Heirs of Liberty Press

Bobby Jindal

C. Gialluca, Reporter / Columnist

Born in Baton Rouge Louisiana on June 10, 1971 to Punjabi Indian Agrawal immigrants, Piyush “Bobby” Jindal was raised a Hindu and converted to Christianity (Catholicism) in High School. Jindal's self-adopted nickname, "Bobby", dates to his childhood and his identification with the sitcom character Bobby Brady. After graduating from Baton Rouge Magnet High School, Jindal attended Brown University and graduated with honors in biology and public policy. Considering a career in either medicine or law, Jindal attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar and attained a M.Litt. Degree in political science in 1994. Reportedly having been accepted at Harvard Medical School and Yale Law School, Jindal instead chose to enter the work force and accepted a job at McKinsey and Company and worked as a consultant for fortune 500 companies.

In 1996, then Louisiana governor Mike Foster appointed Jindal to be secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. During his tenure as secretary, Louisiana's Medicaid program went from bankruptcy with a $400 million deficit into three years of surpluses totaling $220 million. In 1998, Jindal was appointed Executive Director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare. President George W. Bush appointed Jindal to serve as Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2001. He resigned from the position in 2003 to return to Louisiana and run for elected office for the first time.

In 2004 he was elected to the 109th United States Congress representing the First District of Louisiana. In Congress he was elected Freshman Class President and served on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, the House Committee on Homeland Security, and the House Committee on Resources and he was made vice-chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Prevention of Nuclear and Biological Attacks. Bobby also served as Assistant Majority Whip. He was reelected to Congress in 2006.

On January 22, 2007, Jindal announced his candidacy for governor of Louisiana, and was was sworn in as Governor on January 14, 2008. Shortly after taking office, Governor Jindal called a Special Session to address comprehensive ethics reform, the cornerstone of his election platform. Since the conclusion of the session, the Better Government Association and the Center for Public Integrity announced that Louisiana’s new ethics laws are among the best in the nation. Additionally, the Governor's second Special Session eliminated burdensome taxes that deterred investment in Louisiana and limited the growth of existing Louisiana businesses.

On December 10, 2008, Jindal indicated that he would not run for president in 2012, saying he will focus on his reelection in 2011 and that this would make transitioning to a national campaign difficult, though he later attempted to leave himself the opportunity to change his mind in the future.

Jindal has a 100 percent pro-life voting record according to the National Right to Life Committee. He opposes abortion with no exceptions. However, he does not condemn medical procedures meant to save the life of a pregnant woman that would indirectly cause the termination of the pregnancy. In 2003 Jindal was reported to have stated that he did not object to the use of emergency contraception in the case of rape if the victim requests it. He opposes embryonic stem cell research and voted against increasing federal funding to expand embryonic stem cell lines.

Jindal opposes the legalization of same-sex marriage. He has voted for the Federal Marriage Amendment to restrict marriage to a union between one man and one woman. In December 2008, Jindal announced the formation of the Louisiana Commission on Marriage and Family, including individuals representing organizations that oppose same-sex marriage.

As a private citizen, Jindal voted for the "Stelly Tax plan", a referendum named for former state Representative Vic Stelly of Lake Charles, which swapped some sales taxes for higher income taxes. As Governor, Jindal initially opposed reforms to the Stelly plan that would result in over $300 million in tax cuts. He later agreed to the tax cut after the legislature appeared headed to eliminating the entire personal income tax, which Jindal also opposed.

Jindal voted yes on making the PATRIOT Act permanent, voted in favor of the 2006 Military Commissions Act, supported a constitutional amendment banning flag burning, and voted for the Real ID Act of 2005. Jindal has an A rating from Gun Owners of America.

In 2006, Jindal sponsored the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act (H.R. 4761), a bill to eliminate the moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling over the U.S. outer continental shelf.

In 2007, Jindal led the Louisiana delegation in Congressional earmark funding. According to Taxpayers for Common Sense, in 2007, Jindal's earmark funding was 14th among all Congressmen. As Governor in 2008, Jindal used his line item veto to strike $16 million in earmarks from the state budget while allowing $30 million in legislator added spending.

Jindal supports the teaching of intelligent design in public schools. Despite calls for a veto from groups as diverse as the ACLU, the National Review, and Jindal's own biology professors at Brown University, Jindal signed the Louisiana Academic Freedom Act in 2008. The text of the LSFA suggests that it's intended to foster critical thinking, calling on the state Board of Education to "assist teachers, principals, and other school administrators to create and foster an environment within public elementary and secondary schools that promotes critical thinking skills, logical analysis, and open and objective discussion of scientific theories."

On June 25, 2008, Jindal signed the Sex Offender Chemical Castration Bill authorizing the chemical castration of those convicted for a second time of certain sex offenses. Jindal has also voted against giving the federal government jurisdiction to help local law enforcement with hate crimes based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender and disability.

Jindal has been an opponent to the 2009 Stimulus Plan. Citing concerns that the augmentation of unemployment insurance may obligate the state to raise taxes on businesses, Jindal has indicated his intention to forgo federal stimulus plan funds ($98 million) aimed at increasing unemployment insurance for Louisiana. Louisiana was set to receive about $3.8 billion overall. Jindal intends to use at least $2.4 billion from the stimulus package. He called the plan "irresponsible", saying that "the way to lead is not to raise taxes and put more money and power in hands of Washington politicians."

Jindal’s pre-2001 writings include several articles in the New Oxford Review, one of which later made news during Jindal’s 2003 gubernatorial race. In that 1994 article for the New Oxford Review, Jindal described witnessing a friend seemingly being possessed by a demon, but also wrote that he was unsure in retrospect what had happened.