Jindal attacks Huckabee over economy

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal ripped his Republican presidential rivals at Tuesday night’s GOP undercard debate, saying that no one but him is committed to cutting government spending.

Jindal singled out former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee after he defended his record, ticking off statistics that he said showed government spending increased during Huckabee’s tenure in Arkansas.

{mosads}“During your time as governor, spending in Arkansas went up 65 percent, the number of state workers went up 25 percent, the taxes on citizens went up 47 percent,” Jindal responded. “That’s not a record of cutting. … Wanting to cut is one thing, actually cutting is different, facts don’t lie.”

Huckabee attempted to respond but the moderator shut him down.

The exchange began when Jindal touted himself as the only GOP governor in the race who had actually cut government spending.

“Everyone else talks about it; if they haven’t done it at their state capitols, what makes us think they’ll do it if we send them to D.C.? … If Republicans want to win national elections, let’s be conservatives, let’s not be a second version of the liberal party. Let’s cut government spending.

Huckabee countered that Jindal’s comments were inaccurate.

“Ninety-one percent of our state budget was three things — educate, medicate and incarcerate — and we ended up cutting 11 percent out of the budget so we didn’t have to go in and raise a bunch of taxes,” Huckabee said. “So it’s just not accurate to say nobody else up here has cut.”

The next question went to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who won big applause for shifting his attack in the direction of the Democrats.

“For the people who are out there right now, I want to guarantee you one thing,” Christie said. “If you think that Mike Huckabee won’t be a president who will cut spending, or Chris Christie or John Kasich, wait until you see what Hillary Clinton will do to this country and how she will drive us into debt. She is the real adversary and we need to stay focused as Republicans on her.”

Jindal on Tuesday also criticized the Republican senators who are running for president.

“We’ve got four senators running, they’ve never cut anything in D.C.,” he said. “They give these long speeches called filibusters. They pat themselves on the back. Nothing changes, when they go to relieve themselves, their calls and the toilets get flushed at the same time and the American people lose.”