The things Bobby Jindal doesn't want to talk about

It's a long list.

But during 21 minutes at the House podium -- long by this governor's standards -- Jindal steered clear of any mention of the controversial contingencies included in his $24.9 billion budget proposal. There was no mention of selling three state prisons to private operators to generate $86 million in one-time revenue.

The governor said nothing of a constitutional amendment that would steer tobacco-settlement money to the TOPS scholarship program. He didn't mention the accounting maneuver of taking general fund money from colleges that will make up for money with tuition hikes.

He did not mention calling for state employees to contribute more to their retirement. And he didn't explain the more than $200 million in promised "efficiencies" in state agency operations -- an opaque budgeting device that House Speaker Jim Tucker says essentially means the Jindal budget isn't balanced as the Constitution requires.

Nor did he mention his administration's plan to privatize the agency that manages state employee group benefits. Jindal plans to use the group benefits office's half billion dollar surplus to help fill this year's state budget gap at what will likely be a greater cost to the state in the long term. It's not a strategy that seems very forward-thinking, efficient, smart, or any other random buzzwords you might cull from any given Jindal stump speech.

Meanwhile, Jindal doesn't mind telling you he is dropping the cigarette tax from 36 cents to 32 which is, of course, very very principled.

Update: Finally a little push back and even signs that Jindal may put off the prison privatization plan for a while... if only the Making Shit Up Revenue Estimating Conference will go along.

Upperdate: The former director of the OGB, who Jindal just fired apparently for not going along with the privatization plan, spoke to a Senate committee today.

Teague was fired from OGB on April 15, just as questions about the potential sale of the agency were getting louder. And when he testified Tuesday, he appeared much less convinced than Rainwater about the financial benefits of the proposed plan. By many accounts a popular and competent administrator, Teague referred to OGB as "we" several times during his testimony.

"Fully-insured [insurance] plans are simply more expensive than self-insured plans," he said.

Teague also said the agency's large surplus fund -- which was accumulated during his tenure -- would be part of any sale, but expressed bewilderment at the math of such a deal.

"You give up 520 [million dollars], and you're going to get back 150 [million dollars]?" Teague said. "I don't understand how that works."