Edwards, Blanco criticize Jindal’s tax plan

Former four-term Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards weighed in Wednesday on Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposal to replace state income taxes with increased sales taxes, saying the plan is bad for the poor and the state. “It’s a tax plan for the rich at the expense of the poor,” Edwards told The (Lafayette) Daily Advertiser. The former governor, a Democrat, who served a prison sentence for felony racketeering, added: “I certainly hope the Legislature will be wise and courageous enough to recognize that it’s not only bad for the poor, but on balance, it’s bad for the state.” Another former Louisiana governor, Democrat Kathleen Blanco, accused Jindal Monday of using the tax debate to pull attention away from the coming cuts in the state health care system. Blanco made her remarks in an interview at an Acadiana Press Club lunch at South Louisiana Community College. “So I think that we need to really focus a little bit more on the real problems,” Blanco says, “and a lot less on trying to change a tax system that is not broken.” Edwards echoed that sentiment. You can find the full story here.