Bobby Jindal Lays a Turd
By Larry Johnson on February 24, 2009 at 11:37 PM in Current Affairs
Nocturnal Warrior and crew are doing a bang up job analyzing Barack Obama’s SOTU (which left me thinking, “Barack STFU). But Barack has nothing to worry about. He was followed by Bobby JIndal, Governor of Louisiana and America was reminded in a very forceful way why the Republicans should not be in charge. After listening to Governor Jindal’s response it is clear neither he nor the Republican establishment has a clue. Jindal missed his opportunity to be memorable and humble. He was wooden and ultra conventional. Here is what he should have said:
On behalf of the Republican Party I want to apologize to you for our negligence and our poor decisions which have helped create the economic mess we are in. We forgot our fundamentals. We allowed ourselves to be distracted from the war on terror against Islamic extremists and started an unnecessary war in Iraq and, in the process, squandered over $600 billion dollars we should have spent at strengthening our military and domestic economy. Our party has been punished, appropriately so, for failing to deliver genuine tax reform, for failing to provide cost-effective government and for failing to rein in government spending.
We have heard you and we repent. We cannot change the past but we sure as hell can change the future. We are not going to repeat the mistakes of the past.
We agree that our nation’s economy is in trouble and that people are suffering. But we also know that Government spending does not guarantee better economic times. How do I know? In the eight years under George W. Bush we doubled our nation’s debt–from $5 trillion to $10.9 trillion. Despite all of the spending our economy is floundering, unemployment is growing, and many banks are in trouble.
So what do we do?
For starters, Government itself needs to tighten up and feel some pain. President Obama should freeze Government hiring (except for the military) and reduce Governmet salaries (20% for those making more than $120,000, 15% for those making more than $75,000 and 10% for those making less than 75,000). People who are working and being paid by the taxes of the American people should also share in the pain.
Second, President Obama and the Congress should impose a one-year moratorium on payroll and social security taxes for people who make less than $300,000. This will allow wage earners to keep more of their own money up front.
Third, Congress should pass legislation providing each family making less than $200,000 a year a $5000 grant.
Fourth, a ten percent tax credit should be provided to every person, regardless of income level, who purchases a new car, a house or condominium or a boat.
Fifth, Government should do its job of regulating and monitoring the financial sectors of the economy. Congress and the regulators failed to do their job. That is no longer acceptable.
Sixth, for companies who provide health care coverage at present we should commit the Federal Government to picking up the tab for the healthcare costs of new employees. That program should remain in place until the economy is growing at a rate of 3% for 6 consecutive quarters and unemployment is below 7%. At that point the U.S. Government will phase out its support over a two year period.
Finally, for the short term, the Government should extend unemployment benefits for six months. We recognize that there are many people who want to work and the current disruption is causing a lot of pain.
In proposing this approach we recognize that Government has a legitimate and responsible role to play in helping promote the welfare and security of our people. But we will not make our people richer or safer if we abandon the principles of fiscal responsibility and promoting the private sector.
Thank you and good night.
That might have caught some national attention. Jindal, you sucked!
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