• Obama to govs: Push Congress to avert automatic cuts

    By Carrie Dann, NBC News

    Updated 2:15pm ET -- Against a backdrop of impending automatic budget cuts, President Barack Obama on Monday urged the nation's governors to press Washington lawmakers into action to avert the looming sequester. 

    "While you are in town I hope that you speak with your congressional delegation and remind them in no uncertain terms exactly what is at stake and exactly who is at risk," Obama said during a White House address to the National Governors Association, which is holding its annual meeting in Washington, D.C. 

    "All of us are elected officials," he said. "All of us are concerned about our politics, both in our own party's as well as the other party's. But at some point we've got to do some governing." 

    President Barack Obama challenges members of Congress to compromise in order to avoid automatic spending cuts that are scheduled to take place on Friday.

    Seeking to contrast the leadership of executives of the nation's 50 states with what he described as the parochial concerns of members of Congress, Obama slammed the latter for an "obsession" with politics over governance. 

    "I know that sometimes folks in Congress think that compromise is a bad word, and they figure they will pay a higher price at the polls for working with the other side than they will for standing pat or engaging in obstructionism," he said. "But as governors - some of you with legislatures controlled by the other party - you know that compromise is essential to getting things done."

    Obama said that Democrats will have to swallow "modest" reforms to Medicare in exchange for the closure of tax loopholes resisted by Republicans who argue spending cuts must be prioritized over new revenues. 

    The president's characterization of Congress echoed frustration voiced by his second-in-command, Vice President Joe Biden, who told the group earlier that Washington is "frozen - not in indifference - but in sort of an intense partisanship the likes of which in my career I've only seen in the last couple years." 

    The across-the-board budget cuts set to take effect Friday are the subject of much finger-pointing as affected industries brace for the coming drain of federal funding. 

    Charles Dharapak / AP

    President Barack Obama addresses the National Governors Association, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington.

    The administration has deployed surrogates and cabinet secretaries - including transportation chief Ray LaHood and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano - to warn of the consequences of the sequestration's reductions for air travel and border security. 

    But many in the GOP have accused the White House of overstating the impact of the cuts. 

    "I think he's trying to scare the American people," said Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal after a closed-door meeting between the governors' group and the president. "He needs to stop. He needs to start providing real leadership."

    Jindal, who chairs the Republican Governors Association, said the president rejected his idea of holding off on implementation of his new health care law until the more immediate harmful cuts are offset.  

    The Louisiana governor also suggested that the president rebuffed a proposal that Congress should authorize greater flexibility for the implementation of the cuts.

    "The answer to everything we got was no," added South Carolina Republican Gov. Nikki Haley.

  • Jindal on veepstakes: 'Paul Ryan brings a lot to the table'

    By NBC’s Jamie Novogrod

    J. Scott Applewhite / AP

    Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Paul Ryan’s got a friend in Bobby Jindal.

    Jindal, governor of Louisiana, told an audience of conservative activists on Saturday that presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney would send a “powerful message” on budgetary issues were he to choose Ryan, Wisconsin’s U.S. House representative, as his running mate.

    The remarks came as Jindal – a buzzed-about veep prospect himself – wrapped up a keynote address to the Red State Gathering in Jacksonville, an annual conference of Tea Party and other conservative activist groups.

    "I think picking somebody like a Paul Ryan would send a very powerful message that this administration was serious about Medicare reform, entitlement reform, shrinking the size of government, and doing so in a courageous way," Jindal said of a Romney presidency.

    Ryan is chairman of the House Budget Committee and the author of a controversial plan that Democrats have attacked over its cuts to federal entitlement programs. 

    Romney, who won Ryan’s endorsement in March, has spoken favorably of the plan, pleasing conservatives who have helped to make Ryan’s name a nationwide brand.

    Still, some at the conference here clearly had another veepstaker in mind.

    “I was going to God bless you and pray that our nominee has you and your first lady on the list to be vice president,” an audience member said as Jindal took questions.

    Jindal, brushing aside the compliment, responded that he has a “bias” toward the executive experience earned by governors, before adding that Ryan is an exception to that rule.

    Asked later if he was making an endorsement of a Romney-Ryan ticket, Jindal said no.

    “It’s certainly not my place to be making endorsements. I mean, it’s really up to Governor Romney to pick who he wants,” Jindal told NBC News.  “I just think Paul Ryan brings a lot to the table.”

    “Paul's a friend.  Paul's been a great leader. I think he’s an example of a great choice,” Jindal added later.  “I think there are several other examples of great candidates out there as well.”

    Jindal earlier told the crowd that he also admired Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Texas Gov. Rick Perry– whom Jindal backed for president during the Republican primaries.

    Perry, who dropped out of the race in January, announced for president at last year’s Red State Gathering, held in Charleston, S.C.

  • Jindal sees 2012 contest between "very different visions of America"

    Jamie Novogrod/NBC News

    Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal speaks with a Romney supporter in Coral Springs, Fla. Saturday.

    By Jamie Novogrod, NBC News

    CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – Stumping for Mitt Romney in southern Florida Saturday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal cast the presidential election in stark terms, hammering President Obama over a vision of America that he said pits people against each other and diminishes the contributions of individuals to the national economy.

    “It was ‘Hope and Change’ four years ago,” Jindal said, referring to Obama’s 2008 campaign.  “Now it’s ‘Divide and Blame.’  Everything is somebody else’s fault.”

     Jindal, who is speculated to be on Romney’s vice presidential short list, delivered the remarks from the bed of a pickup truck parked outside a newly opened Republican “victory” office here in this suburb north of Fort Lauderdale.

    The visit marked just one of several high-profile events this weekend, as top Romney supporters blitzed key swing states while the candidate continues his foreign trip. 

    Others rumored to be on the short list – including former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Ohio Sen. Rob Portman – also held events Saturday.

    Asked during an interview with NBC News Saturday whether the activity constitutes a nationwide weekend try-out, Jindal demurred. 

    “No, our role continues to be to remind voters what the important issues are in this election,” he said.

    Jindal, who supported Texas Gov. Rick Perry during the Republican Primary, has since defined himself as a disciplined flag-bearer for Romney who pounces readily on Obama.  He would not comment on speculation over whom Romney might choose as a running mate.

    “This election is not about Joe Biden,” Jindal told NBC News.  “I think this election is really about the two guys running at the top of the ticket with their very, very different visions of America,” he added.

    Speaking from the pickup truck to about 150 Romney supporters and local volunteers, Jindal called Obama a “good family man” before attacking the President over his “you didn’t build that” statement earlier this month.

    The Obama campaign asserts the statement was merely a reference to how private business and public infrastructure are interconnected.

    “How many times have we heard this?” Jindal told the crowd, drawing a parallel to another set of remarks by the President in June. “You remember a few weeks before that, he said, well, the private sector is doing just ‘fine?’  It’s the public sector we’ve got to worry about?”

     “I think it’s appropriate to point out that this President has very, very liberal views,” Jindal said later during his interview.  “He says them, and then when his campaign aides realize that they don’t poll well, they don’t test well in focus groups, they come out and try to apologize for them, or take them back.”

    Before Jindal arrived, about a dozen volunteers worked a phone bank inside the office, calling voters with prepared questions measuring approval of the President.

     One volunteer, Rose Criscuola, of Margate, Fla., said they were calling listed Democrats in an effort to identify swing voters.  She reached several Obama supporters.

    But next to her, another volunteer, John Scarpulla, also of Margate, said he reached one such swing voter. 

    Scarpulla, a retired taxi owner from Queens, New York, complained between calls about the national debt.  He said he himself is a registered Democrat, though the last Democrat he supported for President was Bill Clinton.

    Asked why he hasn’t changed his party affiliation, Scarpulla said he’s “too lazy.”

     “Actually,” he added, “I don’t change it because when I get a call from Democrats, I give them a piece of my mind.”

    Jindal attended area fundraisers before and after his visit to the Republican victory office.

     

  • Jindal and McDonnell storm Iowa for surrogate blitz

    By NBC's Alex Moe

     

    CORALVILLE, Iowa -- “The Bob brigade” kicked off a weekend of high profile surrogate events for Mitt Romney in battleground states across the country as the GOP nominee is overseas.

    Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal spoke to voters in the swing state of Iowa on Thursday, calling President Obama a good, “family man,” while arguing his policies are failing and it’s time for a new president in the White House.

    “You’re probably wondering why’s a guy from Virginia out here in Iowa. But Iowa and Virginia have a lot in common,” McDonnell told employees at Per Mar Security in Davenport early this morning. “Both are swing states, you know the president won big in both of our states last time, but the polls are a dead even heat now. So what happens in Virginia, what happens in Iowa could determine who’s going to be the next president of the United States.”

    The two prominent GOP governors -- who have been rumored as potential vice presidential picks for Romney -- criticized Obama for his handling of the economy and not creating jobs.

    “You know it's bad when the Europeans are giving us advice about too much spending and too much borrowing. That's like the town drunk telling you you've got a drinking problem,” Jindal told the crowd inside the Johnston County GOP Victory office. “You know it's bad when the Europeans are saying ‘Americans, you are spending and borrowing too much. Don't bother lecturing us about our problems.'"

    Jindal came to Romney's additional defense in an afternoon conference call, when he was asked about a kerfuffle over Romney's assessment of London's preparation for the Olympics.

    "We're not worried about overseas headlines, we're worried about voters here at home in America," Jindal told reporters.

    Standing in front of a “191” poster at the first two events today, McDonnell pointed out that is the number of days since President Obama met with his jobs council. In that amount of time, the Virginia governor said, the president has had time to host numerous fundraisers and go golfing.

    Both McDonnell and Jindal, whose trip today marks the first time they’ve stumped in Iowa for Romney, made a few phone calls to Republican super voters in the area following their speeches here.

    While McDonnell heads back to the Old Dominion State, Jindal will continue heading West -- making two more stops today in the Hawkeye State on behalf of Romney, in Newton and West Des Moines.

  • Jindal stumps for Romney in Ohio, hits President Obama on business remarks

    By Jamie Novogrod, NBC News

     

    COLUMBUS, OH -- Stumping for Mitt Romney in a key battleground state Wednesday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal hammered President Obama over remarks he made last week about the government’s role in the private sector.

     “You know, his aides will try to say he just misspoke – it's not what he meant. I think these comments reveal something about this President,” Jindal said, adding later that Obama “truly thinks wealth is created through government spending.”

    Nati Harnik / AP

    Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal addresses the Nebraska Republican Convention in Grand Island, Neb., Saturday, July 14, 2012.

    Jindal made the remarks during a brief speech to about 150 Romney campaign supporters, volunteers, and staff at a headquarters office here in Columbus.

    It was just the latest in a series of Republican attacks this week on Obama’s Friday remarks in Roanoke, Va., where the president said private enterprise is reliant on public support.

    “If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive,” Obama said.

    “Somebody invested in roads and bridges,” Obama continued. “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”

    The remarks gave an opening to Republicans, who have argued throughout the election cycle that President Obama has over-emphasized a public finance approach to fixing the economy and lacks faith in small business.

    Speaking at an energy services company Tuesday in Irwin, Penn., Romney told supporters that while the American people “appreciate” the sacrifices of government workers, “taxpayers pay for government.”

    “The president’s logic doesn’t just extend to the entrepreneurs that started a barber shop, or a taxi operation, or an oil field service business like this,” Romney said.

    Wednesday, Romney’s surrogates who advanced the attack ratcheted up the tone.

    “Under President Obama, you’ve got what I label basically the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ perspective,” Jindal said, before adding that Obama is “trying to manage the slow decline of this great country.”

    Speaking earlier, State Rep. Cheryl Grossman cited her worry about how the President’s economic policy will affect her children.  

    “I cannot recall any time in my memory when I have feared a president as much as I do our current president,” Grossman said.

    Jindal, who supported Texas Gov. Rick Perry during the Republican primary, has become an increasingly visible and sharp-tongued surrogate for Romney – and a speculated-about choice for the vice presidential slot.

    Later Wednesday, Jindal visited a private fundraiser for Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, a Republican running for U.S. Senate. Guests leaving the event said Jindal spoke knowledgably about Ohio politics and urged restraint when it comes to the state budget. 

    But few guests listed Jindal at the top of their own wish list.

    Edd Dunlap, who works for a local homebuilding company, said he was impressed by Jindal’s management of the 2010 BP oil spill crisis, though he hopes Romney selects Ohio Sen. Rob Portman.

    “He’s local,” Dunlap said of Portman. “So of course I’ve got to support him.”

  • Post Show Thoughts: The future of the health care debate

    House Democratic Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) accused her Republican colleagues of acting as a "mouthpiece of the health insurance industry," and said their calls for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act are "unrealistic."

    Pelosi, who spent a lot of political capital to get the bill passed in 2010, disagreed with critics who say the new law amounts to a tax increase on the American people. "It's not a tax," she said, adding, "it's penalty for free riders."

    Politically, it's unclear yet whether the Supreme Court's ruling this week will be an asset or a liability for the president. Governor Bobby Jindal - a possible Vice Presidential pick for Mitt Romney - argued the best way to challenge the president's health reform law is to "elect Mitt Romney to repeal [it]."

    However, former Governor Howard Dean (D-VT) contended Jindal's argument did not make sense. "Mitt Romney is the one that showed [the individual mandate] could be done for the whole country," he said. "I don't get this at all."

    You can watch the entire program on our website, and be sure to check out our roundtable that broke down what comes next for the President's health care bill. We were joined by: NBC’s Political Director Chuck Todd; Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson; the National Review’s Rich Lowry; and new co-anchor of the Today Show, NBC's Savannah Guthrie.

    Meet the Press will not air next week due to NBC Sports' coverage of the Tour de France. 

    If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press.

  • Republican VP hopefuls' reactions to health reform ruling

    By Michael O'Brien

     

    Updated 1:00 p.m. - Among the flurry of conservatives vowing to redouble their efforts to repeal President Obama’s health reform law was the handful of Republicans whom Mitt Romney might pick as a running mate.

    Below is a rundown of portions of their statements, which we will continue to update throughout the day.

    Ohio Sen. Rob Portman:

    While the Court has deemed the law constitutional as a tax on the American people, it is still flawed policy that is unaffordable for our families, our small businesses, and our government.  The President's one-size-fits-all health care spending law is the centerpiece of a failed agenda that has increased economic uncertainty, stalled job creation, and deepened the spending hole that Washington has dug. 

    Florida Sen. Marco Rubio:

    What's important to remember is that what the Court rules on is whether something is constitutional or not, not whether it's a good idea. And while the Court has said that the law is constitutional, it remains a bad idea for our economy, and I hope that in the fall we will have a majority here that will not just repeal this law, but replace it with real solutions that will insure more people and cost a lot less money.

    Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan

    Today’s decision strengthens the case for repeal and replace. With the right leadership in place, I am confident we can advance real health care solutions for the American people. It is now in the hands of the American people to determine whether this disastrous law will stand.

    Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell:

    Today's ruling crystallizes all that's at stake in November's election.  The only way to stop Barack Obama's budget-busting health care takeover is by electing a new president. Barack Obama's health care takeover encapsulates his Presidency: Obamacare increases taxes, grows the size of government and puts bureaucrats over patients while doing nothing to improve the economy.

    New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie:

    Today's Supreme Court decision is disappointing and I still believe this is the wrong approach for the people of New Jersey who should be able to make their own judgments about health care. Most importantly, the Supreme Court is confirming what we knew all along about this law - it is a tax on middle class Americans.

    New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte:

    By imposing a coercive tax on the American people, the president's health care law represents an unprecedented federal overreach into individuals' personal lives. ... If we don't repeal it, Americans can expect to see higher costs, less choice and fewer jobs.  I will continue to fight to repeal this law and replace it with market-based reforms that reduce costs and expand consumer choice.

    Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal:

    Ironically, the Supreme Court has decided to be far more honest about Obamacare than Obama was.  They rightly have called it a tax. Today's decision is a blow to our freedoms. The Court should have protected our constitutional freedoms, but remember, it was the President that forced this law on us.

  • Veepstakes: Jindal's awkward pause

    AYOTTE: The Boston Herald interviewed New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte: “In a sneak peek at a potential fall showdown, New Hampshire U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte said tangling with Vice President Joe Biden on a debate stage ‘would be quite enjoyable’ and poked fun at Biden’s foot-in-mouth malady. ‘The vice president does have a way with words,’” she said. Of being veep, she said: “It’s certainly an honor to be mentioned for consideration as vice president, but serving New Hampshire in the Senate is the greatest honor I could ask for.”

    And: “I think Gov. Romney is going to pick who he thinks is best and he will do that not worried about the gender of the person or what their particular background is, except for when it comes to qualifications,” she said. “I think that anyone who is nominated to serve as vice president will expect there will be tremendous media scrutiny on them.”

    JINDAL: Awwwkward: GOP 12: “On The Daily Rundown, Chuck Todd asks Bobby Jindal if he'd be Mitt Romney's running mate. Jindal runs through some talking points; then Todd notes ‘Governor, that's not a denial. You know that, right?’ Bobby then smiles (see screencap above) and does nothing else, making this the most uncomfortable pause since Jim Irsay asked Peyton Manning if he wanted to be Andrew Luck's backup.”

    PORTMAN: Why did John McCain want to punch Rob Portman in the face?

    RUBIO: “Sen. Marco Rubio on Wednesday blamed Washington’s inability to produce a comprehensive immigration policy on Democrats who prefer that the issue remain unresolved so they can continue to leverage it to win the Hispanic vote,” Politico writes. Rubio said on FOX: “I think there are some people in the Democratic Party that think that the immigration issue’s more valuable to them unsolved, that it gives them something to talk about, that they can go back to Hispanic communities and make unrealistic promises every two years and win votes.”

    It’s worth pointing out, however, that Democrats were just a few votes short of passing the DREAM Act, which was blocked by Republicans.

  • Gingrich says he's committed to having 'unified' party

    Spencer Platt / Getty Images

    Republican presidential candidate, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich speaks at the 2012 New York Republican State Dinner on April 19, 2012 in New York City. The Taxpayers Protection Alliance has urged Gingrich to give up his Secret Service protection, which he has had for about a month, in order to save taxpayer dollars.

    By NBC's Alex Moe

     

     

     

    NEW YORK -- Speaking before several thousand Republicans Thursday evening, Newt Gingrich said he is committed to having a “unified” party going forward and seemed to change his rhetoric towards the GOP presidential frontrunner.
     
    Gingrich, giving remarks at the New York State Committee Annual Dinner, vowed that whether he or Mitt Romney become the nominee, they will work together to defeat President Obama in the fall.
     
    “If I were to become the nominee, he [Romney] would work all out because it is our grandchildren’s future at stake. If he becomes the nominee, Callista and I will work out because it is our grandchildren’s future at stake,” the former House speaker promised, acknowledging he is clearly the underdog. “The fact is, we are dedicated to a unified Republican Party, winning the presidency on behalf of America’s future.”
     
    Late last month, campaigning in Green Bay, Wis., Gingrich said while he is going to Tampa and is committed to party unity it was only with a caveat.
     
    “We are deeply committed to going to Tampa, we are deeply committed to fighting for these ideas, that we are prepared to compete all the way, that while I am committed to party unity I think it ought to be party unity for a purpose, with a platform that matters and with ideas that enable us to say to the American people if you hire us, we’re not just anti-Obama, we are pro success for America and here are ideas that will make America successful,” he said at Kroll’s West Restaurant on March 30.
     
    Thursday night’s speech at a New York City hotel seemed to take a different tone – a much more conciliatory tone from Gingrich. He reiterated he has stayed in the GOP race to articulate big themes and big issues across the country.
     
    The keynote speaker at tonight’s annual dinner was potential vice presidential candidate, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.
     
    After taking the stage following a bagpiper, Gingrich praised Gov. Jindal as “one of the brightest people in all of American politics.”
     
    Gingrich heads to upstate New York Friday for one public event in Buffalo.