The looming sequester can be avoided if the government will just delay Obamacare for a few years, Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana asserted Sunday, saying it's time for President Obama to get to work solving the nation's budget issues,
reports Politico.
Appearing on NBC's “Meet the Press,” Jindal said that the federal government could “save tens of billions of dollars” by postponing Obamacare. “And you're not even cutting a program that's started yet. Just delay it for a few years,” he urged.
The Louisiana governor has been staunchly opposed Obamacare for some time, and does not agree with the Medicaid expansions that are part of the plan.
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While doesn't criticize his fellow Republican governors, like Florida Gov. Rick Scott, for agreeing to Medicaid expansions in their states, he said in Louisiana, the expansion “would cost Louisiana taxpayers over $1 billion over the next 10 years.”
In addition, the expansion would move as many as 180,000 people from private plans onto Medicaid.
“That doesn't make sense, he said. “It is not an efficient program.”
Jindal also was critical of the president,
reports The Boston Herald. “It's time to stop campaigning,” he said. “It is time to actually do the job right here in Washington, D.C.”
Jindal said that even after the automatic spending cuts, the federal budget this year will still be larger than ever.
“Families and businesses out there during this national recession have had to tighten their belts, do more with less,” Jindal said. “You ask any American out there, ‘Is there at least 3 percent of the federal budget that’s being wasted today?’ Let’s not cut the air-traffic controllers first, let’s go cut the waste.”
Jindal, in response to a question by show host David Gregory about his plans for the presidency, said now is not the time to talk about 2016.
“Nobody in the Republican party should be thinking about running for president,” Jindal said. “We’ve got to win the debate before we win the election. Government cannot be the answer to all of our problems. We’ve grown government to historic levels. We’ve tried this path, it doesn’t work. That’s where we win the argument.”
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