On the evening of February 24, 2009 President Barack Obama delivered a speech to the Congress to discuss the state of the economy and the plans for its recovery. Because of what is left of the Fairness Doctrine, the Networks are required to air a response from the opposing party. Gov. Jindal of Louisiana was chosen by the Republicans to give the response to the Obama Speech.
Jindal started by listing a history of the United States that included the journey from slavery to the first African-American President to address a joint session of Congress. He then went into why the Republicans opposed the Obama Stimulus Bill stating, "That is why Republicans put forward plans to create jobs by lowering income tax rates for working families, 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 home-buyers. These plans would cost less and create more jobs."
This failed Republican idea that cutting taxes creates jobs has been disproved throughout the eight years of the failed Bush Presidency, whose policies, including tax cuts, is what has landed us in this mess. Why would cutting taxes create jobs now when it failed to create jobs and grow the economy in the last eight years, the proposal is outright audacious. What good is cutting taxes for workers who don't have jobs? They will not be paying taxes anyway, so exactly who will benefit from the proposed tax cuts that Jindal claims will create jobs, only the wealthy, the same ones who benefited throughout the Bush Administration.
Jindal then goes on to blame the Democrats for not including Republican "ideas" in the Stimulus Bill, even though the Stimulus Bill was watered down and shifted to a Bill that contains almost 47% tax cuts and 53% spending in hopes of achieving votes from the Republicans. Even after this dramatic shift from the original drafts that the Democrats proposed to a Bill that included tax cuts, the Republicans failed to cast even 1 vote for the Bill in the House. The Republicans, as expressed in the Jindal speech fell jilted by the lack of Republican policies in the Stimulus Bill. The history of the last eight years have taught this Nation that the Republican Ideology of Governance is a failure and has brought our Nation to its Economic Knees, why should Republicans have any input in Economic ideals, when their ideals have produced a failed economy.
Jindal also claims that the Stimulus Bill was the largest spending bill passed by Congress, this seems to ignore the fact that trillions of dollars were spent by the Bush Administration to invade and occupy the Sovereign Country of Iraq. Although not all of the Iraq spending was contained within one bill, it is without a doubt the LARGEST WASTED EXPENDITURE IN AMERICAN HISTORY, and it was spent by a REPUBLICAN, without any accountability. Where are the accountants of money spent in cash during the Provisional Authority Government that the Bush Administration established under Paul Bremmer following the invasion of Iraq. Jindal talks about accountability, why is he not demanding accountability of the Iraq money spent in secret by the Republican Bush Cheney Administration?
Gov. Jindal continues, " 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. Who among us would ask our children for a loan, so we could spend money we do not have, on things we do not need? That is precisely what the Democrats in Congress just did. It's irresponsible. And it's no way to strengthen our economy, create jobs, or build a prosperous future for our children." By this statement it is obvious that Jindall knows not from whence we came. The Republican Bush Cheney Administration with a Republican controlled Congress inherited the largest surplus in American History from the Democratic Clinton/Gore Administration and in eight short years turned that into the largest deficit in American History and spent it on NOTHING. They did not improve the lives of Americans, in fact more Americans drifted into poverty under the failed Republican policies of eight years of Republican rule.
Almost every main stream economist throughout the world states that the ONLY way to stimulate the economy is for every central government to spend as much money as possible rebuilding their infrastructures to create jobs, yet Jindal and the disillusioned Republicans still believe that the only way is to give the rich a free ride and reduce their taxes even further. If you are blessed enough to have become wealthy in America, as a human being you should have no moral objection to contributing a percentage of your wealth to the furtherance of the Society as a whole. The wealthy will now realize that if the People live in poverty even their wealth will be diminished.
President Obama has proposed raising taxes on the wealthy to start addressing the National deficit issue, but Jindal and the Republicans will also oppose this because although they talk about not passing debt on to the next generation they feel that they should not be the ones to pay, their approach is only the working and middle class should pay not only taxes but with their lives, sweat and blood.
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