Posts Tagged ‘bobby jindal’

Bobby Jindal published another opinion article, this time in the main section of the Wall Street Journal.

In Washington, it seems history always repeats itself. That’s what’s happening now with health-care reform. This is an unfortunate turn of events for Americans who are legitimately concerned about the skyrocketing cost of a basic human need.

In 1993 and 1994, Hillary Clinton’s health-care reform proposal failed because it was concocted in secret without the guiding hand of public consensus-building, and because it was a philosophical over-reach. Today President Barack Obama is repeating these mistakes.

The reason is plain: The left in Washington has concluded that honesty will not yield its desired policy result. So it resorts to a fundamentally dishonest approach to reform. I say this because the marketing of the Democrats’ plans as presented in the House of Representatives and endorsed heartily by President Obama rests on three falsehoods.

You can read the full article on the WSJ web site →

A few notes to aid your reading and analysis:

• This is an important issue to Jindal. His first major governmental position was as Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals under Governor Mike Foster. Later, he was appointed by President Bush and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate to be the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Planning and Evaluation.
• In this article, Jindal refers to a Lewin Group report. The Lewin Group is a corporation that provides health and human resource consulting. The full report can be found here.
• Jindal discusses the ineffectiveness of bureaucracies in major decision making. Marketing mogul Seth Godin wrote an intriguing article a few years ago concerning this. You can read it here.

[Ed. note: The following is an excerpt from an opinion piece written by Bobby Jindal published by the Politico today.]

Things in Louisiana are looking up. We are announcing major economic development wins and private capital investment and reducing government spending in order to live within our means. We just completed a grueling legislative session where we all had to work together, Democrats and Republicans, to find a way to do more with less.

We trimmed government spending, protected vital services and refused to raise taxes. (As is the case in any legislative body, some gave it a try). I can’t say our legislative session was much fun, but it was necessary, and it is the American way. Or, at least we thought it was.

In the meantime, I’ve been catching up on the news in Washington. I wish I had not…

Click here to continue reading this article on the Politico →

Jindal Trek

Please provide a link back to this post and to EthanKillett.com when referring to this strip.

The DHH issued a press release this morning declaring seven confirmed cases of influenza A strain H1N1, more commonly known as the swine flu. Five cases were in Lafayette at the Cathedral Carmel School school that was closed early this week. There was also one case in Orleans Parish at the Audubon Charter School and a case in Ascension at Lake Elementary School. Officials said that the latter two schools will remain open because both students have been absent for some time. There are still no confirmed cases in Baton Rouge.

The DHH is continuning to monitor this situation. Governor Bobby Jindal is holding a press conference today at 2:30pm—we’ll update with any new information.

The most shocking news coming from these confirmed cases is that the Ascension case did not have any direct link back to Mexico.

If you’ve been paying attention to the world, by now it’s likely you’ve seen the outbreak and subsequent public hysteria surrounding Influenza A virus subtype H1N1—or, more commonly, swine flu. As readers of our fine hyperlocal blog, you’ve probably also noticed that we’ve been mysteriously quiet about the whole situation. While many traditional news agencies have published dozens of article about swine flu, we’ve only published one. And that article was called “No Confirmed Cases of Swine Flu in Louisiana” and it served only one purpose: to tell you not to panic.

And now, I just wanted to say that until there is a confirmed case of swine flu in Louisiana, you won’t here anything about it from us. Why? Because there’s really no reason to worry or panic until it actually gets here. You can see from the swine flu map that reported cases are still several hundred miles away from our state. Sure, there have been suspected cases of swine flu, but there haven’t been any reported cases yet. The Governor’s press conference yesterday confirmed that he and the DHH are taking preemptive measures to ensure the safety of the public, so the closing of schools has nothing to do with any outbreak. In fact, since the human flu is a derivative of the same strain and we are in flu season, it’s very likely that these suspected cases are just that—suspects.

I really don’t think it’s expedient towards any cause to bring more attention to a matter that’ll likely subside than is necessary. Of course, that isn’t to say that you shouldn’t be prepared—you most definitely should be. Furthermore, we will update when we actually receive news of a confirmed case. That is all.

Just to be totally clear: There have been no confirmed cases of swine flu H1N1 in Louisiana. The closing of the school in Lafayette this week was a precautionary move only by the DHH and Governor Bobby Jindal. Some of the kids did test positive for the flu, but only for the common A strain.

There is no reason as of this moment to be alarmed about the Swine Flu. The DHH and the Governor are taking precautionary measures to ensure public safety. We’ll keep you informed as the case develops.

Here’s a good rundown of what’s been breaking in the last 24 hours.

Reuters is reporting that Baton Rouge-based Albemarle Group’s profits dropped 60% for the first quarter as a direct result of the contraction of the consumer electronics, automobile and construction industries. Recently, we featured the Albemarle group in our Forbes Fortune list article.

Chelsea’s—a local restaurant and bar that has been operating around the LSU area for the past 20 years—is being threatened by the state alcohol licensing board for some, allegedly, fraudulent accusations of business misconduct. While the Baton Rougean has never reviewed Chelsea’s—we should get on that—, they have been a valued business member for quite some time. To revoke their liquor license would, in effect, kill their business. The full story is here.

Today was the opening session to the State Legislature’s Regular Session. You can view Bobby Jindal’s opening address to our legislative body on YouTube: part 1 and part 2. This is a highly crucial moment in our state as they rework the Governor’s proposed budget.

As always, we’ll keep you informed of further breaking news.

Also, we unveiled the Baton Rougean’s weather feed this week. It posts the daily forecast every night and also updates for any breaking NOAA emergency bulletins (such as advisories, watches, or warnings). It updates live and runs 24/7/365. I’d recommend subscribing to its updates via text from Twitter (I do) to stay updated on the go. You can catch it on Twitter @btrweather.

We also got our hands on some interesting data we’d like to analyze. If anyone has a background or any experience working with statistics or some other analysis, please contact me.