Sometimes the will of the people does prevail, and principle triumphs over politics as usual.
The citizens of Louisiana have been on the edge of their seats for the past couple of weeks, waiting to see if their governor would listen to their demands and veto Bill 672—the controversial legislation that would have nearly doubled the Louisiana state legislators’ salaries.
As ALG News reported, all evidence suggested that Mr. Jindal was going to stand by and let the heinous bill sit on his desk until automatically becoming law on July 8th. And ALG strongly urged the Governor to stick to his campaign pledge not to allow the politicians to pad their pockets.
Now, according to WAFB.com, we’re told that Mr. Jindal has struck down the bill, ending the ruckus that has significantly harmed his image since Bill 672’s inception. Said the Governor:
“I clearly made a mistake by telling the legislature that I would allow them to handle their own affairs…As with all mistakes, you can either correct them or compound them—I am choosing to correct my mistake now.”
Mr. Jindal then elaborated on why he was so hesitant to veto the legislation:
“I have said that I was not going to stop legislators from more than doubling their own pay by vetoing this because I did not want to give them any excuse to slow down the momentum of our reform movement here in Louisiana. It turns out this is an unsustainable position. I have come to realize that the reforms I have been fighting for are simply incompatible with this legislative pay raise…The bottom line is that allowing this excessive legislative pay raise to become law would so significantly undercut our reform agenda, and so significantly diminish the people’s confidence in their own government, that I cannot let it become law. So, I have vetoed the bill.”
Although Mr. Jindal’s excuse for not vetoing the bill from the beginning is somewhat dubious and unconvincing, Americans for Limited Government commends the Governor for accepting his error and doing what is best for Louisiana. It is refreshing to know that there are still politicians out there willing to do what they were elected to do—serve the will of the people.
Throughout the entire ordeal, the Louisiana Action Council has been one of the strongest voices expressing outrage. Brian McNabb, Executive Director of the non-profit citizen advocacy group, released the following statement today regarding the Governor’s decision:
“It is truly a new day in Louisiana when the scare tactics of a few money hungry legislators are not effective any more…Gov. Jindal’s decision to veto S.B. 672 proves that the will of the masses is more powerful than the petty threats of a few greedy legislators. It is also important to commend the thousands of citizens who were so adamantly opposed to this blatant misuse of legislative power. This instance is a prime example of what can be done when thousands of citizens in every corner of Louisiana make their voices heard to their representatives in government.”
Mr. Jindal has proven that he has the capacity to listen to the people and provide principled, conservative leadership that understands government’s limited role in American society. As a young, but prominent, leader in the Republican Party, the Governor has now staked a claim to the myriad of “Reagan Republicans” left in the lurch by the now disgraced former “do-nothing Republican” majority and a GOP leadership that puts compromise above conservative principles.
Hopefully, as the Republicans march on Houston for their presidential nominating convention, they’ll ask the young Louisiana governor to stop by and re-explain to them the lost art of keeping commitments.
Otherwise, his GOP colleagues may soon have to concern themselves less concerned with raising politicians’ pay than about collecting unemployment.
