Jindal deserves second term posted Tuesday, October 11th, 2011 @ 9:32 pm  E-mail Story |  Print Story  It's been four years since Louisiana voters embraced a 36-year-old Republican congressman from Kenner and elected him governor. Yet, Louisianians did embrace Bobby Jindal, who blazed the campaign trail four-plus years ago promising to bring about change, most notably a departure from politics of the past. It would be naïve to suggest Jindal has put an end to all of the political shenanigans that have plagued Louisiana, and stymied her growth, for decades. Jindal, though, has made significant strides in cleaning up the state's image, especially in the eyes of the nation as a whole, which for years, justifiably recognized Louisiana as a Banana Republic. Besides improving Louisiana's reputation here at home and across the country, Jindal's most significant contribution since he took office in January 2008 – from our vantage point – concerns the hard line he has taken on not raising taxes to fuel the misguided demand for more and bigger government. Sadly, too many Louisianians still believe more government is the answer for the problems we face in life. Hopefully, in time, they'll recognize the error of their ways. Not only have we not witnessed an increase in taxes in Louisiana in the not-too-distant past, Jindal signed legislation that resulted in a tax cut for middle-and-upper-income wage earners. Though it could be argued that Jindal was a bit hesitant to embrace a roll back of the dreaded Stelly Plan, which gave us higher income taxes roughly 10 years ago, the fact of the matter remains that Jindal signed off on the bill that put Stelly out of its misery. And Louisiana and her people are better off because of it. No ifs, ands or buts. Closer to home, we cannot recall a governor who has done as much for northeastern Louisiana as Jindal has during his first term in office. Though his detractors bemoan the use of taxpayer dollars to convince businesses to remain and expand in northeastern Louisiana – or to relocate here altogether – we must remember our region of the state is one of the poorest in the country. Accordingly, we need all of the help we can get – within reason – to grow our economy in hopes of providing economic opportunities for people to live and work here. Foster Farms in Union Parish, the Gardner Denver Thomas and CenturyLink expansions in Ouachita Parish and Lamb Weston in Richland Parish are four economic development projects that are providing much-needed employment in northeastern Louisiana thanks, in part, to the Jindal administration's efforts. While he has done an impressive job in keeping a lid on taxes, improving economic conditions throughout the state and shoring up the state's image in the eyes of the nation, Jindal faces a number of challenges over the next four years, assuming the people reward him with a second term in office in the Oct. 22 primary election. Jindal must continue to work to improve economic opportunities for Louisiana's people in the face of a national recession. He also must not rest until Louisiana's public schools no longer rank among the worst-performing schools in the nation. There's more Jindal must do before his tenure as governor concludes, but we feel comfortable in putting him on the spot to accomplish it all. Why? Because it is inherently clear to us that Jindal may be the most capable governor Louisiana has elected in the past century. And he deserves another four years in office to prove it.