Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal said Republicans in Congress should follow through on their campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare and not become “cheaper Democrats.”
He also called on Muslim leaders to condemn radical Islamic terrorism.
“Individual Muslim leaders have a responsibility to denounce, not just the acts of violence, but these individuals, to say they’re not going to enjoy a reward in the afterlife but rather they’re going to go straight to hell for these awful barbaric acts they continue to commit, killing schoolchildren, killing teenagers for watching soccer, burning a man alive, killing cartoonists because they don’t like their products,” Jindal said during an American Principles Project event on Common Core.
Jindal also said leaders of the Western world have a responsibility to insist on assimilation and integration for those who want to live in America.
“It’s somehow racist to tell people if you want to come to America, we insist that you come to be Americans — and to me, it’s nonsensical that we allow people to come into our society and use the freedoms we give everybody to undermine those very freedoms,” he said.
“I’m against this whole hyphenated idea, you know, we’re not Indian-Americans, we’re not African-Americans, we’re not Italian-Americans or Irish-Americans, we’re Americans. My mom, my dad, they love their heritage, they’re proud, they love India but my parents would tell me when we were growing up, they’d say, ‘If we wanted you to raise you an Indians, we would have stayed in India. We came here to raise you as Americans,’” he added.
Jindal called Common Core a violation of the 10th Amendment since it allows the federal government to make curriculum decisions. He criticized the No Child Left Behind Act, labeling the law a mistake.
“If we want to keep the Republic that we have, our government can only be as good as our citizens. And the reality is that means we need an educated population equipped with critical-thinking skills, equipped with the ability to select and hire and fire our own leaders,” he said.
Jindal, who has sued the Obama administration over Common Core, argued that parents, local teachers and local leaders should make education decisions.
“In our entire history as a country, we’ve never allowed the federal government to make these decisions for us. Now is not the time to start. Common Core is not worth breaking this precedent of trusting the American people, trusting moms and dads over these elite bureaucrats living right here in Washington, D.C.,” he said.
The possible presidential candidate said he has heard some Republicans argue that it would be too difficult and too disruptive to roll back Obamacare.
“My message to the Republican Party, the Republican leaders, the Republican elected officials is, first, do what you promised us you were going to do when you asked us to vote for you. Second, don’t become just cheaper Democrats. We don’t need Democrat Light,” Jindal said.
“What’s the point of having a Republican Party if it’s only going to become a second liberal party in Washington, D.C.? Our candidates said they were going to repeal and replace Obamacare – that means all of it, that means you get rid of all the tax increases, you get rid of all regulations, all the spending, all of it,” he added.
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