In promoting his new book, which will be reviewed here in the near future, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal continues to impress. In this interview, Jindal makes the case for limited government:

The best idea proposed by Governor Jindal is making Congress a part time job. Government is a great exemplar of Parkinson’s law; work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. In fact, “no man’s life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session,” as Mark Twain said.

The 56th Congress met for eleven months in their two year period and no one can remember a single piece of legislation they passed. That should be the model for governments the world over – just get out of the way. There is no reason to have the Congress sit for 12 months a year. Better to have representatives go home and meet with their constituents.

Additionally, if Congress was only in session part time, Congressmen could be paid part time wages. Making members of Congress hold down real jobs at home would force them to suffer the effects of their legislation immediately. Would someone working in the real world vote for a costly healthcare bill that would have caused their employer to drop their healthcare?

Part time government is not just a theory. The Texas state legislature meets five months a year. Not coincidentally, Texas’ economy is recovering faster than the rest of the country’s. It is home to more Fortune 500 companies than any other state, and has an unemployment rate almost 2 per cent lower than the national average.

Governor Jindal’s other suggestions, like a balanced budget amendment, in conjunction with a super majority requirement to raise taxes are both giant steps in the direction of fiscal sanity.

A standalone balanced budget amendment would just give the Democrats cover to raise taxes every time they wanted to increase spending. However, forcing a super majority vote to raise taxes is a brilliant check on that power. Making it next to impossible to raise taxes, while mandating by law that the government maintain a balanced budget will necessarily reduce government in size.

Governor Jindal is someone conservatives ought to keep their eyes on. Although he seems determined not to run in 2012, he would make a great candidate. If not in 2012, there is most definitely a bright future ahead for the 39 year-old Governor of the Pelican State.