Viewpoint: Jindal thinks big on less government

Those citizens impatient for Gov. Bobby Jindal’s ideas for balancing the state budget without damaging higher education or healthcare need to chill while he thinks big on how to fix the federal government, writes LaPolitics columnist John Maginnis. In a recent interview in the magazine Human Events, he rattled off three major ideas to remake the legislative branch: restrict Congress to working only part of the year, impose terms limits on its members and prohibit them, once they are gone, from returning as lobbyists. Two out of three isn’t bad. Term limits would be as healthy for Congress as they are for the presidency and state legislatures. Extending the lobbying ban beyond the current two years after congressmen leave office would improve the ethical climate. When enough congressional candidates take blood oaths to do both and are elected, it will be a snap. For all the time he spends out of state, Jindal could lead the national movement. But the governor strays far off constitutional base when he advocates turning Congress into a lesser branch of government. Jindal should know better, and probably does, but must like the red-meat, government-bashing sound of it when he says, “We used to pay farmers not to grow crops. Let’s pay congressmen to stay out of Washington, D.C.” To read the full column, click here.