Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) really doesn't like U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu (D. LA) and is doing everything he can to prevent her winning a fourth term. That includes blocking Medicaid expansion in the Bayou State. A key provision in President Obama's Affordable Health Care Act. Three years ago, Landrieu's vote for the Affordable Care Act hurt her image and pundits were already writing her off from winning a fourth term in 2014. But Jindal might actually be helping Landrieu's chances of winning re-election:
http://www.nola.com/...
In those dark days, with conservative commentators labeling her a prostitute for wrangling funding for Louisiana, the unpopular new law was seen as the lodestone that would sink her career.
Now, at the dawn of her re-election cycle, she seeks to turn the law to her advantage by using it to criticize her frequent nemesis, Gov. Bobby Jindal. She figures that even if he does not run against her -- aiming for the presidential nomination instead -- he will be campaigning hard for whoever does.
So earlier this month, she took him to task for not implementing key features of the health insurance law: the expansion of Medicaid and formation of a state insurance exchange. "Simply refusing to engage in the process is not leadership," she lectured him in a personal letter, released by her office. - The Times Picayune, 12/19/12
The Supreme Court ruled that the governor must opt in or out of expanding Medicaid to those making up to 133 percent of poverty. Medicaid expansion would cover 400,000 people in Louisiana alone but Jindal would rather screw poor people over from having any sort of health care just so he can defeat Landrieu. You would think that with Jindal's actions towards Landrieu that he would be gearing up for a run against her in 2014. But Bobby Jindal has sights on a higher calling:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Louisiana's Indian American governor Bobby Jindal may well be making a bid for the White House in 2016, a leading US news site suggested citing a meeting with a wealthy Republican fund raiser.
Jindal and two other Republican governors, John Kasich of Ohio and Bob McDonnell of Virginia stopped by the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino to meet privately with its owner Sheldon Adelson, "a man who could single-handedly underwrite their White House ambitions," Politico, the politics-centric website, said.
Jindal, Kasich and McDonnell ventured over to the Venetian for separate private meetings with Adelson while they were in Las Vegas for the Republican Governors Association winter meeting, held last month at the rival Wynn Resort, Politico said. - New York Daily New, 12/4/12
So Jindal is screwing poor people in Louisiana so he can please the fringe tea party base of the Republican Party in hopes of winning the GOP nomination. To a sane and rational person, Jindal's actions are crazy, selfish and cruel. But with the modern day GOP, it's the best thing he can do further improve his chances of winning the nominee in 2016. Now here's the part that is going to make you laugh and/or make your head explode:
Jindal opposes expanding Medicaid, calling it flawed and rigid, and argues that even though most of the money would come from the federal government, it is still a waste of American taxpayer dollars.
Landrieu and others argue that, philosophical objections aside, the governor's political responsibility is to see that Louisiana is not short-changed by having federal taxes raised here spent in other states.
Ultimately, Jindal insists this state cannot afford to pay even 10 percent, which, by his health care secretary's estimate, would amount to $3.7 billion over 10 years. Landrieu cites a 2010 study commissioned by the Jindal administration that projected $1.8 billion in state spending, while a Kaiser Family Foundation study recently put the figure at $1.2 billion. There's also added uncertainty over whether Congress will continue paying for 90 percent or shift more of the burden to states in the future. - The Times Picayune, 12/19/12
Really, if he is so against expanding Medicaid, then why did he go to Landrieu back in 2010 during the health care reform debate asking Landrieu to secure $300 million in federal funding to expand Medicaid in Louisiana? Because Jindal is a lying hypocrite:
Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican, made "multiple requests" for the funding and worked with the senator's office for more than a year to obtain it, she (Landrieu) said.
In an op-ed piece for the Times-Picayune, John Maginnis wrote that Landrieu "got for Louisiana was only what it deserved, a temporary Medicaid rate adjustment so that the state would not be penalized for its temporary hurricane recovery economy." He goes on to write, "It was hardly her idea but rather Gov. Bobby Jindal's No. 1 ask to the congressional delegation, of which Landrieu had the only clout." - USA Today, 2/4/10
So yeah, Jindal is serious about winning the GOP nominee in 2016 because there's no way he could get the teabagger vote after requesting federal funding for Medicaid from a Democratic Senator. As chairman of the Republican Governors Association, Jindal is putting the pressure on other Republican governors to reject the Medicaid expansion provision in hopes that the rest of the country will follow these states lead:
Jindal's hope is in numbers, that resistance spreads beyond the Deep South, to states red and blue. Otherwise, the governors of a few hold-out Southern states could look like a confederacy of chumps, hardly presidential material.
Sen. Landrieu already has taken her lumps on her health care law vote and is now working it to her favor. The next move is Gov. Jindal's, a decision that will follow him for years to come. - The Times Picayune, 12/19/12
Bobby Jindal truly is the gift that keeps on giving. Not only will his selfish and stupid actions help Senator Landrieu secure re-election victory but will also help screw over Republican governors. Especially vulnerable ones like Nikki Haley (R. SC). I don't know what chance Jindal has at winning the GOP Presidential nominee in 2016 but he seems a little too focused on that rather than helping the good people of Louisiana.
I applaud Senator Landrieu for continuing to fight Jindal's obstructionist nonsense and I urge her to keep doing so. I also urger her not to vote in favor of any cuts to Social Security, Medicare and medicaid as part of a "grand bargain" being worked on between President Obama and Speaker John Boehner (R. OH). Give her call, thank her for fighting to expand Medicaid and to stay strong and vote against cuts to the safety net:
202-224-5824
And if you are a resident of Louisiana, you can call her local office here:
318-676-3085