--- title: Bobby Jindal: Sanders and Clinton Would Both Turn Us Into Greece description: You can't make it impossible for business to thrive and expect the economy to grow. canonical: https://time.com/3947747/bobby-jindal-greece-debt/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-07T17:08:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:02:38.014Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Bobby Jindal: Sanders and Clinton Would Both Turn Us Into Greece og:description: You can't make it impossible for business to thrive and expect the economy to grow. og:url: https://time.com/3947747/bobby-jindal-greece-debt/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16c4a6646a1c9288/698859c50b72e3a1216e4d05/bobby-jindal.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announces his candidacy for the 2016 Presidential nomination during a rally a he Pontchartrain Center in Kenner, Louisiana on June 24, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bobby Jindal: Sanders and Clinton Would Both Turn Us Into Greece twitter:description: You can't make it impossible for business to thrive and expect the economy to grow. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16c4a6646a1c9288/698859c50b72e3a1216e4d05/bobby-jindal.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bobby Jindal: Sanders and Clinton Would Both Turn Us Into Greece ## Video: Know Right Now: Greece Votes [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: Greece Votes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/K2BsOH8p.m3u8) (1:01)  _Published 2015-07-05. Know Right Now: Greece Votes_ by [Gov. Bobby Jindal](https://time.com/author/gov-bobby-jindal/) ## Gov. Bobby Jindal Jul 7, 2015 5:08 PM UTC  Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announces his candidacy for the 2016 Presidential nomination during a rally a he Pontchartrain Center in Kenner, Louisiana on June 24, 2015. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announces his candidacy for the 2016 Presidential nomination during a rally a he Pontchartrain Center in Kenner, Louisiana on June 24, 2015.Sean Gardner—Getty Images by [Gov. Bobby Jindal](https://time.com/author/gov-bobby-jindal/) ## Gov. Bobby Jindal Jul 7, 2015 5:08 PM UTC Greece created democracy, and now the Greeks are showing us how to kill it. It’s simple math to understand what is happening in Greece right now. When Greece joined the euro, it benefited from the financial support of its more fiscally responsible neighbors in the euro zone. Rather than taking the opportunity to enact the structural reforms that could have increased growth — reforms that it still has not undertaken — Greece instead went on a spending spree funded by other people’s money. Greece has been cooking the books with complicated financial instruments for years. But the problems don’t stop there. Greece’s Rubik’s Cube tax code and rampant corruption make tax evasion widespread. Golden parachute public pensions that allow public sector workers to [retire as early as 45](http://dailycaller.com/2015/07/03/retirement-at-45-and-8-other-simple-reasons-greece-is-imploding-right-now/) drain dollars out of the government coffers while incentivizing a still healthy and work-age workforce to live on the public dime. It’s hard to have sufficient tax paying workers when about [75% of Greek public-sector employees](http://greece.greekreporter.com/2014/12/04/75-of-greek-pensioners-enjoy-early-retirement/) retire by the age 61. After taking office in January, the Alexis Tsipras administration reversed promised privatization of state-owned assets like the Port of Piraeus. In 2011, the IMF predicted Greece could bring in [50 billion euros](http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/07/02/world/europe/ap-eu-greece-the-latest.html) ($56 billion) from the sale of state assets, not to mention the savings from moving those employees off the public wage and benefit system. To date, it has raised about 3 billion euros. Business has no interest in creating jobs when crushed by government regulation. Tspiras promised to raise the minimum wage, despite the economy spiraling out of control. It’s not surprising the March unemployment rate stood at [25.6%](http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greek-unemployment-rate-stable-at-256-2015-06-04). This is the European nightmare. The way of Greece is where Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will take us. It’s simple math: You can’t spend more than you take in. You can’t make it impossible for business to thrive and expect the economy to grow. No wonder the U.S. has had a disappointing about 2% “recovery” growth. That’s not an accident—it’s the result of failed policies. Clinton and Sanders are math deniers, like most of the Democrats in D.C. They want to grow the government economy instead of the real American economy. Rather than pursuing tax reform to improve growth or entitlement changes to reduce future expenditures, Clinton and Sanders are focused on spending trillions on Obamacare, giving free college to everyone, and raising the federal minimum wage. This was all on plain view in New Hampshire this past weekend, where Clinton spent the weekend promoting a third term of President Barack Obama’s failed policies. The irony is that her dishonesty and lack of transparency is a windfall for Sanders. Sanders is rising in the polls. Why? Because he’s honest. He freely admits that he believes in socialism, and Democrats are flocking to the only honest candidate running on their side. Sanders should write Clinton a thank you note. Sanders may be saying what Clinton will not say, but the reality is they’re both socialists. And if you want a peek into our future with Clinton or Sanders, then look at what’s happening in Greece today. Sanders proudly said on Sunday that [he wants to raise taxes](http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/05/politics/bernie-sanders-raise-taxes/index.html). Sanders and Clinton seem to believe prosperity lies in the hands of government. We know it lies in the hands of our people. We have to stop pretending. Greece pretended that debt didn’t matter for years. It pretended it could spend money it didn’t have. It pretended that there was some mythical pot of money in Athens that didn’t exist. It pretended that 1+1 didn’t equal 2. The politicians in Puerto Rico are no different. They are demanding that we change U.S. laws so that they can file for bankruptcy. They are even threatening to sway the presidential election in order to force candidates to agree with them. These are the same politicians that led the country to bankruptcy. Everyone knows exactly what is going on here — they are asking the U.S. taxpayers to pay for a bailout. That’s where this leads, and we should be honest about it. I oppose this. Unfortunately, we better admit that our politicians in Washington are taking us down the exact same road that Puerto Rico is on, and that Greece has gone down. The federal minimum wage has strangled economic growth in Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rican government tried to throw money at the problem with incentive programs to lure business — but that just cost money and didn’t fix the structural problem, so the economy continued to stall. I know because in Louisiana we reversed decades of outmigration, and we created more than 90,000 jobs by reducing regulations and cutting taxes. Louisiana’s economy boomed. We can do the same for America’s economy. If you want more borrowing and spending, then vote for the Democrats. We know where that leads — Greece and Puerto Rico have shown us how quickly irresponsible spending can kill a democracy. ### See the 2016 Candidates' Campaign Launches  Sen. Ted Cruz kicked off his campaign for 2016 Republican presidential nomination at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. on March 23. Tom Williams—CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images  Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul launched his bid for the Republican nomination at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville on April 7\. Supporters held signs with the slogan "Defeat the Washington Machine / Unleash the American Dream." Amy Harris—Corbis  Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced her campaign in a YouTube video posted April 12 that has been seen nearly 4.5 million times. One boy featured in the video boasted about playing a fish in a school play. Hillary For America  Florida Sen. Marco Rubio announced his campaign for the Republican nomination during a rally at the Freedom Tower in Miami on April 13\. He took a drink of water during the speech, a callback to his State of the Union response in 2013. Wilfredo Lee—AP  Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders announced his bid for the Democratic nomination across the street from the U.S. Capitol on April 30, 2015\. The backdrop was unusual, since most candidates rail against Washington. Jonathan Ernst—Reuters  Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson announced his bid for the Republican nomination at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts May 4, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan. The launch featured a gospel choir covering Eminem's "Lose Yourself." Bill Pugliano—Getty Images  Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina announced her campaign for the Republican nomination in a conference call on May 4, then went on "Good Morning America" to talk to George Stephanopoulos. Lou Rocco—Getty Images  Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee announced his campaign at a community college in his hometown of Hope, Ark., on May 5\. Singer Tony Orlando (right) performed. Left: Danny Johnston; Right: Matt Sullivan—Getty Images  Republican presidential candidate and former New York Governor George Pataki (C) greets supporters after formally announcing his candidacy for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination in Exeter, N.H. on May 28, 2015. Dominick Reuter—Reuters  Former Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee announces his candidacy for the democratic presidential nomination at George Mason University in Arlington, Va. on June 3, 2015. Win McNamee—Getty Images  Republican Senator Lindsey Graham announces his 2016 presidential candidacy in Central, S.C. on June 1, 2015. Erik S. Lesser—EPA  Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley is joined by his wife Katie O'Malley (R) as he announces his intention to seek the Democratic presidential nomination during a speech at Federal Hill Park in Baltimore on May 30, 2015. Jim Bourg—Reuters  Former Texas governor Rick Perry announces his candidacy for Republican presidential nominee at an event held at Addison Airport in Addison, Texas on Thursday, June 4, 2015. Louis DeLuca—Dallas Morning News/Corbis  Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush waves on stage as he announces his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination during an event at Miami-Dade College - Kendall Campus in Miami on June 15 , 2015. Joe Raedle—Getty Images  Donald Trump holds up his financial statement showing his net worth as he formally announces his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination during an event at Trump Tower in New York City on June 16, 2015. Brendan McDermid—Reuters  Republican presidential candidate and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal formally announces his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination in Kenner, La. on June 24, 2015. Jonathan Bachman—Reuters  Republican presidential candidate and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie formally announces his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination during a kickoff rally at Livingston High School in Livingston, N.J. on June 30, 2015. Brendan McDermid—Reuters  Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker greets supporters after announcing that he will seek the Republican nomination for president in Waukesha, Wis. on July 13, 2015 . Scott Olson—Getty Images  Ohio Governor John Kasich arrives on stage to formally announce his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination during a kickoff rally in Columbus, Ohio on July 21, 2015. Aaron P. 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