When the hospital lobby came to Bobby Jindal a few years ago to ask him to expand Medicaid, Jindal didn’t react the same way as Republican governors Mike Pence and John Kasich, who deferred to business. Jindal, per his telling, told the businesses they were wrong — that expanding Medicaid would be bad for taxpayers, bad for patients, and — in the long run — bad for industry.
Today, the issue is religious liberty, and once again Jindal is telling big business where it can stick its lobbying. In a New York Times op-ed, Jindal writes:
In Indiana and Arkansas, large corporations recently joined left-wing activists to bully elected officials into backing away from strong protections for religious liberty. …
As the fight for religious liberty moves to Louisiana, I have a clear message for any corporation that contemplates bullying our state: Save your breath….
Some corporations have already contacted me and asked me to oppose this law. I am certain that other companies, under pressure from radical liberals, will do the same. They are free to voice their opinions, but they will not deter me.
Some of this is just campaign-season rhetoric, but it’s quite a thing when a conservative Republican stakes himself out as the governor who will stand up to big business.
