Jindal: Obama should "stop campaigning" on sequester
President Obama needs to "stop campaigning" and stop trying to "scare" people over the looming sequester cuts, Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., said today.
Jindal and other members of the National Governors Association met with Mr. Obama today to discuss the sequester cuts, set to kick in on Friday. The automatic cuts will slash around $85 billion from the federal budget this year and $1.1 trillion more over the next 10 years, and most agree they'll have a harmful impact on the economy. Jindal maintained, however, that it's possible to cut less than 3 percent of the budget without having "devastating consequences."
- White House: States will feel impact from imminent budget cuts
- Obama exaggerating impact of sequester, GOP senator says
"It's time for the president to show leadership," he said outside the White House, accompanied by other governors. "Every governor here has had to balance their budget during tough economic times, every family has to balance their budget... The reality is it can be done. It can be done without jeopardizing the economy, it can be done without jeopardizing critical services."
Mr. Obama has called on Congress to replace the sequester cuts with a "balanced" package of spending cuts and new tax revenues, achieved by closing tax loopholes. Jindal said Mr. Obama should instead send Congress a prioritized list of spending reductions that preserves critical services.
"This administration has an insatiable appetite for new revenues," Jindal, who's considered a possible 2016 presidential candidate, said. "Enough's enough. Now's the time to cut spending. It can be done without jeopardizing critical services."
