CNN business correspondent Ali Velshi tore into Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal after he delivered an address urging the federal government scale back spending on Monday. Velshi said it was “nonsense” to compare a family living on a budget to the U.S. government, saying that both families and governments borrow against their future earnings to invest and grow.



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“Now’s the time to cut spending,” Jindal said outside the White House after meeting with President Barack Obama. “It can be done without jeopardizing the economy. It can be done without jeopardizing critical services.”

“The president needs to stop campaigning,” Jindal added. He said he asked the president to offset the sequester cuts by postponing programs like the expansion of Medicare as part of the Affordable Care Act. Jindal said that Obama did not agree with his suggestion.

Velshi was asked if he though Jindal was correct that a minor reduction in spending could be accomplished without hurting the American people. “No,” Velshi said. “It’s this weird math that the Republicans are using – that it’s just 3 percent of the federal budget. That’d be fine, if you were cutting 3 percent across the board.”

“You can’t touch entitlements,” Velshi continued. “So, it’s 3 percent of a small part of the federal budget, which makes it a very big part of some major agencies. So, it’s just misleading stuff that Bobby Jindal is saying.”

Velshi went on to strongly criticize Jindal for saying that families live within their budget so why can’t the federal government. “I don’t know a lot of families who buy a house with cash,” Velshi said. “Buying a house on a mortgage – is that living within your budget or is that not living within your budget?”

Velshi said that families, like the federal government, borrows against future earnings potential. “To suggest this ‘within your means’ and balanced budget nonsense is just misleading,” Velshi added. “It’s not how families live, it’s not how business conduct themselves, and it’s certainly not, since the history of time, the way government’s run themselves.”

“Bobby Jindal is a smart guy. He runs a state. He needs to not talk like this,” Velshi concluded.

Watch the clip below via CNN:

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