Jindal Makes Cameo Appearance To Open Legislative Session [Opinion]

Who was that shadowy figure that stood before the members of the Louisiana House and Senate yesterday at Noon? Rumor has it that might have been Governor Bobby Jindal making a rare appearance in the state he is supposed to be governing.

Am I being satirical and cynical in my comments? Yes, I am. Am I speaking more truth than untruth? I will let the past few months speak for themselves.

There is a growing concern that Louisiana's budget woes do not have the full attention of Mr. Jindal. You may have heard he is contemplating a run for the White House. The fact that several key Jindal staffers have left their positions in Baton Rouge and are now making Iowa a temporary home have a lot of people in the state, including me, wondering just who is minding the store?

A 1.6 billion dollar budget issue is not going to fix itself. Therefore the Governor will need to focus his time here and not on personal ambition. I am not alone in my view.

"Jindal has to be involved.  If this session is a disaster, Jindal will pay a price, the universities will pay a price, we'll all pay a price."

Those comments by Political pundit Bernie Pinsonat echo the sentiments of a lot of Louisiana taxpayers. Mr. Pinsonat, made his comments to the Louisiana Radio Network and went on to say,

"It's about Jindal's involvement when he's needed.  If he's not involved and this session is a disaster, Jindal will pay a price not only with his legacy here, but with his national image."

In case you're wondering what that means it's this. If we don't get this budget thing figured out Bobby Jindal's name will be mud in his home state. Chances are if you aren't liked and respected at home, the rest of the country isn't going think to highly of you either. So, Mr. Jindal, could you please do the job you were elected to do and not spend our time and money attempting to get another job.

To be fair, a lot of Governors are not hanging around the capitol building during legislative sessions. So, I don't mind if Mr. Jindal travels outside of the state for important state related business. It's the final weeks of the session that will matter the most. When the budget crisis comes down to crunch time and there needs to be leadership on the state level. That is when Bobby Jindal will earn his legacy in our state. That is where the country will find out if he really would make a good president or if he's just a self serving politician with an agenda that only serves his own political gains.