Team GOP Sure Has A Thin Bench, Don't They?

     Come to think of it, their starting line-up sucks, too.
     

     From the AP:

     Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal will again carry the Republican mantle opposite a primetime appearance from President Barack Obama on Tuesday.

     Jindal, considered a potential GOP presidential candidate, is slated to headline a major congressional fundraiser that coincidentally fell on the same night as Obama's planned news conference.

     Jindal was widely panned for his televised response to Obama's address to Congress last month. This time, he will speak to a live audience of Republican faithful in Washington. And his speech--scheduled well before Obama's news conference--will likely begin before Obama's evening remarks.

     

     Cool. I love unintentional humor. Maybe he'll talk about volcanoes and exorcisms, too.

What A Lousy Day For Unemployed Louisianans; What An Excellent Day For An Exorcism.

GOP Confederates continue to turn down water while their houses are on fire.

From CNNPolitics.com:

In a budget proposal released Friday afternoon, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal indicated he is only rejecting $98 million of the federal stimulus funds due his state.

That figure is far less than the $700 million South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has indicated he may reject if the federal government does not allow Sanford to use that money to pay down his state's debt.

Jindal, an early GOP critic of the stimulus bill, is specifically rejecting funds aimed at expanding unemployment benefits on the belief his state would have to pick up the tab on the provision in two years.

In the budget proposal released Friday, Jindal emphasized the money he is accepting is temporary and a means to ultimately cutting spending.

"It is very important to understand…that federal stimulus funds are temporary funds. As such, they cannot be thought of as a permanent part of our state’s budget," he said Friday, adding, "Federal stimulus funds give us time to reform how the state runs so we can cut spending, ensure we are spending efficiently, and live within our means."

Perhaps Jindal would have accepted the money if it was for exorcisms instead of for his state's unemployed.

Bobby Jindal: Truth Or Dare?

Will politics trump federal money in Louisiana? Is their politically ambitious governor cynically courting GOP Confederates in advance of 2012?   

From CBS News:

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a potential 2012 GOP presidential candidate, has suggested his state may not be interested in all of the roughly $4 billion allotted to it in the economic stimulus package to be signed by President Obama today. 

"We'll have to review each program, each new dollar to make sure that we understand what are the conditions, what are the strings and see whether it's beneficial for Louisiana to use those dollars," Jindal said, according to CBS affiliate WWLTV. 

Jindal is scheduled to give the response to the president’s not-exactly-a-state-of-the-union address next Tuesday. 

Louisiana reportedly faces a possible $2 billion budget shortfall next year. It has been allocated $538,575,876 for infrastructure spending in the stimulus package, and the White House predicts the bill will create 50,000 jobs in the state. 

As WWLTV notes, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has said he’ll take any money that Louisiana turns down. 

The Republican National Committee, meanwhile, isn’t letting up in its criticism of Democrats over the stimulus package. Following the White House’s releases trumpeting the bill, the RNC sent an email to reporters offering research on “Democrats’ broken pledges on transparency, bipartisanship, pork, and job creation.” 

In the most recent available U.S. Census figures, Louisiana is 46th out of the 50 states in household income, and Katrina-ravaged New Orleans remains largely off the national radar three-and-a-half years later. 

Bobby Jindal may be puffing out his chest and trumpeting his conservative bona fides to the GOP Confederates in advance of the 2012 presidential horse race. What better way to do that than to screw the residents of your own state while selling yourself as a small-government, anti-Obama?