Jindal: Something Is Wrong With The GOP

Face The Nation: Republicans Discuss The Future Of Their Party Following Election Losses

(CBS)  When asked about the future course of the Republican Party following their losses on Election Day - losing not only the White House but also considerable ground in the House and Senate - Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana said it is imperative his party offers solutions to voters, and not just be the opposition.

"As Republicans, we need to do three things to get back on track," he said on CBS' Face The Nation. "Number one, we have got to stop defending the kind of spending and out-of-control spending that we would never tolerate in the other side. You know, when voters tell us that they trust Democrats more to cut their taxes [and] control spending, that tells you something is wrong with the Republican Party. We've got to match our actions with our rhetoric.

"Number two, we've got to stop defending the kinds of corruption we would rightfully criticize in the other party. The week before the election, our most senior senator is convicted on federal charges - and that's only the latest example.

"Number three, we have got to be the party that offers real solutions to the problems that American voters, American families are worried about. We don't need to abandon our conservative principles; we can't just be the 'party of no.' We need to offer real solutions on making health care more affordable, on the economic challenges facing families, on the international threats."

Also on the program, former House speaker Newt Gingrich said that Republican Governors represented the GOP's future.

"When you look at the governors - Governor Jindal and what he's doing in Louisiana; you look at Governor Mitch Daniels, who won by 20 points in Indiana, while McCain was losing it; Governor Jon Huntsman, who has the lowest unemployment rate in the entire West in Utah and a $1 billion surplus last year, about a $300 million surplus this year - there are a lot of lessons to be learned out there."

Another name that came up was Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who appeared to dominate news from the conference of Republican governors last week.

"The natural pattern in the news media is going to be, they know how to spell Sarah Palin's name; they have it locked in their word processor," said Gingrich (left). "She's going to be a much bigger story in the short run. But, I think, as she goes back to being governor and as she works in Alaska, you're going to see a group of governors emerge, not just Sarah Palin. And there are 36 governorships up in 2010.

"I think focusing on rebuilding the Republican Party from state legislature and governor to Senate and House is the right model. And I think that the Republican Governors Association is probably more important than the Republican National Committee in trying to get this done."

"So you do not see [Palin] as the de facto leader of the party at this point?" Schieffer asked.

"No," said Gingrich. "She's a wonderfully, intelligent, aggressive hardworking person who got, you know, hammered very badly by the press in, I think, fairly distorted ways.

"I think that she is going to be a significant player. But she's going to be one of 20 or 30 significant players. She's not going to be the de facto leader."

Gingrich was wary of writing the party's obituary, despite the resounding electoral and popular vote victories by Democrat Barack Obama. "I've been through this," he said. "I've been through the '64 collapse when the Republican Party was going to disappear, and the '74 Watergate collapse when the Republican Party was going to disappear, and the '92 defeat of President Bush.

"And in each case, I watched us, within a short time, focus on new ideas and new solutions and, within a very short time, come back as a stronger and healthier party."

Also on the program, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee (left), and Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., a member of the Senate Banking Committee, discussed the proposed bailout of the auto industry.

Frank said the House is ready to pass a bailout package, saying failure to do so would inflict pain on an already very weakened economy.

Shelby, however, said that a bailout of the auto industry would be "the wrong road to go down right now," and said he would prefer troubled automakers file for bankruptcy rather than get taxpayers' money.

"Some people believe that Chapter 11 bankruptcy would be a lot better management than what they have today," said Shelby (left), "where they would reorganize, they would get rid of the management that has brought them to where they are today, bloated contracts, everything that goes with it. No profits, no products to sell, to speak of.

"[It's] headed down this road to oblivion. Should we intervene to slow it down, knowing it's going to happen? I say no, not for the American taxpayer.”

Frank disagreed: "It might be one thing to tolerate a bankruptcy if we had a lot of jobs out there, if there was prosperity.

"When you talk about the negative shock that would result from bankruptcies of these companies right now - and by the way, I wouldn't be blithe about Chapter 11. There are suppliers out there who are owed money, smaller businesses. They get hurt in a bankruptcy. There are a whole range of people who didn't make bad decisions at GM here."

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Read the full "Face the Nation" transcript here.

By CBSNews.com producer David Morgan.

[pronron1]

The Republican Party has gone to the dogs, there is more hate and fear mongering than I have seen in my life, and I am 68 years old.
It is OK to disagree but to just say NO to everything is not the way to get things done.

The thing with the President talking to the kid on the subject of staying in school is the type of thing he should be doing for the kids.

I don't know, I just don't know.
The Republican Party is sick and I don't think it will ever be fixed.

[palmstorm]

What''s wrong with Rush Limbaugh? He predictably and without fail creates a negative slant on every positive event. How long does our society want to keep swinging that cinder block at its own head on a daily basis from 12 to 3? What''s wrong with this country to do that to itself? Why does it then allow the self-flagellation to continue from 3 to 6, and then from 6 to 9, not to mention from 9 to 12? Why do we allow national public figures in radio to blame liberals for the Virginia Tech shootings? For the mortgage crisis and credit crunch of 2008? For high gas prices? For 9/11? For Joe Lieberman? For John McCain? The dude is just puffing for the big paycheck until he''s shown the door. Do we have the guts and the sense to show him the door? Do we have the guts and the sense??

[a_nother2002]

Is it just me or does Rowdy sound like Frank from M*A*S*H?

"OOOO you commie pinko blah blah blah irrational hatred blah blah blah yellow hordes blah blah blah Non Christian"

Where''s Hawk Eye when you need him?

Rowdy Grow up, stop being a Racist and try using reason instead of blind hatred. I have seen you on a number of boards and you never offer ideas or anything to debate, you just release bile and hate. You need to think about what your aims are.

You hate Obama ok. We get it. What do you propose the U.S does to fix problems it has? I am offering a chance to discuss as humans what you think needs to be done to fix America. Tell me What and Why then when you form a coherant non abusive post I will debate with you. As a human you should be able to do this.
No insults, no Racism and without mentioning Obama. Just ideas to fix your country.

[a_nother2002]

You know Europe is now so excited over the United States having a black man for president....

Any day now, I EXPECT to see a black president of France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and all of the rest of the neo-russian monarchies...

And while we''''re at it, I EXPECT to see a black King and Queen of Britain...

Then the WHOLE WORLD would be happy little campers...just like the pinko commies in the United States...


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Posted by Rowdydfw at 10:46 PM : Nov 16, 2008

Hey moron WE DONT VOTE FOR MONARCHY ITS A MONARCHY DUH!!! Your looking for PRIME MINISTER. and FRance is not neo Russian. Russia never invaded us or did you miss that? get of your high horse and talk to people in a dignified way.
PS. Get your facts straight.

[a_nother2002]

Perhaps the real message here is that the Republican Party has too many chiefs and not enough Indians.

I''''m by nature an independent. I believe in the separation of Church and State. I believe in both freedom of religion and freedom from religion. I''''m generally a fiscal conservative, I am certainly not a social conservative yet that does not make me a bleeding heart liberal.

When you put all of those things together the result is simple. Democrat, Democrat, Democrat, Democrat. The Republican Party simply has nothing of real value to offer. It is a Dinosaur. It is politically bankrupt.

Yet if we want a two party system (which as an independent I prefer to have) then the Republican Party must evolve (sorry Creationists)if it wishes to regain a viable position.

Bobby Jindal has said the most sensible words I have heard from the Republican party in years. Uncharacteristically for the Republican party he seems intelligent, educated and articulate. "Gosh darnit", - wink - he might even be eloquent. Characteristics that are not just desirable but required in our leaders if we don''''t want America to be looked upon by the rest of the world with disbelief and contempt.

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Posted by villager666 at 07:10 PM : Nov 16, 2008

BRAVO! BRAVA! ENCORE! YOU GET A BUMP FROM ME!!! This guy has some very valid points. Not taking sides but being objective. excellant post!

[palmstorm]

wtcmedic911, the desired course in discussion in a free civilization is a robust open forum in the national public square which is the AM band. Conservatives can talk and say their piece all they want, and liberals can do the same. I would wish a bias ONLY towards education and social betterment with open discourse with fingers off the dump button, not a bias towards darkness, fear, selfishness, and a reach for the gun, which is the brilliance we''ve been getting for 21 years, and not particularly a surprising one.

[wtcmedic911]

We all KNOW if liberal radio had been financially successful and competitive we wouldn%u2019t even be having this discussion. It was talk radio that was the thorn in the democratic side thus it must be silenced. Period..... America... land of the free.... ya right. Spend millions for a radio license and have a successful program but it steps on toes. Time to have the GOVERMENT change it. So many of you accuse Bush of taking away freedoms and that is correct. However you fail to see how eroded freedoms have been for years. Thanks to the Obama followers freedom of speech or dissenting speech will be next.

[palmstorm]

To the contrary. Conservative programming is dark viewpoint forced on the listener because it silences opposition. As a technique, the call screener is instructed to allow only the most ineloquent opposing callers through, who are then squelched in mid-sentence by the host and derided for being stupid. The override and derision by the host comes across as great truth over opposition, but it is not. The conservative hosts know that when their hands are removed by regulation from the dump button, and intelligent counterpoint is allowed to shine through, their 21 years of viewpoints would be shredded to shards because of their basis in lies and disinformation. Another psychological point: conservatives must defend a very small close-to-the-vest worldview, and therefore they must fight with their words. Liberals don''t need to defend their larger and more gregarious worldview, and they would rather discuss and weigh matters, which admittedly doesn''t make for dramatic AM radio. The screaming drama is why conservative talk sells over liberal talk. That''s why liberal subjects do better in visual media like art, TV, and movies, and conservative subjects have taken over the limited AM talk audio band.

[wtcmedic911]

cmotd-
As you know liberal talk radio has failed badly due to poor advertiser dollars. Other then NPR that is.... then it%u2019s private and tax payer money. Conservative talk radio does well because we are obviously more interested in the facts and what%u2019s happening in the country and world then others perhaps. The callers are often a balanced group. I am sure you realize that the radio stations pay MILLIONS to use the public airwaves. If you are a fan of rock and roll and went to your favorite radio stations and d.js only to find out that the government believed that country music listeners have a great right then your station and changed the format. Therefore your right to listen to your station was decided by the GOVERMENT. NOT THE PUBLIC NOT BY THE POWERS OF THE PURSE BUT BY THOSE IN CONTROL WHO''S OWN RADIO STATIONS COULDNT COMPETE. You%u2019re not interested in fairness, get real. You%u2019re interested in total control and God forbid someone doesn%u2019t agree with your mindset. History does repeat its self, always has and always will. It%u2019s your turn in the sun however try not to be intoxicated by the power. You saw what it%u2019s done to the republicans.

[cmotd]

wtcmedic911 based on the comments I''ve seen since the end of the election it is clearly the right who are afraid of differing opinion NOT the left. And your comments are a perfect example of that fear.

Assuming that the fairness doctrine is trying to silence conservative media when it does no such thing. It only enforces a balance of opinions. What is wring with that? Are you scared that a balance of opinions might unshackle many republican voters from the ideologues that fill their heads with lies?

Besides, no one is going to force anyone to watch or listen to both sides, both sides just have to be there. Get it?