GOV. BOBBY JINDAL:
David, every governor's got two critical decisions to make. One is do we set up these exchanges. And, secondly, do we expand Medicaid. And no, in Louisiana, we're not doing either one of those things. I don't think it makes sense to do those. I think it makes more sense to do everything we can to elect Mitt Romney to repeal Obamacare.
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DAVID GREGORY:Jindal goes on to say that the unemployment rate in Louisiana is lower than the national average, and the rate is low because of his policies as governor. Well, I suppose he's entitled to take credit for the low unemployment rate, but it's mainly due to oil and gas company activities. If Jindal takes credit, he also has to take the blame for the fact that the state is broke, and to maintain the fiction of the mandated balanced budget, he had to cut vital programs in a state that weighs in at the bottom in the good stuff and near the top in all the bad stuff. Plus, he had to use one-time money to fill the budget gap, money that will not be available next year, so presumably there will be more cuts to vital services.
There are a lot of facts and figures there, a lot of charges which are disputed, so I want to try to flow this down and break it down so it's understandable. Governer [Howard] Dean, on what Governor Jindal is proposing to not do, can you actually explain what the impact of that will be?
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GOV. HOWARD DEAN:
Let's deal with the exchanges. First, if you don't put in your own exchange the federal government's going to run one for you.
DAVID GREGORY:
The exchange is where you would actually go and buy--
DAVID GREGORY:
--a program.
GOV. HOWARD DEAN:
To buy health insurance. So he has a choice. Bobby has a choice, basically, of having this done for him by the federal government or doing it himself. So I think that's a no brainer. But, look, in my state we have had universal healthcare for every kid under 18 for 20 years by an expansion of Medicaid.
In Louisiana, it's 48th in the country in terms of child poverty, 48th in the country in terms of premature death, 48th in the country in terms of industrial accidents and so forth. Just by expanding Medicaid alone, by accepting the president's Medicaid expansion, 340,000 out of those 860,000 uninsured people get covered. This is a great deal.
(VIDEO)
MITT ROMNEY: With regards to the individual mandate, the individual responsibility program that I proposed, I was very pleased that the compromise between the two houses includes the personal responsibility mandate. That is essential for bringing the health care costs down for everyone and getting everyone the health insurance they need.
(END OF VIDEO)
DAVID GREGORY:Ha, ha, ha. Yes, David, Jindal is doing just that. Next thing you know, the Obama socialist team will be trying to run the Mardi Gras festivities. You know...the slippery slope.
This is somebody who says, "Let's repeal a law that has the individual mandate at its core."
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL:
Well, I think Paul Ryan made this point very well Friday. Mitt Romney's always been against the national mandate. He's always been against Obamacare. Always said he wanted to repeal it. Look, states are different. Founding Fathers intended each state to be a laboratory of experimentation.
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I come from one the most distinct cultural states in the entire country. Mardi Gras is great for Louisiana. May not work as well in Vermont or other states. The reality is what works in Massachusetts may not be appropriate to another state. Mitt Romney--
DAVID GREGORY:
You're really comparing Mardi Gras to universal health insurance?
Watch the show, or read the entire transcript at the link above, and remember...
In a brief slip of the tongue while discussing the Supreme Court’s health-care ruling, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal invoked the term “Obomney’’ care, a phrase that does Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney no favors.
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“There’s only one candidate, Gov. Romney, who has committed that he will repeal the Obomney, uh, the Obamacare tax increase,’’ Mr. Jindal said.
Oops.
