Instant Karma's Gonna Get Ya, Bobby

Seems the subject of my slightly infamous rant on NMMNB (anti-government Tenther Republicans like Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal now begging for federal help) is a sore point among congressional Dems too.  TPM's Christina Bellantoni:

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) took a swipe at Jindal when I asked during a brief interview this week if Congress was considering any funding to add to what BP will do. "Well you know, here we go. You know, the governor of Louisiana says the federal government should stay out of the state's business," Menendez told me Tuesday night. Jindal's office said they would respond but haven't yet gotten back to me. We'll update if they do.

Oh and the best part?  There's just not the desire there to spend money for a supplemental aid package for these Gulf Coast red states.

But several other Hill sources I talked to said they think that's doubtful. "There is not the appetite for that right now," a House Democratic leadership aide told me bluntly in an interview. What's more, lawmakers don't view this as anything like the Katrina fallout since so much of the region's infrastructure had been wiped out and so many people were displaced. The aide said the oil spill is much more isolated and that arguing the tourism industry would be hurt is unlikely to win over many votes on the House side.

Jindal, a potential presidential contender, has tussled with the administration over health care reform and accepting economic stimulus funds. He earned intense mocking for criticizing federal volcano monitoring funding. He's boasted about what the stimulus has done for Louisiana as well.

But sure enough following the oil spill, Jindal's office filed a request for federal funds, saying that "in an abundance of caution, we are seeking this preliminary approval should [the responsible party BP's] plans fall short of meeting the needs of our people." That contingency note was as Jindal asked for federal employment benefit services funding from the Department of Labor to help pay for "disaster related workforce training and job placement services and unemployment benefit services for workers displaced as a result of the oil spill."

Remember, Jindal, along with Texas Gov. Rick Perry, SC Gov. Mark Sanford, and Moose Lady, made a big stink about how accepting federal unemployment money from the stimulus was unacceptable.  All of them relented, of course.  But not until they played politics with the measure.

Now of course Jindal is pleading for federal dollars.  And Congress?  Well gosh, there's not the "appetite" for a new aid package from either side of the aisle.  Dems are pissed off, and Republicans figure Jindal's on his own, especially if the resulting disaster takes him out of the 2012 picture.

The people of Louisiana deserve better, from BP, from Congress, and from all of us.  This disaster may end up being 3,000 miles of Katrina across a dozen states on the eastern seaboard.   But they also deserve better politicians than Jindal, too.  And it also proves that eventually everyone needs some help.