EXCLUSIVE: Tancredo Says Jindal?s Speech Was The ?Last Nail In The Coffin? For His Presidential Ambitions
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on February 27th, 2009 5:32 am by HL
EXCLUSIVE: Tancredo Says Jindal?s Speech Was The ?Last Nail In The Coffin? For His Presidential Ambitions
Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) has been heralded as everything from the next Barack Obama to the next Ronald Reagan. As the GOP searches for a new leader, Jindal is seen by some conservatives as their best hope of capturing the White House in 2012. But Jindal’s abysmal response to Obama’s address to the nation on […]
Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) has been heralded as everything from the next Barack Obama to the next Ronald Reagan. As the GOP searches for a new leader, Jindal is seen by some conservatives as their best hope of capturing the White House in 2012. But Jindal’s abysmal response to Obama’s address to the nation on Tuesday has been ridiculed by commentators across the political spectrum, raising doubts about his 2012 ambitions.
Stepping up in Jindal’s defense yesterday, Rush Limbaugh warned his fellow conservatives yesterday not to say negative things about Jindal. “Those of you who think Jindal was horrible….I don’t ever want to hear from you ever again,” he said.
One Republican who isn’t heeding Limbaugh’s warnings is the anti-immigrant zealot and former congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO). In an interview with ThinkProgress at the CPAC conference today, Tancredo declared that Jindal’s speech marks the end of his presidential ambitions:
TP: [Jindal] has gotten some flack for his performance on the response to Obama. I’m curious what your thoughts on it was.
TANCREDO: Great content. Lousy delivery. And I’m sorry to say this because I like him a lot. I served with him. Good guy. Solid guy. But I think that performance would very well have put the last nail in the coffin for him, for running for president. Mostly because what we are desperately looking for today in this party is a leader. Bobby Jindal is a great intellect, but his capacity to lead just is, his bearing, is not there. At least, it wasn’t there.
Watch it:
“I’m not saying he can’t overcome it, but I’m telling you it’s a major obstacle now. And I’m sorry about that,” Tancredo said. “In this business, often times you need more sizzle than steak.”
Update RNC Chairman Michael Steele says Jindal is doing a “friggin awesome job” and offers up some “slum love“:
SLIWA: Because he is — when guys look at him and young women look at him — they say oh, that’s the slumdog millionaire, governor. So, give me some slum love.
STEELE: I love it. (inaudible) … some slum love out to my buddy. Gov. Bobby Jindal is doing a friggin’ awesome job in his state. He’s really turned around on some core principles — like hey, government ought not be corrupt. The good stuff … the easy stuff.
Kay Bailey Hutchison?s Bizarro World: ?Every Major Tax Cut In History Has Created More Revenue?
In the budget released today, the Obama administration announced that it would end the Bush tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans, as well as shut off loopholes that effectively eviscerate corporate tax revenues, all in an effort to fuel a robust domestic agenda and start lowering the deficit. Predictably, the right wing is up in […]
In the budget released today, the Obama administration announced that it would end the Bush tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans, as well as shut off loopholes that effectively eviscerate corporate tax revenues, all in an effort to fuel a robust domestic agenda and start lowering the deficit.
Predictably, the right wing is up in arms over the small tax increase for the richest businesses and families. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) complained to a friendly crowd at CNBC this morning that Obama’s tax increases would harm the economy, and insisted the best way to raise revenue is to cut taxes:
HUTCHISON: I think we get revenue the way we’ve done it in the past that has been so successful in the past and that is tax cuts…Every major tax cut we’ve had in history has created more revenue.
Watch it:
The notion that cutting taxes somehow — magically — increases government revenues is a myth that won’t die. “The claim that tax cuts pay for themselves…is contradicted by the historical record,” reported the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which showed that revenues grew twice as fast in the 1990s, when taxes were raised, than in the 1980s, when taxes were cut. FactCheck.org called a claim like Hutchison’s “highly misleading” and stated the obvious fact that “we can’t have both lower taxes and fatter government coffers.”
“[E]verything you’ve heard about how revenues have boomed since the Bush tax cuts is wrong,” economist Paul Krugman wrote, noting that government revenues climbed steadily through the Clinton administration, then plunged dramatically following the 2001 Bush tax cuts. And falling revenues during tax-cutting Republican administrations means growing debt:
Hutchison must be looking at a different “history” than everybody else.
Update Also during the CNBC interview, Hutchison was asked if “it’s necessary to postpone our nations answers to health care because it costs too much.” She responded, “I certainly do.”
