Governor Bobby Jindal (R., La.) warned House speaker John Boehner and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell not to use their leadership positions to govern as ”cheaper Democrats,” saying they need to keep the promises made to voters by repealing Obamacare.
“If the whole point of [the 2014] election was just simply to give John Boehner and Mitch McConnell nicer offices, let’s give them back,” Jindal, a 2016 hopeful, said during an anti-Common Core event in Washington, D.C.
Jindal said that government expands because elected officials break their promises to voters.
“Right now you’ve got an attempt by many in this city to say, ‘Well, we can’t really repeal Obamacare,’” Jindal said. My message to Republican leaders, the Republican party, the Republican elected officials is, first, do what you promised us you were going to do when you asked us to vote for you. Second, don’t become just cheaper Democrats. We don’t need Democrat-lite.”
On Tuesday, Boehner and House Republicans passed a repeal of Obamacare, 239–186. Senate Republicans haven’t voted on an Obamacare repeal, which the Democrats could block unless the GOP uses a procedural move known as reconciliation to circumvent the filibuster.
It’s not clear yet how much of Obamacare can be repealed through reconciliation — that’s a decision for the Senate parliamentarian. Reconciliation can only be used in the context of a budget debate, though, and those bills are unlikely to be completed before summer.