Stimulating Talk

President Obama delivered a sweeping speech Tuesday night, with the kind of economic proposals that are certain to transform this nation - more passenger rail infrastructure, more investments in education and training, and more rich-soaking taxes. The best Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal could do in the Republican response was to say no to all that bit. He even tried to distance his party from the Katrina disaster (who was President then?) by citing an untrue story about the rescues from the flood waters concerning a local sheriff. (Oh, well, it made the point, didn't it? :-p) He went further by mocking a proposed "Disneyland-Vegas" magnetic levitation train that would receive government subsidies, even though no train connecting Anaheim to Las Vegas is planned, the Los Angeles-Las Vegas corridor is merely being studied for a possible high-speed rail program (and it would make sense, considering the continued growth of both metropolitan areas), and magnetic levitation is an advanced, high-tech rail system that was invented here but ignored by oil-interest-friendly Washington policymakers.

All of this pales, however, in comparison to Jindal's apparent refusal to take unemployment benefit money in the federal stimulus bill for his state (although he's happy to take the remaining 99 percent of funds earmarked for Louisiana). Sarah Palin (also taking a hypocritical stand against the stimulus) is hated for advocating the systematic airborne killing of wolves, but Jindal would gladly allow those same wolves to position themselves at people's doors.