Jindal: Jeb should take spot at Dem debate for proposing 'Obamacare lite'

Lousiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Tuesday pounced on Jeb Bush's healthcare proposal unvieled in New Hampshire, calling it "Obamacare Lite" and arguing that it represents surrender to liberalism.

Though Jindal said he applauded Bush for releasing a detailed plan in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner, he went on to say, "Unfortunately, both Jeb's plan and Obamacare are both new federal entitlement programs in which the federal government pays for universal healthcare for all Americans. This is not an opinion, it is a fact."

Jindal argued, "Jeb's plan is rejection of the American ideal of individual independence, and an acceptance of the left's demand for more government dependence. Jeb's plan is Obamacare lite. President Obama succeeded in doing what Hillary had failed to do years before — to create a new federal entitlement program where the government pays for healthcare for all Americans. Never mind the fact that our existing entitlement programs are on the verge of bankruptcy."

He continued, "If Jeb's health care plan were to become the Republican alternative, it will mean that Obama and the left have won the fundamental debate about health care in America. It will mean that Republicans have decided to surrender and to accept the idea that taxpayers must pay for a new federal entitlement program providing health care for all. There is an empty podium available tonight for Joe Biden in the Democrat debate. Jeb should take that spot in order to argue for his Obamacare-lite health care proposal. My plan focuses on the real problem with healthcare in America — the need to reduce costs."

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