Bobby Jindal to GOP: It’s time to stop focusing so much on Washington
Jindal’s speech — and his call to “recalibrate the compass of conservatism” — is the latest shred of a growing amount of evidence that the Louisiana governor is positioning himself to not only run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 but do so in direct (or close to it) opposition to his party in the nation’s capital.
In the speech, Jindal will repeatedly caution that Republicans in Washington have fallen into the “sideshow trap” of debating with Democrats over the proper size of the federal government.
“By obsessing with zeroes on the budget spreadsheet, we send a not-so-subtle signal that the focus of our country is on the phony economy of Washington, instead of the real economy out here in Charlotte, and Shreveport (La.), and Cheyenne (Wyo.),” Jindal is set to say at one point in the speech. At another, he will argue that “Washington has spent a generation trying to bribe our citizens and extort our states,” adding: “As Republicans, it’s time to quit arguing around the edges of that corrupt system.”
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Nullification at the state and local level is the way forward. In the end, we will have to have the states – as part of their constitutional right – to call for and attend a Constitutional convention. This method of amending the US Constitution, although never used, totally circumvents the federal government.
Of course it would be a debacle, but it would start us down the road to true local/regional independence from the US government.
MoreLiberty on January 24, 2013 at 12:24 PM
“As Republicans, it’s time to quit arguing around the edges of that corrupt system.”
You have to like that.
Paul-Cincy on January 24, 2013 at 12:27 PM
Bobby Jindal is a DOER
jake-the-goose on January 24, 2013 at 12:28 PM
The problem is federal taxes dwarf state and local taxes. And if you oppose the federal government, it’s worse than fighting City Hall. Nobody beats the Feds. They are all-powerful.
Paul-Cincy on January 24, 2013 at 12:28 PM
True and not true – depends on the subject. There are ways to go about it. Nullification is one of them. The feds need locals and state officials in order to accomplish their goals. If the Feds come after guns it is very difficult when the state and locals don’t help. No back up, no assistance, no reporting…
MoreLiberty on January 24, 2013 at 12:32 PM
Well said.
gophergirl on January 24, 2013 at 12:39 PM
The federal government should be limited, as it was intended. Republicans like Romney who want to go to Washington and find the right top-down “fix” exacerbate the problem, not fix it.
besser tot als rot on January 24, 2013 at 12:42 PM
I wouldn’t vote for Jindal for President but I think he would make a great Senator for Louisiana. My problem with him has to do with his handling of the teaching of creationism in the schools. The public schools are not the place for that, particularly nationally. Using my school district as an example, I would say that fewer than 10% of the students are from an “Abrahamic” religion (Jewish, Christian, or Muslim) that believes in the biblical version of creation. Most are Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, or Confucians. Teaching the biblical version of creation in our schools would get a huge pushback from the parents as religious indoctrination and the schools do not have the time to teach the creation story of every possible religion of every possible student. The home or the church is the place for that teaching, not the public schools.
crosspatch on January 24, 2013 at 12:43 PM
I approve this message!!
rockmom on January 24, 2013 at 12:48 PM
Rand Paul/Jindal 2016? Sounds good to me. We’ll probably end up with Boehner/Hagel instead.
Shtetl G on January 24, 2013 at 12:56 PM
Jindal is correct on the matter, and yet oh-so-wrong. If we concentrate on state and local, Democrats will take the national popularity contest, and given that they want to expand the power that the fed has over the states, Jindal’s plan may not matter for much in the long run.
mintycrys on January 24, 2013 at 1:01 PM
I would love to see Jindal run in 2016. Not just because I like him as a candidate, but watching the oh-so-tolerant left’s hateful racist attacks on him would be very revealing
UltimateBob on January 24, 2013 at 1:02 PM
I agree 100% and have long advocated federalism as the solution to the cancer that is DC.
Click my name to read all my posts on federalism.
Charlemagne on January 24, 2013 at 1:28 PM
I could definitely get behind a Jindal/Rubio ticket.
Rubio gets the backseat because he’s got no executive experience yet.
Iblis on January 24, 2013 at 1:32 PM
So, what you’re saying is that you like his message about the federal government not imposing its will on states but you wouldn’t support him for fear he would use the federal government to impose his will on the state where you live. Do I have that right?
Odysseus on January 24, 2013 at 1:34 PM
Umm.. Vote for me for President rather than Ryan or Rubio.
Illinidiva on January 24, 2013 at 1:37 PM
+1.
People do not realize that colorado essentially nullified federal law when they legalized marijuana. To think that the states do not have any power in determining whether or not federal law is constitutional or not is to be completely ignorant of our history and foundational structure. Just because the federal branch decides something is constitutional does not make it so.
Meat Fighter on January 24, 2013 at 1:47 PM
I have and they are well written. The best and most succinct argument I have read regarding the power of the states is by Kris Anne Hall
http://www.krisannehall.com/index.php/blog/144-nullification-the-duty-and-right-of-the-states-pt-1
Meat Fighter on January 24, 2013 at 1:50 PM
What’s wrong with that? Ryan is a creature of Washington and Rubio is fast becoming one with his slide to amnesty for illegals.
Bitter Clinger on January 24, 2013 at 1:55 PM
Muthafoks you OWN pretty much the entire SOUTH!!
Quit crapping on the South and encourage these Southern Governors to say … OH HELL NO! To the Federal Government.
And by the way – the CONSERVATIVE SOUTH, geographically – is larger than most states of Europe so while you can say that the US as a whole is politically divided – you cannot say that about the South and that is significant as a fact.
Answers won’t come from D.C. – they will come from the states and we the people when we stand up to this tyrannical government.
HondaV65 on January 24, 2013 at 2:17 PM
It’s beginning again – I see we’ll be having Jindal and Rand Paul and prolly a host of others splitting the conservative vote in the primaries next go ’round …
While Chris Christie gains the nomination as the establishment choice with 30% support of the GOP electorate.
HondaV65 on January 24, 2013 at 2:19 PM