Monday, January 28, 2013

Louisiana’s Jindal Colors an American Dream

We’ve heard from Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and, on immigration, Marco Rubio (R-FL). Now Governor Bobby Jindal (R-LA), in his recent address to the Republican National Committee, offers his prescription on how to move the GOP--and the country--forward:

conservatives must dedicate our energies and our efforts to growing America, to growing the American economy, to showing the younger generations how America can win the future.

That path does not lie in government.

Our objective is to grow the private sector. We need to focus our efforts on ideas to grow the American economy, not the government economy.

If you take nothing else away from what I say today, please understand this – We must not become the party of austerity. We must become the party of growth.

If our end goal is to simply better manage the disaster that is the federal government, count me out.

Democrats . . . are the party of economic contraction, austerity and less from the economy. The Republican Party is the party of “more,” the party that creates “more from the economy.”

As Margaret Thatcher famously observed – first you must win the argument, then you can win the elections.

We must lay out the contrast between liberalism’s top-down government solutions and our Bottom-Up real world philosophy.

We believe in creating abundance, not redistributing scarcity. we should stand for radically simplifying our tax code – . . . to get Washington out of the way.

It shouldn’t be complicated for a taxpayer to fill out his taxes…or to live his life without fear of the tax consequences of his or her choices.

When it comes to education — . . . let us feature the success of child-centered education solutions that meet the needs of the digital age, education where the dollars follow the child.

Here are seven things . . .

1. We must show what the future can look like with the free market policies that we believe in.

2. We must compete for every single vote. The 47% and the 53%.

3. We should pursue [a colorblind society] with vigor. The first step in getting the voters to like you is to demonstrate that you like them.

4. We must stop being the stupid party. . . Republicans [who] damage the brand . . . with offensive and bizarre comments.

5. We need to trust the smarts of the American people. . . willing to provide details in describing our views.

6. We must quit “big.” We are not the party of big business, big banks, big Wall Street bailouts, big corporate loopholes, or big anything. We are the party whose ideas will help the middle class, and help more folks join the middle class. We are a populist party and need to make that clear.

7. We need an equal opportunity society, one in which government does not [pick] winners and losers. Our government must pursue a level playing field. At present, government is the un-leveler of the playing field.

[In conclusion,] unleash a new dawning of the American Dream – the dream my parents came to America for – a dream of growth, prosperity, and equal opportunity.  

Note: That’s 3 out of 3, since Cruz and Rubio also stress their immigrant parents’ dream.

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