to pass our Republican agenda."  I fail to see how there is any compromise when one party caves to the other party's ideology.  

Much has also been made of this quote from the Governor in his discussion of the stimulus: ". . . $140 million for something called volcano monitoring.  Instead of monitoring volcanoes, what Congress should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington, D.C."  I love that the Governor of one of the states hardest hit by natural disasters can have such a cavalier attitude about these types of things.  I doubt we'll ever hear Mr. Jindal decry federal spending on hurricane monitoring.  Yet I can't recall the last time a hurricane incinerated a region's population. . . Perhaps that isn't fair - volcanoes don't erupt that often.  But, then again, if one were going to erupt tomorrow, and we could save thousands of lives by being prepared, wouldn't our duty to protect human life make this monitoring imperative?  Maybe I just don't understand a 100% pro-life voting record.  Or maybe Governor Jindal is impervious to lava.

Text of Governor Jindal's Response.