Hey Bobby, It's Time To Give More

Bobby Jindal thinks "government is the problem" and you "can't trust the Federal government".

As he looks at his home state of Louisiana, does he think private and small businesses are going to rebuild New Orleans? Did he think the government was big enough at the time Katrina was washing away an entire city? Does he think the post-Katrina response was adequate? Should the government have been bigger and bolder in protecting New Orleans and the Gulf Coast? And as he looks at David Vitter, his Senator who cheated on his wife while wearing diapers, can he trust him? I guess I would be dubious, too, but I'd still have hope.

Maybe you can't see how great government is from your vantage. After all, you are a product of Louisiana politics and its storied corruption. But where I live in New York City I have great mass transit that runs 24 hours, a police force that has cut crime massively, a Mayor who banned smoking, and for all it's flaws, it gets it right most of the time.

When you approach things from presumed failure and want to cut your responsibilities, you're doing the exact opposite of what you probably do in private life. If your son was failing in school, you would get him a tutor. But, as a conservative, you like the idea of getting a tutor for only your son because you can afford it. If there was a way to chip in a few Federal bucks and have a few parents pay to have a few students tutored, you would vote against it.

Turning your hate and lack of trust in the government onto yourself, reflects back on you as a person. We usually hate what we don't know and don't trust things because we are untrustworthy. Maybe you should expose yourself to more cities and States, Bobby. Maybe visit some schools and libraries and see what the future looks like. Ride a subway and have dinner with a fireman. Or maybe hang with an unemployed derivatives trader and wax nostalgic about Barry Goldwater's defeat in the 1964 or how Bush 41 bailed out the S&Ls in the 90s.

My advice Bobby, embrace that the Government your Republican Party under Bush 43 grew to its largest size ever and harness it's big lumbering inefficiencies for good. If you could re-do Katrina, I'm sure you would do a better job. You would have done for Louisiana what we are trying to do for America now: It's at these times we need not less, but more.