Math is stupid

Bobby Jindal doesn't want to be in the "Party of Stupid," right?

State officials don’t even agree on how Louisiana got into this budget mess.

Jindal insists the bulk of next year’s shortfall is because of the nosedive in oil prices and its impact on Louisiana’s treasury through lessened severance taxes and mineral royalties. He told a crowd at a recent Baton Rouge event that the state’s financial problems are “largely due to the decline in the price of oil.”

The math doesn’t back up the governor’s assertion, no matter how many times he repeats the explanation.

Louisiana’s income forecasting panel dropped next year’s revenue projections by about $300 million because of plummeting oil prices. The larger problem for next year’s budget is the use of $1.1 billion this year in patchwork financing.

The dollars come from one-time legal settlements, redirected account balances and insurance payments that aren’t expected to appear again next year. Jindal and lawmakers used the money to pay for ongoing programs, so when the dollars disappear, the state must come up with a new way to pay for those items if it wants to continue the services.