Free Republic

Tea Party Patriots 2012 Presidential Poll Who do you think would make a great conservative president? (Consider only their commitment to the constitution, charisma and personal integrity. Do NOT consider their ability to win.)

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) ― Gov. Bobby Jindal was scheduled to spend a night in New Jersey and attend a fundraiser for Chris Christie, a fellow Republican who's running for governor there, Jindal's press office said Monday. Jindal was scheduled to travel to Warren, N.J., near New York, on Monday, spokesman Kyle Plotkin said. Jindal would return to Baton Rouge on Tuesday, he said. Christie, a former federal prosecutor, is running against Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine.

BATON ROUGE -- Gov. Bobby Jindal traveled to a Houston suburb Thursday night to raise money for his 2011 re-election campaign, according to his staff. The event in Katy, Texas, continued a string of out-of-state fundraisers for Jindal, who has traveled from coast to coast collecting money despite having no announced opponents. Jindal also has raised money for Republican political candidates.

This past Sunday, I was in the small town (population: 12,000) of Eunice, Louisiana with my wife visiting with her parents. We went to church and to our surprise, Governor Bobby Jindal was slated to speak. Why were we surprised? Well, the church (Christian non-denominational) has an average attendance of only about 50 each Sunday. Surely the Governor has bigger fish to fry than speaking to a group of 50 small town folks, right? But, there he was. I was able to shake hands with him and we discussed the weather. He kept thanking us for having him. Could not...

A majority of so-called Republican strategists believe that health care is a Democratic issue. They are wrong; health care is an American issue, and the Republican Party has an opportunity to demonstrate that conservative principles work when applied to real-world problems

Several months ago, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal was the hot ticket in the Republican Party. Unfortunately, he bombed when giving the GOP response to President Obama's address to Congress in February. Now, he is registering at the bottom of the pack among potential GOP presidential hopefuls. At the recent Values Voters Summit hosted by the Family Research Council in Washington D.C., Jindal finished seventh with only 5% of the vote. With such lackluster results, Jindal is revamping his strategy. In an interview with Politico, Jindal recommended that Republicans work with President Obama to find compromise on the issue of health...

Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal urged his party Tuesday to shift to offering health care solutions instead of just rejecting what [Alleged] President Barack Obama and the Democratic majority in Congress are proposing. “I think now is the perfect time to pivot and to say, not only here’s what we’re against, and not only here’s how we’re going to contrast ourselves, but here’s what we’re for,” Jindal said in an interview with POLITICO. Jindal acknowledged that the Republican Party for years had been too slow to stake out positions on the health care debate “to our peril and the nation’s...

In the latest Forbes magazine ranking of the Best States for Business, Louisiana jumped five spots from 49th in 2008 to 44th in 2009. Forbes ranked Louisiana 50th in 2006, and 49th in 2007 and 2008. The ranking evaluates the 50 states on six different categories, including business costs, labor supply, regulatory environment, economic climate, growth prospects and quality of life. Louisiana's improved standing was the result of significant jumps in three categories. Louisiana's growth prospects ranking moved up from 17th to eighth in the nation. This category reflects expectations for the state's future performance in job growth, income growth...

BATON ROUGE - Governor Bobby Jindal has issued an executive order cutting off current and future state funding to ACORN following a series of incidents captured on videotape and the subpoena of documents from the group’s national headquarters in New Orleans by the state attorney general's office. The executive order states that, “ACORN’s actions make clear that financial involvement with ACORN is contrary to the public policy of the State of Louisiana and the best interests of its citizens.” The order prohibits all state agencies from entering into future contracts with ACORN or its subsidiaries and directs the agencies to...

ST. AMANT -- After a disastrous speech to the country in February, followed by a spring lawmaking session dominated by budget battles, Gov. Bobby Jindal in recent weeks has resumed the peripatetic campaign-style pace that has been a source of both political strength and fodder for his harshest critics. A 64-parish, statewide "working tour" across Louisiana featuring campaign-like speeches and check-signing ceremonies is reintroducing Jindal to home-state voters who, according to a recent poll, have grown less enamored with the man they elected in 2007 and are wary of his apparent national ambitions. The tour also comes as Jindal is...

Perspectives of an Indian Convert July 31, 1993 Bobby Jindal Editors’ note: On October 20 36-year-old Republican Bobby Jindal was elected governor of Louisiana. In the early 1990s, Mr. Jindal wrote two articles for America recounting his conversion from the Hindu faith of his parents to Catholicism. The following excerpt is taken from "Has Ecumenism Made Evangelism Irrelevant?" which was published on July 31, 1993: I was born in the United States immediately after my parents arrived here from India. I was raised in a strong Hindu culture, attended weekly pujas, or ceremonial rites, and read the Vedic scriptures. Though...

The Talk Shows Sunday, July 26th, 2009 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): White House press secretary Robert Gibbs; Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.FACE THE NATION (CBS): David Axelrod, White House senior adviser; Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn.; Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La.THIS WEEK (ABC): Sens. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and Jim DeMint, R-S.C.STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; David Axelrod, White House senior adviser.

JINDAL APPROVAL 55%2012 MATCHUPS: JINDAL 54 OBAMA 40 PALIN 49 OBAMA 42 SHOULD JINDAL RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN 2012? YES 27 NO 61

Louisiana has come a long way since the mid-1990s. Back then we remember a couple of years when the biggest job deals were new Wal-Mart stores. Those days are gone, replaced by a Louisiana economy that is as vibrant as any in the South. In fact, over the last three years no state in the South has performed better than Louisiana, as evidenced by 2007 and 2009 "State of the Year" honors and an "Honorable Mention" in 2008. This year Louisiana is sharing “State of the Year” honors with Tennessee. Louisiana led all Southern states in the all important points...

ohn Roberts, on the July 21 edition of American Morning, appeared to expect Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal to turn in a weak performance on the issue of health care. Hilarity ensued, as Jindal, who turned down Harvard Medical and Yale Law for a Rhodes scholarship at Oxford, proved to be anything but a pushover. The would-be newsman kicked off with some misleading statistics about Jindal’s performance as governor: Governor, it’s good to see you. You penned a rather scathing editorial for the Politico.com on the Democrats’ health care proposals. But your state ranks dead last in the United Health Foundation...

Fresh off a legislative session that he dominated, Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal has injected himself into the national discussion on health care, blasting the idea of a public insurance plan pushed by Congressional Democrats and the Obama administration. In an online column published today at Politico.com [http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25136.html], Jindal, widely viewed as a future presidential candidate for the GOP, repeats many criticisms that Republicans and health insurance executives have leveled at Democratic plans moving through Congress. The House Democrats' version, Jindal said, would eventually run private insurance companies out of business, leaving the country with "government-run health care." "The plan the...

Here is video of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Hannity last night warning against the consequences of passing Obama's Government Health Care Plan. Jindal warns that if passed, it will result in virtually everyone but the wealthy being forced into the government option. As many as 100 million Americans could be forced out of their private plan and into the government option. Jindal called the bill, "a very, very dangerous piece of legislation." Jindal went on to discuss the state of the economy at large. Jindal wrote an opinion piece on the health care bill that appeared in Politico yesterday....

Things in Louisiana are looking up. We are announcing major economic development wins and private capital investment and reducing government spending in order to live within our means. We just completed a grueling legislative session where we all had to work together, Democrats and Republicans, to find a way to do more with less. We trimmed government spending, protected vital services and refused to raise taxes. (As is the case in any legislative body, some gave it a try). I can’t say our legislative session was much fun, but it was necessary, and it is the American way. Or, at...

BATON ROUGE -- At the request of the National Rifle Association, Gov. Bobby Jindal has vetoed a bill that would have made it a crime to illegally carry firearms within 1,000 feet of a sanctioned parade or demonstration."The National Rifle Association and others have requested (a) veto of this bill in part because it does not exempt firearm carriers with a valid (state-issued) permit . . . or unintentional violators, " Jindal said in his veto message. He said he has already signed into law a bill making it a crime to recklessly discharge a firearm within 1,000 feet of...

With his admission of an affair with a reporter from Argentina, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford became the latest in a growing list of GOP lawmakers who have confessed to infidelity. His acknowledgment of the long distance relationship cast the Governor in a negative light and not surprisingly there have been increasing calls for his resignation. Not only did Sanford leave his wife and children on Father’s Day weekend, but he also jettisoned his gubernatorial responsibilities for five days and lied to his staff about his whereabouts. These behaviors will not soon be forgotten by South Carolina voters. While he...

In a Republican Party of Kansas Poll the results where not even close.

The Grand Old Party's 2012 presidential pool isn't looking so grand these days. Add Nevada Sen. John Ensign's and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's extramarital affairs to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's unconvincing TV speech and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's family dramas, and the Republican presidential herd is thinning fast -- leaving many to wonder who will lead the party in its attempt to reclaim the White House. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels are the names now being whispered in Republican circles as potential...

An epic fail, courtesy of the Louisiana GOP, and a helpful illustration of what’s wrong with the GOP at the national level as well. Bobby Jindal - who, in spite of some serious flaws, is still the best governor we’ve had in my lifetime - refused part of the Federal “stimulus” package. His reasons for doing so were well-publicized; he didn’t want to commit Louisiana to an unemployment benefit extension that will obligate Louisiana taxpayers to pay up after Federal funding runs out. Rather than debate this decision on the merits, Democratic Rep. Avon Honey sneaked a provision into an...

Don't see this posted using search. Basically, the Louisiana GOP voted unanimously to override Louisiana Gov. Jindal's rejection of the Obama stimulus money. The LA House voted 99-0 on the bill.

Governors across the country are clamoring for a piece of the stimulus, eager to avoid laying off state employees, hoping to put their unemployed citizens back to work and trying to avoid widespread furloughs as budgets bleed red ink. They know that their citizens want to keep libraries open, teachers in the classroom, cops on the beat and firefighters ready to protect people and property. Except in the South. Southern governors--Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Mark Sanford of South Carolina, Haley Barbour of Mississippi--have been pressing the case that the federal stimulus bill is a mistake; they argue the emerging Republican...

Gov. Bobby Jindal made a firm declaration in his speech to more than 800 Loyola University New Orleans graduates today. "I'm going to start, hopefully with a line that'll get me a lot of support here today. I'm not here to give you a speech about politics," he said to some applause. "There is nothing worse than a commencement speech where politicians come to tell you about all the great things they've done. This is your day, not mine." Jindal, who received an honorary degree from Loyola, went on to tell students to keep an open mind, seek the truth,...

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Gov. Bobby Jindal is among more than two dozen conservatives scheduled to speak at a September "values voter summit" in Washington. The Family Research Council announced the lineup Monday. The governor will join GOP luminaries such as talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck, and possible 2012 presidential candidates Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney. The Sept. 18-20 meeting is one of the largest annual gatherings of Christian conservative voters who form the Republican Party's base. Jindal, considered by many a rising Republican star and a future presidential candidate, has said...

Looking to rebrand a struggling Republican Party, a group of party heavyweights including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) are launching a new group that will hold town halls around the country and look to produce GOP ideas on issues like education and health care. Republicans will announce today the creation of the "National Council for a New America," a group led by congressional party leaders that includes Bush, McCain, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal as its "national panel of experts." A letter announcing the group's creation does not specifically say...

Reeling congressional Republicans today launched a new effort days after their latest setback -- the defection of Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, putting Democrats within reach of potentially being able to push legislation through the Senate without a single Republican vote. House GOP Whip Eric Cantor announced that the National Council for a New America will hold its first event on Saturday with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who ran last year and could run again in 2012; Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, another possible 2012 contender; former Governor Jeb Bush, the former president's brother; and Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, a...

BATON ROUGE -- As Gov. Bobby Jindal's profile in the Republican Party rises, so does the bill for Louisiana taxpayers. Widely considered a GOP presidential contender, Jindal insists he's only interested in re-election as governor, but he has traveled to a dozen states to collect campaign dollars and stump for himself or other Republicans. An Associated Press review shows that providing legally mandated security on such trips has cost the state treasury tens of thousands of dollars since Jindal took office in January 2008, money that has not been reimbursed by Jindal or his campaign.

Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) suggested Thursday that former Vice President Dick Cheney should tone down his criticism of President Barack Obama. Cheney has repeatedly criticized the president’s national security policy, saying recently on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Obama’s decisions “raise the risk to the American people of another attack.” Asked to respond to Cheney’s remark during an interview ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Jindal said: “I don't think we should question President Obama's patriotism or his intentions.” “I think Democrat or Republican, we should all agree that our current president, our former president would obviously want to do everything...

Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal is against Obama's economic recovery plan

On GMA.

People, please. Get a grip here. Palin, in her testimony yesterday, was clearing stating that it is essential for the United States to develop domestic sources of energy. She never says that global warming is man-made. She recognizes that changes are occurring in the environment, but she never says that man is to blame. She also pushed for more oil exploration. Palin is the governor of Alaska, Alaska depends on energy exports for their economic growth. Therefore, Palin is looking out for the needs of Alaskans... which is what she has always done and will continue to do. This is...

Who's poised to lead the Republican party out of the woods? John McCain seems convinced that one GOP notable is not the person for the job, someone he's quite familiar with - his former running mate. On Monday's "Tonight Show," Jay Leno asked the Arizona Senator to name the new guiding lights of the Republican party, and McCain was quick to rattle off a list of "young, dynamic" governors around the country. Palin wasn't one of them. McCain singled out Lousisana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Florida Gov. Charlie Christ, Minnesota's Tim Pawlenty, and Mitt Romney, McCain's chief rival for the Republican...

The list of governors threatening to decline federal stimulus money last month read like a list of Republicans considering running for president in 2012: Govs. Mark Sanford, Bobby Jindal and Sarah Palin led the anti-stimulus charge. But what began with a bang is ending with something closer to a whimper. All three of those governors have been forced to scale back their expectations, to varying degrees, as the push of conservative philosophy gave way to the pull of political reality. All three found that praise from the conservative movement in Washington meant nothing to furious state legislators of both parties....

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) plans to reject two health care program expansions available through the federal economic stimulus package because accepting the money would require additional state funding at a time when Louisiana faces budget problems, according to Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports (Moller/Scott, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 4/1). Jindal already has rejected $98 million from the stimulus package in federal unemployment funds that would have allowed more residents to receive benefits. The funding would have allowed the state to extend from one year to 18 months coverage under the Transitional Medical...

BATON ROUGE -- Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration notified legislative leaders Tuesday that it plans to reject some federal health-care dollars for the poor and uninsured, marking the second time the governor has opposed taking a portion of the economic stimulus package. Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine said accepting the new federal financing would require the state to put up matching money that it doesn't have and could create unaffordable obligations in the years ahead.

With U.S. unemployment at the highest level in more than a quarter century, six Republican governors would rather play politics with the lives of their citizens than help them make ends meet.

There's a new gotcha game in Washington, according to some Republicans, involving a four-letter word: Fail. The person whose failure or success is in question is President Barack Obama. And if you're not for him, you're against economic recovery and the country's longterm health. Or at least that's how some Democrats choose to see it, according to a prominent GOP up-and-comer. Louisiana Governor and possible 2012 GOP presidential contender Bobby Jindal called Democrats out on that presumption in a speech at a major Republican fund-raiser on Tuesday night in Washington, D.C. As President Obama was preparing to take the stage...

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The Democratic National Committee fired back Wednesday at Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal for saying it is OK for Republicans to want President Obama to fail if they think the president is jeopardizing the country. "We understand that Governor Jindal has had some problems with public speaking lately, but turning to Rush Limbaugh to be your new speechwriter doesn't help," DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan said in a statement sent to the media. "What we know has failed is the reflexive partisan politics of the past that Rush Limbaugh and his Republican party continue to be mired in.

WASHINGTON (March 24) - Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal again found himself carrying the Republican mantle opposite a primetime appearance from President Barack Obama on Tuesday, saying Republicans must be ready to defy the president when they disagree with his policies. He also joked about his widely panned response to Obama's address to Congress last month. "We are now in the position of being the loyal opposition," Jindal said at a Republican congressional fundraising dinner that only by coincidence fell on the same night as Obama's news conference. "The right question to ask is not if we want the president to...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- -- It's OK for Republicans to want President Obama to fail if they think he's jeopardizing the country, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal told members of his political party Tuesday night. Jindal described the premise of the question -- "Do you want the president to fail?" -- as the "latest gotcha game" being perpetrated by Democrats against Republicans. "Make no mistake: Anything other than an immediate and compliant, 'Why no sir, I don't want the president to fail,' is treated as some sort of act of treason, civil disobedience or political obstructionism," Jindal said at a political fundraiser...

**AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY*** NOTE: Governor Frequently Ad-Libs Remarks Thank you so much for having me tonight. It’s truly an honor to be offered this opportunity to speak to you all. I sure appreciate John Boehner’s leadership, as well as Eric Cantor, Pete Sessions, and the whole crew. There is a camaraderie and unity of purpose that is developing among your ranks that has excited conservatives and Republicans around the country. On behalf of rank and file conservative Americans everywhere, I’d like to thank you all for standing on principle. Many of you have asked that I reprise my State...

Louisiana Governor Urges GOP to Stand Up to Obama By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS March 24, 2009. WASHINGTON (AP) -- Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal again found himself carrying the Republican mantle opposite a primetime appearance from President Barack Obama on Tuesday, saying Republicans must be ready to defy the president when they disagree with his policies. He also joked about his widely panned response to Obama's address to Congress last month. ''We are now in the position of being the loyal opposition,'' Jindal said at a Republican congressional fundraising dinner that only by coincidence fell on the same night as Obama's...

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal took a pummeling for his national debut, but his wife, Supriya, is still one of the party’s hottest rising stars. Meghan McCain talks to her about their marriage, her reaction to the negative press on the speech, and why her husband converted to Christianity. Plus, why the GOP needs to stop focusing on its next leader and how Bobby delivered one of their kids in the bathroom.

What follows is a slightly edited version of an email I sent to a a couple of close friends back in January 2008 about Mike Huckabee as an example of the GOP's rise in the New South. I didn't have a blog back then and I found it again while cleaning out my email today. I think this post still rings just as true today as Southern Governors like Bobby Jindal and Mark Sanford rise to prominence as leaders of the GOP. The GOP's complete reconstruction of the New South By IkeonicRemember Bush 41 smearing Bill Clinton as "the failed...

NEW ORLEANS—Louisiana has 15 days to add the names of both fathers to the birth certificate of a boy born in Shreveport and adopted by a gay couple from out-of-state, a federal judge has ruled. The state is asking the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the ruling by U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey, and to halt the order in the meantime, state Attorney General Buddy Caldwell said Thursday. "The federal district court has significantly misinterpreted Louisiana vital records law, forcing Louisiana to import and adopt New York law," he wrote in a brief e-mailed statement. Oren Adar...

BATON ROUGE -- Gov. Bobby Jindal's workforce commissioner said Thursday that the U.S. Labor Department's latest clarification of the federal stimulus act has opened the possibility that the administration could consider accepting a previously rejected $98.4 million package of extra jobless benefits, although important questions remain in what has become a high-profile issue. Tim Barfield, the governor's appointee as head of the Louisiana Workforce Commission, said the federal agency has made "real progress" in allaying concerns about strings attached to the program. State agency officials are seeking more answers and continuing to examine the consequences of accepting the money, Barfield...

Gov. Charlie Crist signed the paperwork today to officially certify that Florida, like every other state, wants a piece of the federal stimulus pie. But unlike some other Republican governors (Louisiana's Bobby Jindal and South Carolina's Mark Sanford) who bashed the stimulus on one hand while holding the other out for money from Washington, Crist was unabashedly pro-Washington money. So when Florida stimulus czar Don Winstead went to D.C. to officially belly up on Florida's behalf to the federal trough, 48 other states were there. The odd-state-out (which he didn't know) couldn't make it there for logistical, as opposed to...