JINDAL’S SHAMELESSNESS…. More than a few Republican officials who excoriated President Obama’s stimulus package have suddenly discovered the political benefits of spending projects in their state and/or district. But I don’t think anyone has been quite as shameless as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R).
Jindal, in a very memorable national address, rejected the very idea of the recovery bill, saying government is incapable of “rescu[ing] us from the economic storms raging all around us.” He mocked the stimulus for being “larded with wasteful spending,” including “something called volcano monitoring.”
This week, Jindal boasted that “things are looking up” in Louisiana, no thanks to the “nearly trillion-dollar stimulus that has not stimulated.”
With that in mind, Lee Fang reports on Jindal’s tour of his home state, where he’s promoting his economic policies and handing out money — which he received from the stimulus package he loathes.
As he travels to each community, Jindal has been gaining many positive headlines by sponsoring press events where he gives out jumbo-sized checks to towns and parishes. […]
Despite the fact that the checks contain millions of dollars of Recovery Act funds for job training programs, housing assistance programs, homelessness prevention programs, police training, criminal justice technology upgrades, and community development block grants, Jindal has been printing his own name on the checks and taking credit for the money.
For example, Jindal presented Lafayette with yet another jumbo-sized check that contained at least $2,125,584 in Recovery Act funds. Though the money came from spending policies authorized by the Recovery Act, Jindal did not appear to credit the Recovery Act at all. And although the state stands to gain nearly $8 billion in federal funding from the Recovery Act, Jindal was one of several GOP governors to try to block the measure earlier this year.
Look, if Jindal wants to apologize for trashing the stimulus bill, I’m sure the president would accept. If Jindal wants to acknowledge now that the recovery bill he detested is actually doing a lot of good in his home state, it wouldn’t surprise me if Dems were gracious about the concession.
But at this point, Jindal’s shamelessness is embarrassing. He’s shaking his fist at the administration with one hand, and grabbing money from the administration with the other.
