Viewpoint: Delusions of grandeur?

It’s going to be interesting to see who proves to be the more delusional character of 2011: the “bi-winning” actor Charlie Sheen or the no-new-tax-pledging Gov. Bobby Jindal, writes Greater Baton Rouge Business Report columnist J.R. Ball. Sheen, he of tiger blood, Adonis DNA and a pair of live-in “goddesses,” believes kicking a decades-long addiction to drugs and alcohol is as simple as closing one’s eyes for a nanosecond and telling yourself those days are over. The tried-and-true methods of Alcoholics Anonymous, rehabilitation facilities and 12-step programs are “cults” designed for “stupid people.” It’s a little thing Sheen likes to call “winning, duh.” Jindal, he of Indian blood, RNC superstardom and god-like authority over the Legislature, believes solving a projected $1.6 billion budgetary shortfall can be done without raising taxes, eliminating pointless tax exemptions or the use of one-time revenue for recurring expenses. This, after all, is what he’s promised, dating back to the days of the 12-bullet-point campaign trail. And this can be done—at a time when salary and pension expenses are slowly strengthening into a budgetary tsunami—without gutting funding for higher education and health care. It’s a little thing Jindal likes to call the “Louisiana miracle.” The theories of both Sheen and Jindal, to the mind of this mere mortal, seem a bit far-fetched. Craziness aside, Sheen, we know, is a circus freak. Jindal, on the other hand, is a serious man with serious ideas. We also know the decisions made by Jindal and legislators later this year will shape the future course of our state. To read the full column, click here.