The lone Democrat to announce he's running for governor, state Rep. John Bel Edwards, criticized Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal's budgeting tactics as "running the state like a big Ponzi scheme."
The lone Democrat to announce he's running for governor, state Rep. John Bel Edwards, criticized Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal's budgeting tactics as "running the state like a big Ponzi scheme."
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The lone Democrat to announce he's running for governor, state Rep. John Bel Edwards, says Louisiana's next leader will need to focus on stabilizing the state's finances.
Edwards criticized Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal's budgeting tactics as "running the state like a big Ponzi scheme."
He says Jindal's use of piecemeal financing, his draining of reserve funds and refusal to take certain federal dollars will leave his successor with a troubled budget situation.
Jindal has described his budget maneuvers - which have been approved by a majority of lawmakers each year - as helping to preserve critical services.
Speaking to the Baton Rouge Press Club, Edwards described himself Monday as a centrist running for governor in 2015. Other candidates include U.S. Sen. David Vitter and Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, both Republicans.