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Heritage
Foundation
Gov.
Bobby Jindal: America, We Can Do Better
Bobby
Jindal
March
3, 2014
In
Washington, facts can sometimes be stubborn things. I guess that’s
why some media pundits thought my comments at a governors’
association meeting last Monday—which highlighted the slow growth
and failed economic policies of our President—impolitic or
impolite.
But
let’s look at the facts. According to Federal Reserve data, our
current economic “recovery” is the slowest since World War II.
After the deep recession of the 1980s, economic growth exceeded 4
percent for three straight years—and in 1984 topped 7 percent. But
our economy has yet to grow even 3 percent per year under this
President.
True,
the unemployment rate has declined. But according to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics, the labor force declined by more than 200,000
workers in the past year, even though the pool of potential workers
has grown by nearly 2.3 million. That means the unemployment rate
declined only because more people left the labor force. How is this a
recovery?
If
the status quo wasn’t bad enough, the President’s policies are
making the economy even worse. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
recently concluded that Obamacare would result in more than 2 million
Americans working fewer hours, or leaving the labor force altogether.
At a time when the labor force participation rate is near 36-year
lows, Obamacare is further reducing the size of the workforce.
And—believe it or not—Democrats applauded this outcome!
There’s
more. The CBO also released another report finding that the
President’s proposed minimum wage increase could cause as many as 1
million Americans to lose their jobs. Sadly, for these workers,
President Obama’s minimum-wage economy could turn into the
zero-wage economy—as small businesses lay workers off to pay the
cost of these new government mandates.
Given
this record of poor growth—and the potential harm yet to come—who
wouldn’t take the opportunity to ask the President to change
course? The truly impolite thing would have been for me to remain
silent, and consign millions of hard-working Americans to their fate.
One
of my fellow governors called my description of the Obama economy
“insane.” I guess it’s appropriate he said that while at the
White House, because only in Washington—where government largesse
has created some of the wealthiest communities in our entire
nation—would Americans think that these anemic economic figures
represent true growth.
Call
me crazy, but I believe the truly insane idea is thinking that we can
grow the economy through policies that put Americans out of work.
The
fact is, we can do better.
We
can grow our economy faster, improve our health care system, explore
new sources of energy, and put more Americans back to work. President
Obama can use his infamous “pen and phone” to get started on all
these areas things today. Last week, I outlined 10 places for the
Administration to start.
But
if President Obama won’t lead, then conservatives must show the
American people a better way. And to do so, we first must win the
battle of ideas.
Winning
the battle of ideas means outlining to the American people how
conservative policies can improve their lives. It means telling them
that we have positive solutions on health care—that harnessing
innovation and state flexibility can help bring down health costs,
without trillions of dollars in new taxes and spending. It means
explaining how our untapped energy resources can create high-quality,
well-paying jobs—not just in energy, but in manufacturing and other
fields. It means empowering parents and students—not teachers’
unions—with the choice of quality schools for children to learn the
tools they need to succeed in today’s economy.
I
firmly believe that President Obama’s policies are failing our
economy, and I won’t be afraid to say so. But I just as firmly
believe that as conservatives, we have an obligation to put forward
our own plans about how we can turn our country around.
Our
country can do better—and under a conservative vision of reform, we
will.
Read
this article with links (including Jindal's 10 places to start) at
the Heritage Foundation
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