Gov. Jindal still silent on "prostitute" money Republicans wanted for Louisiana
You know that $300 million for Louisiana in the Senate health bill that has caused right-wing pundits to call Sen. Mary Landrieu a "prostitute" and worse -- and attempt to discredit the Democrats' health reform bill?
Yesterday Facing South broke the story that it was actually Louisiana Republicans -- including Gov. Bobby Jindal and Rep. Joseph Cao -- who had been pushing for the federal Medicaid funds that Landrieu succeeded in delivering.
So what are Jindal and Louisiana Republicans saying now about the controversy? Not much.
To recap the story so far: The $300 million Landrieu got inserted into the Senate health bill was to fill a projected $1 billion hole in Louisiana's Medicaid budget.
Gov. Jindal's administration had been lobbying Washington for more Medicaid funds since last November, saying the state was being penalized for receiving Katrina aid money.
Republican Rep. Joseph Cao also sponsored a bill in the House -- with the support of six other Republican Congressmen -- that would have delivered more Medicaid money to disaster-affected states, especially Louisiana.
Landrieu delivered the money the Louisiana Republicans wanted. So Jindal and Cao must be leading the charge to defend Landrieu, right?
Wrong.
The Washington Post's Greg Sargent followed up on our story today and reports that Gov. Jindal has been silent about whether he favors Landrieu's success in landing the money for his state:
Yesterday Facing South broke the story that it was actually Louisiana Republicans -- including Gov. Bobby Jindal and Rep. Joseph Cao -- who had been pushing for the federal Medicaid funds that Landrieu succeeded in delivering.
So what are Jindal and Louisiana Republicans saying now about the controversy? Not much.
To recap the story so far: The $300 million Landrieu got inserted into the Senate health bill was to fill a projected $1 billion hole in Louisiana's Medicaid budget.
Gov. Jindal's administration had been lobbying Washington for more Medicaid funds since last November, saying the state was being penalized for receiving Katrina aid money.
Republican Rep. Joseph Cao also sponsored a bill in the House -- with the support of six other Republican Congressmen -- that would have delivered more Medicaid money to disaster-affected states, especially Louisiana.
Landrieu delivered the money the Louisiana Republicans wanted. So Jindal and Cao must be leading the charge to defend Landrieu, right?
Wrong.
The Washington Post's Greg Sargent followed up on our story today and reports that Gov. Jindal has been silent about whether he favors Landrieu's success in landing the money for his state:
Jindal, as best as we can determine, now won't publicly clarify one way or the other whether he views $300 million to his state as a good thing. We've also asked his spokespeople where he stands on descriptions of Landrieu as a prostitute. If we get any answers at all, we'll update you.More media outlets need to follow Sargent's lead and ask Jindal: Are you in favor of Landrieu getting the money for Louisiana that you have been asking for?
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Chris Kromm
Chris Kromm is executive director of the Institute for Southern Studies and publisher of the Institute's online magazine, Facing South.