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Obama's economic policy irresponsible: Jindal

Last updated on: February 25, 2009 11:14 IST

Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, who is widely perceived as the Republican candidate for presidency in 2012, on Tuesday, slammed the economic policies outlined by United States President Barack Obama in his first speech to a joint session of the US Congress.

Terming Obama's policies as irresponsible, Jindal stated, "All of us want our economy to recover and our nation to prosper."

Jindal, the son of migrants from Punjab, talked about how his father had witnessed extreme poverty in India.

"As we walked through the aisles of grocery stores, looking at the endless variety on the shelves, he would tell me, 'Bobby, Americans can do anything'. I still believe that to this day. My mom and dad taught me the values that attracted them to this country -- and they instilled in me an immigrant's wonder at the greatness of America," he said.

The Louisiana governor added that even though his party opposed the economic policies of the Democrats, the Republicans would work with President Obama to help the country overcome the staggering economic crisis.

"Here in my state of Louisiana, we don't care what party you belong to if you have good ideas to make life better for our people. We need more of that attitude from both Democrats and Republicans in our nation's capital. All of us want our economy to recover and our nation to prosper.

So where we agree, Republicans must be the President's strongest partners. And where we disagree, Republicans have a responsibility to be candid and offer better ideas for a path forward," he said.

Below are exclusive excerpts from Jindal's response to the State of Union:

With inputs from Agencies

Aziz Haniffa in Washington