Small Point On Jindal: Is He a Socialist?

Well is he? Everyone has piled on him already after that awful rebuttal speech he gave. So what’s left to yell about? The point that Gail Collins makes in today’s New York Times in the following paragraph:

“Louisiana has gotten $130 billion in post-Katrina aid. How is it that the stars of the Republican austerity movement come from the states that suck up the most federal money? Taxpayers in New York send way more to Washington than they get back so more can go to places like Alaska and Louisiana. Which is fine, as long as we don?¢?‚¬?„¢t have to hear their governors bragging about how the folks who elected them want to keep their tax money to themselves. Of course they do! That?¢?‚¬?„¢s because they?¢?‚¬?„¢re living off ours.”

Exactly.

The complete bankruptcy of the budget hawks cluttering the Republican Party’s front lines is that the all appear to come from states that live off Federal largesse. It has been pointed out before that the so-called red states tend to be subsidized by the so called blue states, but that doesn’t seem to stop the governors of those states throwing hissy fits about Federal spending being wasteful. The net transfers of Federal funding vastly benefits the lower income Southern and Great Plains states. Think about all those huge military bases; or NASA headquarters; or the Army Corps of Engineers perpetual presence along the Mississippi and in Florida; and add up the agricultural subsidies that flow out to the heartland which not only keep the farmers there afloat but raise food prices for everyone else so that the farmers can stay afloat. Where does all that money come from? Not from the low tax, low income, deep South or the Great Plains, that’s for sure.

Or take Gail Collin’s example of Louisiana. The flow of cash from the government into Louisiana is unrelenting. There is no sign at all that the state has any intention of being a self financing or self sustaining entity any time soon. It lives off of Federal money. It’s entire budget philosophy, its business model, and its way of life is constructed around Federal welfare. The state is a welfare junky of epic proportions. So Jindal has more than a little nerve to say the ridiculous things he did. Fiscal responsibility? He’s kidding, right? Without the steady stream of welfare support from the central government Louisiana would not be able to pretend to be a low tax state: it would have to support itself and show a little – dare I say it? – fiscal conservatism. Go balance your own budget Jindal! Only do it without our help. Have the courage to preach within Louisiana what you try to preach nationally.

Here’s an idea: send the checks back. If these guys are really that opposed to Federal money and the evils of neo-socialist programs, the answer is simple. Opt out. But be honest. Send all the money back not just the stimulus money. How about all the rest?

Or an alternative idea is this: let’s just declare Louisiana to be a socialist republic. That’s pretty near to the truth. For all Jindal’s ideological posturing his state’s budget is closer to an old style Soviet Union model than to a free market model.

That Comrade Jindal – what a guy!