GOP Uses Jindal Speech to Attack Obama's Stimulus Plan

PART1 Jindal's Response to Obama's "State of the Union Address"


PART2 Jindal's Response to Obama's "State of the Union Address"

Transcript of Jindal's Response to Obama's "State of the Union Address"

Prior to last night's "State of the Union Speech" by President Obama; Professor Jeffrey Sadow, a political scientist at Louisiana State University, predicted that after having observed Bobby Jindal for the last several years, said of Jindal: "He will have a lot of positives and not many negatives ... He has a tendency to talk rapidly so, as long as he doesn't get too excited, he'll do fine."

As it turned out Jindal gave a horrible showing for himself.

Long seen as a front runner for the Republican nomination for president in 2010, Jindal has come to represent a Republican Party that is truly in the process of remaking itself in order to present a stiffer challenge to the extremely popular President Obama and his large majority of democratic cohorts in the Congress.

"Jindal grabbed US media attention over the weekend by vowing that he would not take part of Obama's $787bn stimulus package destined to go to Louisiana.

"The amount, to increase unemployment benefit, is relatively small but it allows Jindal to stake out an ideological position against Obama on the biggest issue facing the US today; the White House plan to buy its way out of recession."

Although he is always quick to deny it; Jindal "... has been criss-crossing the country since late last year to build up support for a presidential race, and has included a visit for the first time to Iowa, where the race will formally begin. He is also touring to show he is capable of raising the millions needed to fight for the presidency."

So last nights performance had a great deal riding on it for the 37 year old Governor from the state of Louisiana. In other words, a stellar performance would have boosted Jindal popularity as well as his ability to raise huge sums of cash from GOP donors.

Jindal was born of parents "... from the Punjab but Jindal, whose given name was Piyush but which he switched to Bobby, was brought up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was educated in the US and at Oxford university. He was a member of the US House of Representatives before becoming governor of Louisiana, the first person from a non-European background to do so in the southern state.

"He was born and raised a Hindu, but converted to Catholicism and also has links to Protestant churches. Unusually for a Rhodes scholar, he believes in creationism, a viewpoint that increases his appeal to Christian evangelicals.

"Jindal's politics are firmly on the Republican right: he is opposed to abortion, embryonic stem cell research, gay marriage and the moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling.

"One of the most controversial incidents from his past was a claim to have witnessed an exorcism, though he has since partly rowed back on that."

So the pressure on Jindal, to come across to the public as a Republican version of Barack Obama, was intense as his rise has been carefully choreographed by a "... Republican party, (that) for so long (was) dominated by wealthy, old white men, is taking seriously its efforts at a makeover. The party that last month chose an African American, Michael Steele, as its first party chairman has come to regard Jindal, who is of Indian descent, as one of the front-runners for the party nomination."

But less than twenty four hours after his huge chance to gain fame and fortune as the GOP front runner for 2010; criticism is freely flowing in Jindal's direction.

“A lot of Republicans I am speaking with were expecting this would be like Obama’s moment in 2004” when he spoke at the Democratic National Convention and gained immediate national fame, said David Johnson, a Republican strategist who advised Bob Dole in 1988. “He bombed out.”

Philip Klein of the “American Spectator” added his own biting criticism when he said of Jindal, he “seemed more like a high school student giving a valedictory speech than a potential future leader of the party.”

Fox News curmudgeon, Brit Hume said: “The speech read a lot better than it sounded. This was not Bobby Jindal’s greatest oratorical moment.”

All of the reviews Jindal received were less critical. One time RNC Communications Director, Carl Forti sought to tamp down the criticism by saying Jindal must still be looked at as a viable candidate. “People are watching him right after they watched Obama, and Obama may be better than Reagan,” said Forti. “I’m sure that affected people’s opinion.”

Republican strategist, Terry Holt, who worked as a spokesman for George W. Bush; said: “I am very cautious to take away too much from a single performance. My sense is it’s a difficult position to be in” appearing after Obama gave such an effective speech.

Those comments pretty much summarized the execution of the speech by Jindal.

The other important aspect to consider about Jindal's party-backed response to President Obama and the Democrats was Jindal's use of sharp criticism against Obama and his stimulus plan that the offered to the American people much of the same old same old, the GOP is famous for.

Jindal praised the merits of small government that Republicans stand for; except those who sat in the Whitehouse for the last eight years: "Instead of trusting us to make decisions with our own money, they passed the largest government spending bill in history with a price tag of more than $1 trillion with interest," he said of Democrats. "Democratic leaders say their legislation will grow the economy. What it will do is grow the government, increase our taxes down the line and saddle future generations with debt."

Taking a direct swipe at Obama, Jindal complained: "we appreciate his message of hope, but sometimes it seems like we look for hope in different places. Democratic leaders in Washington, they place their hope in the federal government. We place our hope in you, the American people."

Jindal's best Reagan impression came off as tired and flat when he referred to President Obama's warning that the country must take quick and decisive action on the economy or "our nation will sink into a crisis that, at some point, we may be unable to reverse." That's where Jindal weakly exorcised the GOP's Reaganesque spirit to weakly say: "A few weeks ago, the president warned that our country is facing a crisis that he said we may not be able to reverse," Jindal said. "Our troubles are real, to be sure. But don't let anyone tell you that we cannot recover. Don't let anyone tell you that America 's best days are behind her."

Jindal's criticisms deviated very little from those overused and tired phrasings and decades old rhetoric used by congressional Republicans who have failed to live up to their pledges of bipartisanship.

So it was not unexpected that Jindal called the stimulus “irresponsible.” He continued the attacks he started a few days ago when he said Obama's plan is a tax inflater and deficit creator. Jindal complained that the stimulus was "... no way to strengthen our economy, create jobs, or build a prosperous future for our children.”

“The strength of America is not found in our government. It is found in the compassionate hearts and enterprising spirit of our citizens,” Jindal said in arguing that the stimulus plan and other proposals by Obama to revive the nation’s economy rely too much on government spending and taxes.

Jindal turned again to Reagan when he repeated that government does not bear all the answers to all of the problems facing the nation. Jindal argued: “It comes down to an honest and fundamental disagreement about the proper role of government,” he said. “We oppose the national Democrats’ view that says the way to strengthen our country is to increase dependence on government. We believe the way to strengthen our country is to restrain spending in Washington, to empower individuals and small businesses to grow our economy and create jobs.”

Once again demonstrating the Republican's lack of new ideas Jindal said: “Washington must lead. But the way to lead is not to raise taxes and not to put more money and power in the hands of Washington politicians. The way to lead is by empowering you -- the American people.”

Bloomberg News reported that Jindal "... said Republicans have put forward plans to create jobs by lowering income-tax rates, cutting taxes for small businesses, strengthening incentives for businesses to invest in new equipment and hire new workers, and stabilizing home values by creating a new tax credit for homebuyers."

Jindal followed up by saying: “These plans would cost less and create more jobs” than Obama's plans.

On the topic of bipartisanship, Jindal said: “You are looking to your elected leaders in Washington for solutions,” he said. “Republicans are ready to work with the new president to provide those solutions.

“Where we agree, Republicans must be the president’s strongest partners. And where we disagree, Republicans have a responsibility to be candid and offer better ideas for a path forward,”Jindal said.

Finally, Jindal admitted that Republicans became careless with their fiscal responsibility to the federal budget: “You elected Republicans to champion limited government, fiscal discipline and personal responsibility,” Jindal said. “Republicans lost your trust -- and rightly so.”

Trouble Within the Ranks of GOP Governors

Over this past weekend, at a GOP governors' gathering in Washington,the chief executives of several states "split sharply during the weekend over how to respond to the economic crisis, a debate whose outcome will go a long way toward shaping how the national party redefines itself in the wake of its election defeats of recent years."

Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina, one of the most ideologically right wing members of the conservative Republican governors, recently said:“There’s a tug of war right now within the party as to where we go next,... I am in the camp that says we go back to basics. There are other folks who say something a little different. The answer will be determined in this tug of war.”

Among those opposing Sanford and his small band of ideologues has emerged the ideas and actions of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, who in the past week has raised taxes to meet a $42 billion budgetary shortfall.

Mr. Schwarzenegger was widely quoted just yesterday for complaining against the conservative ideologues who “were not in touch with what the majority of people want to do in California.”The New York Times characterized Mr. Schwarzenegger as being undeterred "by the attacks from Republicans," and the California governor pledged to go against the wishes of conservative ideologues and "would try again to win health insurance coverage for all Californians, though it would require new taxes," The New York Times reported.

Mr. Schwarzenegger, driving home his point against the ideologically driven conservatives, and explained: “Even though it is against your principles or philosophy,... what the people want you to do rather than getting stuck in your ideology.”

For those who are interested in the recovery or disintegration of the Republican Party since its election defeats in 2006 and 2008; this years annual governors winter meeting has provided a stage for differences to be aired n public.

The GOP faces a battle for control over the future direction of their party. As map of the political landscape shows today; the Republican's strength is found among conservatives found mostly within a belt of southeastern states; making the GOP a regional party with a small, but highly dedicated and ideologically driven base. Their conservative influence at this point in time in the Northeast is negligible with no congressional seats and only a handful of moderate Senators still in office. The GOP's conservative base in the Midwest and West is better than their nonexistent presence than in the Northeast, but is not a growing base; it is rapidly shrinking with the rise of democratic Hispanic populations of voters.

"And with the party leaderless after losing control of both the White House and Congress in the past two election cycles, the split is colored by early maneuvering for conservatives’ support among potential aspirants for the party’s 2012 presidential nomination," The New York Times observes.

The New York Times continues to assess the epicenter of conservative ideologues: "Several governors, nearly all of them Southerners known to have national ambitions, have been withering in their criticism of Mr. Obama’s stimulus plan, which received only 3 of 219 Republicans’ votes in Congress. The harshest critics include Mr. Sanford and Govs. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Haley Barbour of Mississippi, the national chairman of the party in the 1990s, Rick Perry of Texas, and Sarah Palin of Alaska, the party’s 2008 vice-presidential nominee."

Governor Rick Perry voiced his opposition to President Obama's signature into law of the "H.R. 1, the $787 billion stimulus package" which Perry characterized would "burden future generations with unprecedented levels of debt."

Although Perry criticized the signing into law of the stimulus, he artfully skirted the issue of whether he would reject federal dollars from the stimulus b saying that if: "Congress pass stimulus legislation using Texas tax dollars, I would work to ensure that our citizens receive their fair share."

Governor Perry engaged in more parsing when his letter to President Obama/Press Release made the following request for the stimulus money and then stipulated how he intends to use the funds: "On behalf of the people of Texas, please allow this letter to certify that we will accept the funds in H.R. 1 and use them to promote economic growth and create jobs in a fiscally responsible manner that is in the best interest of Texas taxpayers. I remain opposed to using these funds to expand existing government programs, burdening the state with ongoing expenditures long after the funding has dried up.

Perry concluded his message by telling President Obama that his approach to stimulating the economy using spending increases was wrong: "On behalf of the people of Texas, please allow this letter to certify that we will accept the funds in H.R. 1 and use them to promote economic growth and create jobs in a fiscally responsible manner that is in the best interest of Texas taxpayers. I remain opposed to using these funds to expand existing government programs, burdening the state with ongoing expenditures long after the funding has dried up.

The New York Times summarized the attack/accept positions of the conservative governors: "After initially saying they might reject any federal aid, several conservative governors said in interviews over the weekend that they were likely to reject only the money for expanded unemployment compensation because of federal strings that could require them to provide relief to part-time workers who lose jobs as well as to full-time workers. Many other states already provide such aid."

Governor Jindal had "announced on Friday that he would reject the $100 million for unemployment compensation in the estimated $4 billion for Louisiana. And on “Meet the Press” on NBC, Mr. Jindal stated: “Now is the time, and it’s a great opportunity for Republican governors and other leaders to offer conservative-based solutions to the problems.”

Referring to having been chosen to give the GOP's reaction to President Obama's Tuesday night's congressional address; Mr. Jindal's responded by answering: “We need to work with the president every chance we can. But on principle — when we disagree with him — we should be unafraid to stand up on principle and to point out our alternative solutions.”

Governor Charlie Crist of Florida, disputed Mr. Jindal’s comments and said: “There is a national leader, his name is President Obama,... I think we do need to be bipartisan,... We need to be, in fact, nonpartisan.”

Mr. Crist, a Republican governor, actively pushed for Mr. Obama's stimulus plan in Florida.

The New York Times characterized Mr. Crist's remarks directed at "some of the Republican governors’ criticism of the unemployment compensation." Quoting Mr. Crist: “In the past five weeks, I’ve visited six unemployment offices throughout Florida,... I look into the eyes of these people, and I understand that the challenges are serious that they’re having to deal with, and I want to do everything I can to help them.”

In another interview, Mr. Crist pointed out that “I am not here to judge,” he said of the conservatives who are against the stimulus, but he compared himself to Mr. Schwarzenegger's support of the stimulus as perhaps emblematic of just the actions of two governors whose support: “Maybe it’s a result of being from larger states,” that also electorally supported Mr. Obama.

Mitch Daniels, the governor of Indiana, a long-time red state, which was another state that voted for Obama last November, has said: “I want this president to succeed because I want America to succeed,... There will be plenty of time for alternatives later.”

Speaking for a possible Republican electoral victory bonanza down the road if the Obama plan fails, Mr. Barbour wistfully recalled the mid-1990s GOP capture of the House and Senate while Bill Clinton was president and cited the conditions for such a triumph:“The last time Republicans made a comeback, it was led by Republican governors,... Now we have to take that same approach, take our values and principles,” he said, and “tie them to the new issue set (of the recession )that we have to deal with.”

There are some Republican governors who have taken a middle ground. Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota has aspirations to run for president in 2012 and builds his strategy on attracting "women, Hispanics, younger voters and independents" to insure a GOP recovery in 2012.

Mr. Pawlenty added his thoughts:“The Republican Party is going to have to adhere to its principles, because they are foundational and they are important. But they need to be presented in a hopeful, optimistic, up-tempo, modern, practical way, and that’s not what we have been doing recently... We’ve become too petty and angry in many aspects,” Mr. Pawlenty said. “That’s unappealing to swing voters.””

Greta Van Susteren interviewed another Republican critic of the Obama Stimulus; Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. Ms. Palin voiced her opinion that the president should veto the stimulus and send it back to Congress and make them read the bill in it's entirety so they would be able to understand the real impact of the bill. Ms. Palin was less precise on her plan for whether she would take all of the money."Palin supported plans for new infrastructure spending, but opposes expansion of social programs."And while the cameras were rolling; Palin tried to whip up fears about the "return" of the Fairness doctrine."She said it is dangerous to attempt to silence those that are asking questions about our government."