Recall Petition Filed Against Potential McCain Veep

Newly elected Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is facing a potential recall, after he declined to veto state legislators doubling their salaries.

A contender in John McCain's vice presidential pool, Louisiana's new governor won his campaign by pledging legislative ethics reform. Reacting to the recall petition, Governor Jindal's team released a statement that the pay raise was "excessive and they should reverse it."

Former Jindal supporters Ryan and Kourtney Fournier have 180 days to collect almost one million signatures to force the recall. Fournier explained to Robert Travis Scott of the New Orleans Times Picayune:

"Everybody feels a little frustration with the governor right now. He's not doing what we elected him to do."

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Comments

[luziannagirl]

This just in (actually yesterday afternoon) for anyone perusing these comments----

Governor Jindal now says he will heed the wishes of nearly 90% of Louisiana citizens, and veto the legislators' pay raise. Yea!

In so many words, he also says he left the Legislature to their own devices, and look what happened.

[Know the feeling, Guv. The Louisiana Legislature SO reminds me of a herd of Brahman cattle. They can be a pretty smart, affable and even affectionate bunch, but they stay inside the fence only because they choose to, and you don't dare turn your back on them, even for a second]

I've also heard the pay raise fiasco might have been engineered by some of our more experienced politicos to force Jindal into a corner from which he would have trouble extricating himself unscathed. They knew the legislative pay was in fact significantly too low, raising it was and is a valid issue, and the state is temporarily awash in mineral revenue. They knew that a raft of new legislators, especially, would be tempted to jump on that at first reasonable-sounding bandwagon, which soon morphed (surprise, surprise!) into a runaway train.

Don't know if there's truth to the conspiracy idea, but if one looks only at the results----at who benefitted vs who got hurt....well...stranger things have happened around here.

[truth2008]

I am a Louisiana resident. I didn't vote for Jindal because I remembered his tenure as Sec. of the Department Of Health& human services. He iniated a massive cut of services to the mentally ill, substance abuse, and many other health programs. I was one of the people affected by the massive cuts, and was bumped from my position by an unqualified person with political connections. Mental health out patient centers were closed, and many mental health patients were forced to homeless shelters, etc. I never forgot the havoc he wrecked on the mentally ill, substance abuse programs.

I will vote to recall him, he is a minion of former Gov. Foster.....

[LaFlow]

I'd like to know what Bobby Jindal worked on while at McKinsey. I wonder if they had him outsourcing jobs to India? His Wikipedia entry suggests that he worked for Indian tycoons and fortune 500 companies while an employee.

That probably wouldn't play well as McLame's VP candidate in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. Personally, I bet he wouldn't answer the question if you asked him... I think McKinsey makes all their departing employees sign non-disclosure agreements.

[texastornado]

The Republicans continue to Borrow and Spend. That's why we're in debt up to our eyeballs. They keep borrowing from the chinese and arabs and spending in Iraq, Afganistan, Haliburton, KBR, private blackwater armies, military industrial complex while our infrastructure is crumbling, our midwest is under water and west coast burns but give tax breaks to the rich. Mean while working people are paying more than four dollars a gallonfor gas, high food costs and many living in their cars after losing their homes. This is the party that claims to value the famalies. Which famalies are they refering to?

[luziannagirl]

Yeah, Tex, I like that. "Borrow and Spend Republicans".

Re Gov Jindal--- While the cat's away, the mice raise their pay.

So much for the hands-off style of governing.

[Liberal2]

"...The Republicans continue to Borrow and Spend..."??

Borrow and Waste....

Borrow and Blow...

Borrow and Steal...

[Shayrae]

What a hypocrite Jindal is. He ran for governor on a platform of ethics reform. After only six months in office, he is accused of doing the very thing he supposedly abhorred, accepting questionable campaign donations As a lifelong Democrat, I had nothing to do with his being elected. As a Louisiana resident...all I wanna know is: Where can I find this petition online?

[lvogt]

Of course he's not doing what you elected him to do. He's a Republican.
You elect them to be competent managers and they drain the treasury into their friend pockets.
This is typical.

[TheIndependenceParty]

Damn "Tax and Spend RepublicRats!" Wait, ... they don't tax, ... they just spend on credit. Seems to me a state attempting to rebuild itself has better places to puts it discretionary spending than in legislative salaries.

[Puller58]

Another do-gooder bombs. This act is getting old. A successful recall could serve as a wake-up call for slippery politcians who keeping fibbing to get elected and suffer amnesia once in office.