Grover and Jindal
I promised some griping on Grover Norquist's endorsement of Bobby Jindal for VP, so here it is. According to CNS, this is what Norquist said:
“Bobby Jindal is a great American. He is great on guns, great on taxes, a Roman Catholic, a Southerner and an Indian-American. Bobby Jindal would be great for the GOP and perfect for McCain.”
I find this rousing endorsement strange. Americans for Tax Reform, which Grover Norquist heads up, takes its Taxpayer Protection Pledge super seriously. In general, pledge breakers are considered persona non grata with the organization. When Reps. Walter Jones (NC-03) and Wayne Gilchrest (MD-01) violated their pledges, Grover Norquist went to North Carolina and Maryland to campaign for their respective primary challengers.
So I have to ask, why doesn't this rule apply to Bobby Jindal? Jindal signed the pledge as a member of the 110th Congress. Then he broke it. In fact, Jindal is listed on ATR's website among its list of House farm bill pledge breakers.
In July 2007, Jindal voted for the original version of the 2007 farm bill, which contained a last-minute tax increase on foreign companies with U.S. subsidiaries. Because of the tax increase, even Republicans with heavy agricultural districts voted against the bill. Only 19 Republicans voted for it; Bobby Jindal was one of them.
This is what Grover Norquist had to say about pledge takers who voted for the farm bill:
The recently-passed Farm Bill (H.R. 2419) contains a provision that violates the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. The tax increase in question would take away a net income tax deduction to corporations. This $7.8 billion, Pledge-violating tax increase is unacceptable. All Members of the House were notified again and again that voting for this tax increase would constitute a violation of the Pledge that they made to their constituents.
So how did a pledge breaker who voted against CAFTA, for a minimum wage increase, and for a class-warfare laden CEO pay bill become, in Grover's words, "perfect for McCain?" Jindal is an impressive politician and has accumulated some admirable accomplishments, but I don't think he has proven himself worthy of the conservative movement's unbridled adulation just yet.
