June 24, 2015

Louisiana Has A Lot Of Problems. This Is How Bobby Jindal Made Them Worse.

http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/06/24/3615327/bobby-jindal-running-president-ran-louisiana/
"As Jindal’s administration slashed millions from the budget for STD prevention, and prevented new Planned Parenthood clinics from opening, Louisiana developed the second-highest rate of gonorrhea in the country, the third-highest rate of syphilis, and the fourth-highest rate of chlamydia. New Orleans also has the second-highest number of estimated HIV cases in the country, and the highest rate of death after HIV infection. The state has the fifth-highest rate of teen pregnancy.
Despite these alarming numbers, Jindal signed a bill in 2014 that bars anyone affiliated with Planned Parenthood from teaching students about sexual health or family planning.
Additionally, though 16.6 percent of Louisiana residents lack health insurance, one of the highest rates of uninsured people in the country, Jindal refused the federally funded expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and declined to set up a state-based health exchange. If the Supreme Court rules over the next few weeks against Obamacare’s federal subsidies, as many as 250,000 Louisianans could lose their coverage.
Over Jindal’s time in the governor’s mansion, the state’s higher education system has also taken a major hit, with more money cut per student than almost any other state in the country. In the 2015 budget, facing a $1.6 billion dollar shortfall, Jindal proposed even deeper cuts to Louisiana State University that threatened to eliminate entire programs and campuses. Using some bizarre accounting gimmicks involving fees and tax credits that canceled each other out, the Jindal was able to temporarily avoid the devastating education cuts, but whoever takes over the governor’s mansion in January will have to sort out the long-term deficit.
At the same time, the governor has given more than a billion dollars each year in tax breaks to wealthy corporations in the film, retail, and fracking industries."