Jindal made it clear ethics reform would be his signature issue in his inaugural address, when he declared: "We can build a Louisiana where our leaders and our people set the highest standards and hold every member of our government accountable. A Louisiana where incompetence is not a synonym for government. A Louisiana where corruption does not hold us back. ... We must win a war on corruption and incompetence in government. ... It must be the first thing we do."

Jindal argued the perception of rampant corruption in Louisiana kept the state from attracting businesses and growing economically. Jindal's reforms were passed and made the Louisiana tax, employment, and regulatory systems more business-friendly. At the centerpiece of his economic agenda was tax relief for business and business investments, as well as the largest individual tax cut in Louisiana history.

The changes moved Louisiana from the bottom fifth in the country to "on par with the nation's best financial disclosure laws" as measured by the independent Center for Public Integrity.

Health Care

Given his work on health-care policy and as a health- care system administrator, Jindal is equipped to offer sound solutions to the nation's broken health care system and poised to combat a universal care approach favored by Democrats.

The state passed Jindal's Louisiana Health Care Reform Act in 2007, and in November, 2008, the Jindal administration offered the "Louisiana Health First" plan to implement it.

One of the ideas contained in the legislation would improve care by offering patients a network of "medical homes" managed by their primary care physician to streamline care from doctors, specialists and hospitals. The bill also required medical records to be stored electronically (something the Obama administration has also advocated) and creates quality controls to measure performance outcomes. Before the program can be implemented, however, a federal waiver must be obtained since the plan operates outside existing Medicaid rules.

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