Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal

In a speech opening the 2013 legislative session, Jindal is telling lawmakers that he is taking his plan off the table even as he said he will not "pout" or "take his ball and go home," instead asking lawmakers to develop and pass their own version of a plan to phase out the state's income tax, according to a copy of the governor's prepared remarks.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has had to give up on his extremist plan to abolish the state's income and corporate taxes and replace them with a bigger, badder sales tax, but abolition of the income tax remains his goal:Whatever the ultimate plan looks like, eliminating the state income tax is likely to make taxes more regressive:And the evidence that the economic benefits Republicans like Jindal are always claiming for lower taxes are real is, shall we say, mixed at best

Whatever happens with Louisiana's income tax, let's remember that Bobby Jindal's initial plan was too far, too fast for the state's Republican legislature. Recognizing a defeat was coming and pulling the proposal doesn't make him some kind of sensible moderate.