U.S.A.
Page 8 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
January 4, 2016
Jindal ending eight-year tenure with low support, but no regrets
FINAL DAYS. Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal
stands with an oiled Brown Pelican on the beach at
East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast,
in this June 3, 2010 file photo. Jindal is finishing his
final days as Louisiana’s governor. (AP Photo/Charlie
Riedel, File)
By Melinda Deslatte
The Associated Press
ATON ROUGE, La. — The
glimmer on Bobby Jindal has
faded for most voters as he wraps
up his final days as Louisiana’s governor.
While the governor has been travelling the
state to shine up his eight-year legacy, his
tenure appears tarnished by red ink.
The one-time rising Republican star has
seen his approval ratings tank, his presi-
dential bid end, and his performance as
governor marred by financial decisions
that left the state careening from one
budget crisis to the next.
Barry Erwin, president of the nonparti-
san Council For A Better Louisiana,
described Jindal’s time in office as
“opportunities lost.”
“People had huge expectations, perhaps
unrealistic expectations. But I think
there’s a sense, really and truly, that we’re
emerging in really difficult shape,” Erwin
said. “I think the accomplishments
probably will get overshadowed by the
wreck that the budget is in.”
As his time in office nears its January 11
end, Jindal, 44, gives no hint of regret, not
an inch of second-guessing his choices.
“I’ve worked as hard as I could for
Louisiana,” the term-limited governor said
in an interview with The Associated Press.
“Every single day I did what I thought was
right, and I’m comfortable with the
decisions I made.”
The Ivy League-educated son of Indian
immigrants, Jindal made history when he
took office in 2008. He was the nation’s
first elected Indian-American governor
and Louisiana’s first nonwhite governor
since Reconstruction.
He took over a state battered by
hurricanes Katrina and Rita, after
Democrat Kathleen Blanco — who had
defeated Jindal four years earlier — chose
not to run for a second term. Expectations
B
for Jindal soared after his decisive win and
a campaign built on reform.
But many now see Jindal as a
disappointment. The governor’s approval
ratings have fallen to 30 percent or less in
recent polls.
“When I talked to people, they saw a guy
who seemed to be a whole lot more
interested in his personal ambitions than
he was in them. And I think that’s how he’s
going to be remembered,” said term-
limited state senator Robert Adley
(R-Benton).
“Certainly he has accomplishments. But
anytime the public thinks you put yourself
above them, everything else goes away,”
Adley said.
Jindal counts among his biggest
achievements the privatization of the LSU
charity hospital system; the expansion of
charter schools and vouchers; and $62
billion in economic development wins
estimated to create tens of thousands of
new jobs.
Immediately after taking office, the
governor worked to improve the state’s
image with an overhaul of ethics laws. He
China responds to state of
Washington request for pandas
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A group of people backing an
initiative to bring pandas to the state of Washington say
they are encouraged by a response from Chinese
President Xi Jinping expressing interest in loaning a pair
of the endangered animals to the state.
The supporters said Xi responded to their letters signed
by about 40 state lawmakers asking for the pandas. In his
letter, Xi said he has directed his government to explore
different options for sending the animals.
Lakewood businessman Ron Chow, who has been
working on the issue, says Xi’s response is a good sign for
Washington’s panda proponents. But he says the state
still has a long way to go.
Pandas can be seen at four zoos in the U.S., including in
San Diego, Atlanta, Memphis, and Washington, D.C.
q
Prosecutors say man falsely claimed
he created Kung Fu Panda
BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts man who claims he
first came up with the 2008 animated movie Kung Fu
Panda is facing federal wire fraud charges for allegedly
trying to defraud DreamWorks Animation.
Jayme Gordon pleaded not guilty in Boston federal
court to four counts of wire fraud and three counts of
perjury. The 51-year-old Randolph, Massachusetts
resident was released on an unsecured bond. He’s due
back in court January 25.
Prosecutors say Gordon fabricated and backdated his
sketches and drawings, lied repeatedly during his
deposition, and destroyed computer evidence as he tried to
further a copyright infringement suit filed in 2011.
Gordon claimed the hit movie was based on a story he’d
written called Panda Power. He sought $12 million from
the California-based studio.
The Asian Reporter’s special Lunar New Year
Issue will be published on Monday, February 1.
To be included in this issue, advertising
space reservations must be placed no later than
Monday, January 18, 2016.
cut business taxes and revamped worker
training programs, and he poured millions
into direct incentives to draw companies to
Louisiana.
“He’s one of the best governors arguably
the state’s ever had as far as economic
development,” said lumber company
owner Roy O. Martin, a Jindal donor and
one of the governor’s appointees to the
Board of Regents.
Jindal describes his key initiatives in
ethics, education, and economic develop-
ment as aimed at keeping Louisiana’s
children from having to leave the state to
pursue their dreams.
“Eight years ago, the challenge was we
were losing our sons and daughters. Now,
one of our big challenges is we’ve got to
train enough people to fill these skilled
jobs,” Jindal said.
But the achievements have been
drowned out by constant budget
challenges.
When he took office, Jindal inherited a
more than $1 billion state surplus. Then, a
national recession, Jindal’s backing of the
largest individual income-tax cut in state
history, and the ballooning costs of tax
breaks siphoned money from the treasury.
Plummeting oil and gas prices worsened
the hit.
Backed by lawmakers, the governor
stripped $700 million in state financing
from higher education and chipped away
at funding for programs across state
government. But he refused to support
anything he considered a tax increase and
used patchwork maneuvers to pay for
government programs.
Jindal defends his management of the
state’s finances, saying the state received
credit upgrades on his watch. He said he
decided to grow the private sector economy
rather than the government and counts as
an achievement the reduction of more than
30,000 state workers.
“I think the approach we took was
absolutely right,” Jindal said. “We held the
line on taxes. We were willing to cut
government.”
Jindal disagrees with suggestions that
budget cuts — or his presidential
ambitions — took a toll on his approval
ratings with voters, insisting the nosedive
is tied to a 2012 education revamp that
rankled teacher unions and public school
leaders.
But Baton Rouge pollster Bernie
Pinsonat, who has tracked the governor’s
approval ratings, disagrees that education
was Jindal’s weak spot with voters.
People “didn’t think that their governor
should not be in the state when we can’t
afford to fund education and healthcare
properly, and it really turned voters off,”
he said. “The more he travelled, the more
he campaigned out of state, the more his
popularity fell.”
Miss Universe show, host apologize for crowning wrong woman
By David Bauder
AP Television Writer
EW YORK — The Miss
Universe pageant and host
Steve Harvey doubled down
on their apologies after an
excruciating live television moment
— announcing incorrectly that Miss
Colombia had won and then taking
the crown from her head to give to a
rival from the Philippines.
The fallout from the show made
Harvey an online symbol of “oops”
moments, drew a reaction from
Colombia’s president, and even a
gloating tweet from Donald Trump,
the pageant’s former owner.
As televised on Fox, the contest was
down to Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo of
Colombia and Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach
of the Philippines when Harvey, a
first-time Miss Universe host,
proclaimed Gutierrez the winner
after a long dramatic pause.
Music swelled, Gutierrez was fitted
for a sash, given flowers, and a crown
was placed on her head. That made it
two straight Miss Universe winners
for Colombia, where the pageants are
taken seriously. She bathed in
applause for nearly two minutes
before Harvey slowly made his way
back onto the stage.
“I have to apologize,” he said. “The
first runner-up is Colombia.”
The camera switched to a bewil-
dered-looking Wurtzbach, who came
back on the stage to get the crown as
the same celebratory music repeated.
Harvey said she’d be taking her first
walk as Miss Universe, but mostly
she stood immobile. A woman stood in
between the two contestants, trying
N
CORONATION CONFUSION. Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, left, and Miss Colom-
bia Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo wait for the announcement of the new Miss Universe at the Miss Uni-
verse pageant on December 20, 2015 in Las Vegas. Gutierrez was incorrectly crowned before
Wurtzbach was named Miss Universe. (AP Photo/John Locher)
to comfort Gutierrez by rubbing her happy to win, but confused and
concerned for her rival. She said she
back.
Two minutes later, the comedian tried to approach her backstage, but
who hosts his own daytime talk show the Colombian contestant was crying
as well as the game show “Family and surrounded by a crowd of women.
“I did not take the crown from her,”
Feud,” returned, saying “let me just
Wurtzbach said.
take control of this.”
Harvey explained on the air that he
Celebrations quickly turned to
misread the card he was given with anger in Colombia, where the hash-
the names of the winners. Colombia tag “Respect the Crown” was the
was listed as the first runner-up, and country’s top trending topic on Twit-
he’d been confused with how it was ter. Even the president was upset.
written. He held up the card for the
“They put the crown on her head,”
camera.
President Juan Manuel Santos said.
“It is my mistake,” he said. “Still, “The photos are there to prove it. To
it’s a great night. Please don’t hold it me, as a Colombian, she is still Miss
against the ladies. We feel very badly, Universe.”
but it’s still a great night.”
It was the pageant’s first time on
Harvey later tweeted an apology to Fox, and the Nielsen company said
the women and viewers. “I feel terri- the contest was seen in the United
ble,” he wrote. The Miss Universe States by 6.2 million people — strong
organization also issued an apology.
numbers for the network. The previ-
Continued on page 16
Wurtzbach later said she was