Jindal On His State’s Big Deficit: I’ll Do For America What I Did For Louisiana!

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) said at Wednesday’s GOP undercard debate he would “absolutely” bring his state’s no-taxes-at-all-costs budget approach to the federal government, even after moderator John Harwood pointed out it led to Louisiana’s $1.6 billion deficit.

“When you came into office with a budget surplus in the state of Louisiana, now years later the state legislature faced a $1.6 billion budget gap and the Republican State Treasurer called one of your approaches to that problem ‘Nonsense on a stick,'” Harwood said. “Are you going to do for the federal budget what you did for the Louisiana budget?”

“Absolutely, John,” Jindal said, before bragging about the 30,000 state jobs that had been cut under his tenure. He went on to claim that his budget policies lead to economic growth and job creation.

“We’ve reduced the size of government, that’s what exactly we need to do in D.C. In D.C., the Republicans slow the growth rate, they claim victory — that’s not enough,” Jindal said. He went on to decry the $18 trillion of debt that he suggested is causing a stagnant economy.

He did not, however, address the budget deficit Harwood asked about in his own state.

Later on in the debate, Harwood brought up the state’s deficit again. Jindal said it was an “old number” and that the state ultimately closed the gap.

Update: This story has been updated to include comments made later in the debate.