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Bobby Jindal: Stop Focusing On the Budget, Focus On ‘Winning the Argument’

Mar. 15, 2013 4:16pm Mytheos Holt

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal delivered an impassioned speech on the necessity of winning the argument for conservatism at the state level at this weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The address received a standing ovation from the crowd.

Jindal began his speech by recycling several jokes from his recent Gridiron Dinner speech, at which he skewered President Obama and the media in equal measure.

“The Gridiron Dinner used to be known as the night the media and the administration set aside their differences…” Jindal quipped, “…back when they had differences.”

But Jindal did get serious after a few minutes.

“After losing two Presidential elections in a row, now is certainly the time for some candid discussion,” Jindal said. “First radical concept I want to talk about is simply this: America is not the Federal government…A debate about which party can better manage the Federal government is a very small and shortsighted debate.”

Jindal went on to say that if someone observed America’s media, they could be forgiven for thinking Washington was the “hub of America” because it was the location of the federal government, whereas the states would be seen as virtual irrelevances. He also scolded conservatives for being distracted with what he described as “government sideshows in Washington,” like the sequester.

“Today’s conservatism is in love with zeros. We seem to have an obsession with government bookkeeping,” Jindal said. “If we could just put together a spreadsheet, then all would be well. I’m gonna say this obsession with zeros has all of us in our party focusing on what? On government…We as Republicans have to accept that government number-crunching, even conservative number-crunching, is not the answer to our nation’s problems. We must also face one more cold, hard fact – Washington is so broken, any proposal based on fiscal sanity will be deemed unserious by the media.”

After a few more lines, Jindal joked, “Nothing serious is deemed serious in Washington, DC.”

What Jindal meant by avoiding budget questions and the love of zeros rapidly became clear throughout the rest of the speech – he believes conservatives must avoid talk of austerity and should instead focus on promoting growth. In fact, Jindal explicitly attacked the idea of austerity later in his speech.

“We must not become the party of austerity. We must become the party of growth,” Jindal said. “Who of you here wants to sign up to slow the decline of the United States of America? I sure don’t. That’s what we’ve got Democrats for.”

Jindal also argued for reforming the Republican party so it would be more inclusive, without dampening principle.

“We don’t need to change what we believe as conservatives,” Jindal said. “Our principles are timeless. We have to be comfortable with the fact that our liberal critics in the media will say we haven’t changed anything unless we embrace abortion and socialism. My answer to them is simple: We already have one liberal party in America. We don’t need another one. But we do need to reorient our focus to the real world where conservatism thrives, in the real world beyond Washington and beyond the Beltway.”

Jindal’s ultimate call – to “win the argument” – was tempered with a final call to action in his speech. “As I close, let me just make this observation: America is facing her greatest choice, and the hour is late,” Jindal said. “We can either go down the government path or the American path. Now the Left is trying to turn the government path into the American path. Shame on us if we let them do that. We believe that freedom incentivizes ordinary people to do extraordinary things, and that makes America an exceptional nation.”

He concluded, “We must shift the eye-line and the ambition of our conservative movement away from managing government and towards the mission of growth. It falls to us to show the younger generation the wisdom and the great benefit of the American path.”

Watch Jindal’s speech below:

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Comments (26)

Grace1798
Posted on March 16, 2013 at 8:05am
Jindal is a freak! He believes his own lies….so that tells me he’s mentally challenged. Slaves riding horses is what we have running this country. And that term, “slaves riding horses” in the last days is found in Scripture in Bible prophecy for the last days. You can get a concordance and look it up. All I can say is Pray……….pray hard.

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SenorGato
Posted on March 16, 2013 at 1:58am
How does the old saying go? Open your mouth and remove all doubt that you are a fool? Enter Jindal. We have Democrats saying the same thing, we can grow our way out of the fiscal mess we are in, without spending within our means. Growth without fiscal discipline does not work. Think about it, although Obama has done enormous damage to our debt over the last 4 years, our debt has been growing and growing and growing for some time.. even through periods of good economic growth. We need fiscal conservatives like Ryan, not fools like Jindal.

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Concerned Green Beret
Posted on March 16, 2013 at 1:20am
As a staunch constitutional conservative, I see a lot of good conservatives out there. What is a pitty is that 3 of the brightest stars out there are ineligible to be president. They are Rubio, Jindal, and Ted Cruz. All have Natural Born Citizen issues and are ineligible to be president (or VP). I really like Cruz, but being born in Canada eliminates him. But there is some hope out there, Rand Paul seems to be one worth following, at least for now.

Or we could just blow off the constitution and put Rubio in there. I think that is what Fox news wants to do!!! Fox News will either push Rubio or go with some Rhino like Christie. Either way the constitution is in trouble. I mean double trouble, because putting another guy constitutionally ineligible (like Obama) will eliminate the Natural Born Citizen requirement and the protection of the office of president from another subversive like we have now.

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Southernsoul
Posted on March 15, 2013 at 7:53pm
Wow, you are right Advection. Jindal is horrible because of one bad bill. We need a good solid republican like McCain.

No one is going to be 100% perfect. Which is fine, because our government is not supposed to be run 100% by one person. You fill up Congress and the Presidency with Rand Paul’s, DeMint’s, Cruz’s, Jindal’s and Perry’s and we have a real good chance of fixing this country. Wait until we find someone who is 100% right 100% of the time and liked by 100% of the people and we’re done now.

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- Advection
  Posted on March 15, 2013 at 8:18pm
  It’s not just one bad bill. Jindal has been a horrific governor because of many bad bills and policies and tactics.
  
  Jindal ran on a platform of open government and ethics reform. However, he almost never talks to the press. When a reporter dared to write a critical article, Jindal has his office moved to the basement. The press office had been just down the hall from the governor’s office for generations, up until that point. And Jindal has stonewalled almost every request for information about his office from the press and legislature. Everything he does is sealed!
  
  And Jindal turned the Lousiana Board of Ethics into a Star Chamber. Prior to Jindal, it had been staffed by autonomous legal experts who investigated and judged cases. Now the committee are powerless cronies, and all power was handed to a single man, controlled by the governor.
  
  And by the way, several of his bad bills that didn’t pass last year are back this year for another try. I read a few of the bills last week, and guess what? Jindal is trying to lower everyone else’s pensions while exempting his own, again!
  
  I could go on.
  
  Report this comment
- brother_ed
  Posted on March 15, 2013 at 9:54pm
  @SOUTHERNSOUL
  
  I agree that one of the biggest challenges we face is putting forth the ‘perfect’ candidate for everyone.
  
  Glenn gave a great analogy sometime back, maybe others can correct me, as I’m sure I’ll get it wrong.
  
  It went something like:
  
  When we were in high school, we all wanted to marry a super-model.
  
  As time went on, most of us changed our standards to something based more in reality; we got married to an average, but acceptable girl and raised a family.
  
  Except the guy who wouldn’t budge from his standard…he’s still single.
  
  I’m sure I mangled it, but it works for me.
  
  It is admirable to wait for a royal straight flush before you enter the game, but it’s time we play the hand we’re given.
  
  Report this comment
LOJ
Posted on March 15, 2013 at 7:11pm
Alot of Republicans are problem solvers…we have brilliant governors who have made a tremendous difference in their states, and new Senators and Congressmen who are also Conservative principled people. Jindal articulates his ideas well, as does Scott Walker, John Kasick, and Rick Perry. They need to be more agressive in dealing with truth and facts, especially when they are debating the Left which cares only about winning instead of helping the American people.

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crusaderx9
Posted on March 15, 2013 at 5:42pm
A big bold vision of freedom and liberty has a gravitational pull all its own — but it takes an inspired leader of great character that can hump the load while being attacked and mocked.

Jindal is the most negative self-proclaimed “positive” force for conservatism. He has no problem sniping at his own party but never himself rises up as a national force to solve the problems he identifies.

He complains about others while being wholly incapable of elevating the Conservative movement or bringing that exuberant spirit of President Reagan and American exceptionalism to the American electorate much less the rest of America.

A disheveled Jindal is neither inspiring nor capable of leading a successful expedition to reclaim America. He is a welcomed face in the audience demonstrating wisdom and competence at his level.

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- crusaderx9
  Posted on March 15, 2013 at 7:04pm
  A disheveled Jindal is neither inspiring nor capable of leading a successful expedition to reclaim America. He is a welcomed face in the audience demonstrating wisdom and competence at his level. However, he is woefully inadequate beyond his small pond and as a critic he is neither credible nor welcomed.
  
  Report this comment
Advection
Posted on March 15, 2013 at 5:32pm
Jindal is not about conservatism, he’s about himself. If you read the local news in Louisiana, you’ll find that Jindal runs state government like a dictator. He dumps contributions on legislators to get their votes, then he gives them high-paying government jobs when they leave the legislature, sometimes he gives them several titles, so they can double-dip.

And when anyone SAYS anything that is at odds with his plans, he destroys them. Last year he subpoenaed the emails of a legislator to find out which citizens had communicated with them. And when citizens spoke before legislative committees, Jindal had them change the rules and each person was grilled about who they worked for and whether they were on vacation time or sick leave to be there.

Jindal cut the state hospice for the poor. The state was spending an average of $500 per dying, suffering poor citizen to give them a bed and pain medicine as they expired. The total was a few million dollars per year, but Jindal cut it. He only reversed that policy after national media drew attention to it.

And he’s currently in the process of offloading corporate taxes onto the poor. I’m not against oil companies, but they have to come to Louisiana to extract Louisiana oil, and much of it is on state land, owned by the People. But Jindal wants to eliminate their taxes and make up for it by raising everyone’s sales taxes!

I could go on and on.

I see people saying they like Jindal. That’s because you don’t know him

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- Advection
  Posted on March 15, 2013 at 5:54pm
  Here is another example…
  
  Louisiana has several retirement systems, for teachers, police, civil servants, judges and politicians.
  
  Last year Jindal tried to pass several bills aimed at changing the calculations so people would basically lose 2/3 of their retirement. HOWEVER, Jindal exempted himself and his legislator pals, who are already in a separate a gold-plated retirement system, from those changes. AND Jindal was caught planning the purchase of years of service, which means he might be able to start drawing a fat retirement as soon as he leaves office!
  
  http://louisianavoice.com/2012/03/26/heres-a-warm-fuzzy-for-every-state-civil-service-worker-jindal-buying-air-time-to-enhance-his-own-retirement/
  
  Anyone still think Jindal is great?
  
  Report this comment
YOURSENSEI
Posted on March 15, 2013 at 5:19pm
This is what you must know:

Why is this man green?

it is so.

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- Advection
  Posted on March 15, 2013 at 5:32pm
  Zombie.
  
  Report this comment
- Verceofreason
  Posted on March 16, 2013 at 3:25am
  Mayne he’s drinking that other guy’s Soylent crap?
  
  Report this comment
Shasta.Red.Banks
Posted on March 15, 2013 at 4:54pm
Why can’t we focus on both?

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- pauli101
  Posted on March 15, 2013 at 5:28pm
  exactly. Jindal claims, deficits, debt dont matter. Jindal is a fraud.
  
  Report this comment
Locked
Posted on March 15, 2013 at 4:45pm
“After losing two Presidential elections in a row, now is certainly the time for some candid discussion,” Jindal said. “First radical concept I want to talk about is simply this: America is not the Federal government…A debate about which party can better manage the Federal government is a very small and shortsighted debate.”

Jindal continued by saying: Also, I’m trying my best to make sure we lose the third. I’ve bet a lot of money against us!

Sorry Mr. Jindal, but while you may think the excessive spending of our government is not important and that we should focus on legislating social issues and policing individuals’ behavior, I (and any other Constitution-loving conservative) would prefer the EXACT OPPOSITE. And if your solution to the last two GOP losses is “More of the same, but even more of it!” I hope you’re looking forward to loss number three.

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OldGringo
Posted on March 15, 2013 at 4:38pm
Time to pull the plug on all the Democratic BS, waste, fraud & abuse in DC

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soybomb315_II
Posted on March 15, 2013 at 4:32pm
i thought fixing the budget was a big part of winning the argument?

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Gonzo
Posted on March 15, 2013 at 4:24pm
I like Jindal, but he looks like the Indian Alfalfa.

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- S-O-B-E-R
  Posted on March 15, 2013 at 4:30pm
  heh heh.
  
  Report this comment
RoDogg
Posted on March 15, 2013 at 4:24pm
“We must not become the party of austerity. We must become the party of growth,”

Actually Bobby, We should be even more than the party of austerity. The last thing we need is more growth.

We should be the party of…. cut the government in half and privatize the heck out of the rest.

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- BetterInformed
  Posted on March 15, 2013 at 4:42pm
  Ne’s speaking of “Economic Growth”.
  
  Report this comment
- Exxodus
  Posted on March 15, 2013 at 4:47pm
  I’m not sure I get what you’re saying. Why wouldn’t you want more growth in the economy? More growth = more revenue = reducing the debt without raising taxes.
  
  And what he’s saying about not being the party of austerity, is that we will never reach people with the message of “cut, cut, cut.” Conservatives already understand this principle, so there is no need to constantly focus on it. Plus the left bases a large part of their scare tactics around our message of cutting the government. We say cut spending, and they immediately tell people we’re trying to take their vital programs from them.
  
  Instead, we should be focusing our message on how conservative policies will benefit the individual as well as the nation. We need to take our message away from hammering on D.C. and instead promote the states, and the opportunities we can help give to the states.
  
  The GOP’s biggest problem is their messaging. Whether it be too much focus on cuts and on D.C. or in getting side tracked by social issues that don’t immediately need to be discussed. We’ve got to change, and we’ve got to change now.
  
  Report this comment
- soybomb315_II
  Posted on March 15, 2013 at 4:55pm
  cuz the problem is not taxation – the problem is government spending. It is the government spending is the monster that creates the problems. An economy that grows because of government is a phony economy, just ask the USSR
  
  Report this comment
- YOURSENSEI
  Posted on March 15, 2013 at 5:22pm
  This is what you must know:
  
  Congrats, boys. You just summed up the cluelessness of conservatives and Republicans.
  
  it is so.
  
  Report this comment

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