According to a recent Times Picayune article by Lauren McGaughy dated 3/14/14 Governor Jindal has launched "America Next" a conservative non profit that will focus on articulating a national conservative strategy a la Margaret Thatcher.
Jindal was reported to have said on the America Next website, (1) "a rebellion is brewing outside the Washington beltway against what he called the Obama experiment." It gets to be a little crazy concerning the fairy tale about the President. What Jindal must be talking about is the Bush experiment in Iraq.
The governor was also quoted as saying, "that the republican party has not properly expressed its purpose or goals to voters. He said it is not enough to be against something." That describes Jindal's position ever since he became governor. Is he now having a change of heart because he has future political ambitions? Will the people now find out what he stands for and will he be able to articulate that message. After all, twice in the previous two weeks he engaged in personal attacks against the President instead of letting the people know what he stands for.
In his announcement he said he stands behind repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. Just think, Jinday has been governor for over 5 years and the latest reports indicate Louisiana has about 700,000 people who are uninsured. Jindal has had more than enough time in office to come up with a state health plan that would insure those people but he has done nothing. And like the national republican party who had 8 years to do something on the matter under the Bush administration they also failed.
The difference between Jindal's announcement and the position of democrats should be easy to understand. Democrats offer an AMERICAN strategy for the nation that take in our national ideals and committment and is based on what is good for America and its people. Jindal and the conservative strategy is base on a CONSERVATIVE IDEOLOGY. In other words they put conservatism first and then America some where down the line.
Prior to the election of President Obama republicans controlled the nation 20 of the previous 28 years. They had more than enough time to correct the problems they say exist and are still talking about and they failed to do so. President Obama's administration is moving the country and its people forward after the second great republican depression and that chaps the republicans and Jindal. That is why they would do any thing to see the President fail. That includes shutting down the government and doing all they can to obstruct the success of the Affordable Care Act.
Jindal's America Next is an indictment of himself and his party. The idea that Jindal's conservatism should mimic Margaret Thatcher is a little boy gone wild. I can remember a time when republicans put America first instead of conservatism. That was a time of progress for the country and its people. The republicans have allowed a conservative ideology that is unAmerican in nature hijack their party and hold the federal government hostage.
For a party to be successful, it has to put America first. Ideology has no place in politics.
This commentary was written by John Lucia.
