This is on top of a cumulative 46 percent cut to higher ed over the Jindal years. If this cut goes through, LSU (and other state universities) will be getting only 25 percent of the state funding it received when Jindal took office. Think about that. It’s a disaster. Gov. Jindal and the GOP legislature have been a catastrophe for higher ed in this state.

To be fair, they are constrained by constitutional and voter-approved restrictions that either dedicate money to particular programs or firewall others from the budget process. In the past, that has meant that lawmakers only have room to maneuver within the higher ed and health care budgets. Last year, voters protected Medicaid from further state cuts, which leaves higher ed as the only target left.

But Jindal has done a number on health care for the poor too. He has largely privatized the state’s public hospitals, and refused as a matter of principle to take the federal Medicaid money due the state because of Obamacare. So now he can tell GOP primary voters nationwide that he stood up to Obamacare. Here’s a slice of life story about what that meant to my family recently.