Jindal does the right thing ...

We are in New Orleans this week, so we’ll simply report some news and tell you about the visit next time. Pictured is the New Orleans symbol, the fleur de lis, wrapped in the hope ribbon.


AP, via The New Orleans Examiner, reports that:

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has vetoed a bill that would have doubled salaries for the state's lawmakers.


The Republican had previously said he would not veto the bill even though he didn't agree with the raise. The veto came after several election recall petitions were filed against Jindal and other state legislators.


The pay raise has been sharply criticized by bloggers and talk-radio hosts.


The bill would have paid lawmakers $37,500 a year. The National Conference of State Legislatures says it would have made Louisiana legislators the highest-paid in the South and the 14th highest-paid in the country.


Jindal has been mentioned as a possible running mate for presidential candidate John McCain.
Meanwhile WAFB.com discussed some legislator responses:


Some Louisiana legislators are miffed about Governor Bobby Jindal's veto of their proposed pay raises. The governor says that from the beginning, he thought the raises were “excessive” and “unreasonable.” Now, some legislators say that's not true.


56 House members and 20 senators voted in favor of more than doubling their own pay. They put their reputations, and some say, their political futures, on the line for this vote, only to have Governor Jindal change his position and veto it in the final days. "I clearly made a mistake by telling the legislature that I would allow them to handle their own internal affairs and that I would stay out of this page," the governor says.


Senator Danny Martiny of Metairie says Jindal never stayed out of the legislature's business. He says the governor even told him on more than one occasion that their final pay raise proposal was reasonable. "The governor can say whatever he wants -- he knows darn well what he told people (lawmakers)," he says. Martiny says he would not have voted for the raise if the governor had worked against it. Some other legislators say the same.

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