This was the best and most substantive debate so far. There was one silly question, and Jindal took the lead in dismissing it, the other candidates followed and talked about the issues.  Great job, Fox Business channel!

Centrist The Hill reports:

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

He 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.

“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.”
Huckabe tried to respond but the moderator shut him down.

The exchange began when Jindal touted himself as the only GOP governor in 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 argued 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 playing the uniter.

“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.”

Here’s Bobby Jindal talking on Chris Christie for being a big spender:

Notice how Jindal came at Christie with facts and figures, and Christie replied with deflections and opinions.

The leftist Washington Post had more on Jindal’s strong performance:

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal – now in his fourth undercard debate – went on the offensive Tuesday night, attacking both higher-performing rivals and the other low-performers standing on the stage next to him.

At various points, Jindal called out Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) – though not by name – as all talk and no action. He called out former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, newly dropped to the early-evening debate, for being a big spender. And he zinged New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who had been the dominant figure in the debate’s first half, for doing too little to cut state spending.

“Let’s not be a second liberal party,” Jindal said, talking about Christie. “Let’s just not beat Hillary. Let’s elect a conservative to the White House, not just any Republican.”

Later, he seemed to taunt Christie for trying – but not succeeding, in Jindal’s view – to run New Jersey as a conservative state. “I’ll give you a ribbon for participation. And a juice box,” Jindal said.

Jindal, who rose in politics as a mild-mannered wonk, seems to believe his path to the nomination is to run as a conservative hard-liner, and a bit of a jerk. “I want to fire everybody in D.C.,” he said.

The radically leftist Los Angeles Times had more of Jindal’s attacks on Christie’s record as governor of New Jersey:

“I will give you a ribbon for participation and a juice box,” Jindal said of Christie’s record in New Jersey, as he sought to make the case that he’s accomplished more than the others on stage. Jindal attacked his rivals relentlessly. He accused Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee of allowing spending to continue to rise in their states unchecked. “Just sending any Republican [to Washington] is not enough,” Jindal said. “Under your leadership in New Jersey, your budget has gone up 15%. You’ve had nine credit downgrades.”

think the people who are giving the win to Christie are neglecting his big government record in New Jersey. Yes, Christie has charisma, but no, he is not a conservative. He does not have a conservative record. He is the epitome of RINO, and he did nothing to defend his record against Jindal’s attacks, which were all about Christie’s performance on the merits as governor of New Jersey. He had no defense, so he turned the conversation to someone slightly to the left of him – Hillary Clinton.

Please follow me on Twitter for #GOPDebate related tweets.