“As a result of Jindal’s initiative, Louisiana has rocketed to the top of the Center’s rankings, with 94.5 points, earning the top slot among all 50 states.”

Huey Long may be spinning in his grave but the people of Louisiana will benefit. 

The report did however state that it was not yet possible to verify enforcement and there are legitimate issues here.  But this is not Jindal’s fault (emphasis mine):

“And the new laws included a provision — not part of Jindal’s original proposals on the campaign trail — that stripped the board of its enforcement powers and transferred authority to a newly-created panel of administrative judges, causing the board’s members to resign in protest last June. ”

Perhaps this can be repaired in future sessions of the legislature.  But this is a great step.

BTW, my home state Virginia flunked. 

“Virginia, for example, placed 8th in 1999, but has fallen to 31st place, mostly because other states made improvements while Virginia’s ethics laws remained essentially unchanged. Virginia state legislators must fill out a statement of economic interest annually and must disclose outside employment or investment information. But the state lacks the necessary oversight to ensure that the forms are filled out correctly. While other states have made efforts to ensure accuracy, often with the creation of an independent commission, Virginia’s legislators are mostly left to police themselves.”

Maybe future Governor McDonnell can take a page from the Governor Jindal book!

However, in 2003, I heard about (through a column that I cannot find) to a candidate for governor of Louisiana who had an audacious plan to clean up politics in Louisiana and make the state a leader in a number of items including ethics reform. I felt that anyone with that sort of vision was worth looking into. Especially when he was a conservative Republican.

When I heard Jindal’s resume, I was again impressed. He is an intellectual who won a Rhodes Scholarship and, unlike a certain other Rhodes Scholar from a neighboring state, actually graduated from Oxford. At 32, Jindal had already been a state cabinet secretary (Health and Hospitals), the president of a leading university system (Louisiana State University) and a federal sub-cabinet official (Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Planning and Evaluation).

Jindal lost the election and I was disappointed until Katrina hit. I think that 2003 loss was a blessing in disguise. Jindal was elected twice to Congress and then came back to run for governor of Louisiana. This time he won in the first primary.

Jindal was able to push through the legislature in three sessions, ethics reform, reform of taxes unfriendly to business interests, and one time infrastructure projects that were needed and for which a budget surplus existed. Almost immediately, Jindal was instrumental in persuading Albemarle Paper Co. to move its office from Richmond, VA! (Ouch! He could have started somewhere else!)

I did hope Senator McCain would appoint Jindal to be his running mate. No one could have made fun of Jindal in the way they (unfairly) did Governor Palin. I further believe his extraordinary success story, an Indian-American son of immigrants, achieving the American Dream, could be a great role model for youth and a force to revive the Republican Party WITHOUT compromising traditional conservative positions.

Jindal is staunchly pro-life, against gay marriage, has an evangelical Christian testimony, and favored the balanced teaching of intelligent design in the schools. Jindal voted against funding embryonic stem cell research and also voted against the S-CHIP children’s insurance program. He is solidly pro-Second Amendment rights. I may be able to discuss some of these issues in later blogs.

The end of the Kingfish era in Louisiana seemed like a dream on the scale of Lithuania seceding from the Soviet Union. Jindal, however, seems to have started the effort to clean up bayou politics and make the state work. Even his foes agree he seems to know how to gets things done, as described by Deepa Fernandes in the Nation magazine article of July 21, 2008:

“Given Louisiana’s harsh economic landscape and its conservative tilt, many Democrats there seem willing to sacrifice an unattainable agenda for these immediate results.”

Here are specific examples from the Nation article:

“Nonetheless, his Democratic successor as health secretary, David Hood, has nothing but praise for Jindal, calling him “the best secretary of DHH that I have seen in thirty years in state government.” Hood says that Jindal was organized, able to generate excitement among staff and had long-term vision.”

“Political consultant Cheron Brylski, a fierce advocate for women’s rights, is just as laudatory of Jindal. “Even as a liberal,” she says, “I felt that Bobby Jindal was the person who offered the most hope for Louisiana at this time.” Despite years of “butting heads” with him, Brylski fully supports the new governor. When asked why she endorses a man who has voted to restrict and outlaw abortion at every chance available to him, Brylski responds, “He’s smart, and he has good connections in Washington.”"

Lithuania is now independent. Louisiana may be well on her way to ending the Kingfish era. I believe Governor Jindal has ended the Huey Long era in Louisiana. He can get results in Washington. Whether he runs in 2012 or later in life, he will be both a formidable candidate and, if elected, a wise President. Now about the Saints…