Political Quicksand

As I was saying in this post below, conservative pols like Governor PBJ who ride into Baton Rouge on a wave of Dragonslaying euphoria find that maintaining the "reform" momentum quickly isolates them from their erstwhile political allies. Jindal's recent weak attempt to spin his flip flopping on legislative pay raises as some sort of principled stand is a perfect example.

The proposal, poised to pass this morning, would raise the base legislative salary from $16,900 per year to $50,790 (a 200% increase). There are indeed solid reasons for raising the pay rate... if not quite so dramatically. Please see Varg and Editor B. for a further discussion of these reasons. As I told Varg (reproducing my comment verbatim), the legislative pay rate should at least be a living wage. Not only does it de-incentivize corruption but it helps to remove the prohibition against all but the most independently wealthy individuals seeking office. On the other hand, it’s difficult to argue that the performance of this legislative body (chemical castration, school vouchers, creationism, etc.) has merited any sort of reward. Frankly I’m just fascinated with the way PBJ is currently mishandling this political football.

PBJ, who originally stated that he "strongly opposed" the raise, now says he won't veto it because he doesn't want to give the Legislature "an excuse" to derail the "important" aspects of his "reform" agenda. The Daily Kingfish speculates that chief among these "important reforms" is PBJ's absurd public school abandonment scheme. And that's where the fun begins.

Jindal the arch-conservative very much wants to dismantle the institution of public education in the State of Louisiana. But in order to this, he can't afford to let Jindal the Dragonslayer piss off too many of his legislative allies who... in addition to dismantling public education... would very much like to have their pay raise.

Meanwhile, Jindal the Dragonslayer... even by laying down the sword for one hesitating moment... risks infuriating the "Re-Form" enthusiasts who make up much of his balladeering bandwagon. Here (via Oyster) we find the Grand Olde Keeper of the Slaying Sword himself C.B. Fogotston thoroughly disgusted with the House REPUBLICANS for pushing the pay raise through committee. Via Daily Kingfish again we find high-profile Jindal booster Chad Rogers thundering

If he fails to veto this bill and allows it to become law, the consequences will be disastrous, for his future and to the future of this state. Among the ranks of reformers I have spoken to, a kind of despair is already setting in. It is painfully clear that if Mr. Jindal doesn't take a stand on this, the hopes reformers (most of whom have worked longer and harder than I) will be dashed and many of us will acknowledge permanent defeat.

It will be considered nothing less than treason, a knife plunged into the heart of anyone who had hopes for Jindal as a reformer. If the legislators get a raise, Jindal will have left them for dead crying "Et tu, Bobby?"

The tension between the often competing interests of the hypocrites and the true believers in his coalition is PBJ's fundamental political weakness. It promises to dog him throughout the remainder of his term in office. In the past, the ambitious Jindal has avoided this kind of political quicksand by simply jumping up to the next office. But each jump brings a greater degree of difficulty. Add to that the burden of an old demon or two and the escape isn't quite as simple this time around.