At least two Louisiana politicians used the Independence Day break to toss political firecrackers using health care reform as the match.
Tuesday night, north Louisiana's representative on the Public Service Commission  took Gov. Bobby Jindal to task for refusing to implement provisions of the Affordable Health Care Act that was largely upheld last week by the Supreme Court.
“He and his family have access to state-subsidized health care, and yet he denies health care for hundreds of thousands of Louisiana residents who cannot afford it. It’s the worst form of hypocrisy,” said PSC member Foster Campbell, D-Elm Grove, in a statement.
From the right, U.S. Sen. David Vitter invoked the Spirit of '76 in his own July 4th statement in an effort to energize opposition to Obamacare.
"In 1776, our young nation declared its independence from England because their government was overbearing, taxing on their wallets and rapidly expanding its powers over the daily lives of the colonists. Fast forward to last week's Obamacare decision by the Supreme Court and we might feel like little has changed."
After a flurry of post-Supreme Court comments and appearances, Jindal was silent on the Fourth of July. He previously said he would not expand Medicaid coverage nor establish private insurance exchanges. Instead Jindal, discussed as a possible running made for GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney, is banking on Obama being voted out of office in November followed by a congressional repeal of the act in 2013.
“We have parishes in the Mississippi Delta where three of every five children live in poverty – the worst poverty in the United States,” Campbell stated. Referring to a past  dispute he had with the governor, he added, “Bobby Jindal is turning his back on these children, just like he did last year when he refused an $80-million federal grant to deliver Internet service to schools, hospitals and people in these same rural areas"
In a Sunday Meet the Press appearance, Jindal acknowledged a need to reform the health insurance marketplace, but with a different approach. "I do agree the status quo's not acceptable. I just don't think this expensive, unsustainable entitlement program is the solution to our problems."