Polling in low single digits at the national level and in most states as he continues to seek the Republican presidential nomination, former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah took aim Wednesday at his former boss, President Barack Obama, over the economy. Obama has scheduled a major jobs speech next week.
Huntsman, who served in the Obama administration as ambassador to China, unveiled his jobs plan on Wednesday in New Hampshire. He called for reforming taxes and regulations, expanding free trade and seeking more energy exploration to lead to energy independence.
The president believes that we can tax and spend and regulate our way to prosperity. We cannot, insisted Huntsman. We must compete our way to prosperity. Its time for America to start working again. It's time for America to start making things again.
It's time for America to stand up and start competing again, Huntsman continued. Meeting our challenges will require serious solutions, but above all, it will require serious leadership a quality in high demand in our nations capital, and among my opponents on the campaign trail.
Huntsman, who has based his campaign in Orlando, vowed to make turning the economy around the chief focus of his campaign. There is no more urgent priority at this point in our nations history than creating jobs and strengthening our economic core; everything else revolves around it, he said.
Huntsman has attempted to position himself as a different kind of Republican -- a theme he returned to on Wednesday when he noted that he was the only candidate in the crowded GOP field that supported raising the federal debt ceiling.
It was just four weeks ago that I was the only candidate to stand up and support a compromise to save our nation from default which would have triggered calamitous consequences for our economy, said Huntsman. President Obama never even offered a plan of his own, and all of my opponents supported default, even as far as attempting to undermine the deal at the eleventh hour. That simply doesnt cut it especially in these trying times.
The former Utah governor stressed that he was a pragmatist. Im not running for president to promise solutions; Im running to deliver solutions, said Huntsman. My plan may be challenged by the special interests, on the left and the right. But it represents a serious path forward toward fiscal discipline and economic growth. It also represents a very different vision for our country than the current occupier of the White House.
Huntsman called for increasing American manufacturing, taking exception with the idea that that sector of the economy was destined to fade.
We need American entrepreneurs not only thinking of products like the IPhone or Segway; we need American workers building those products. Its time for 'Made in America' to mean something again, said Huntsman, who drew upon his service in China. Overseas, Ive heard our adversaries speak of Americas decline as if it were predetermined -- it is not. Some say todays economy is the new normal we must accept. I refuse to.
Huntsman came out fully behind legislation backed by Republicans in Congress, including U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to lower the federal debt.
Debt is a cancer that if left untreated will destroy our economy from within, said Huntsman. I have been an outspoken supporter of the Ryan Plan, which I believe begins to address the long-term problems that make our current course of spending unsustainable. I also support a balanced budget amendment. Our debt is immoral and it should be unconstitutional as well. But we cannot restore our nations economic strength by cuts alone. We must compete.
Huntsman called for tax reform backing recommendations from the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles Commission to eliminate all loopholes, all deductions, all subsidies and set up a maximum individual tax rate of 23 percent for the wealthiest Americans and lower rates of 8 and 14 percent for the less fortunate. He called for lowering the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent, killing the Alternative Minimum Tax and ending capital gains taxes.
Focusing on regulations, Huntsman called for repealing the federal health-care law backed by Obama and Dodd-Frank. Huntsman vowed to reform the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and EPA which he insisted were overreaching and standing in the way of free enterprise.
Huntsman called for new energy exploration in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico and said he would back the Keystone Pipeline Project with Canada.
To free ourselves from OPECs grasp and create American jobs, we must end our heroin-like addiction to foreign oil. Every year America sends more than $300 billion overseas for oil to unstable and unfriendly regimes, said Huntsman. We need to expand and open up new sources of domestic energy, thus lowering costs to businesses and improving our global competitiveness."
Huntsman said he backed free trade andits effects from his years in business and in public service in China and working on Asian issues under President George H.W. Bush.
As a former diplomat, trade official, governor and business executive, Ive witnessed firsthand the tremendous economic opportunities of free trade, said Huntsman. Ninety-five percent of the worlds customers live outside our borders, and with the U.S. party to only 17 of more than 300 trade agreements worldwide, opening more markets for American businesses should be a common-sense tool to spark immediate growth.
Huntsman took aim at the Obama administration for blocking three pending free-trade agreements which have struggled to emerge.
The president has failed to act on three trade agreements, with South Korea, Colombia and Panama Id make them a top priority, said Huntsman. "Washington must also immediately start discussions with India to end in a bilateral free-trade agreement strengthening our relationship with a friend who will prove to be critical to Americas success in the 21st century.
While Huntsman has been criticized for taking a job in the Obama administration, he wrapped up his speech with an attack on it.
President Obamas economic record has been marked by failure, said Huntsman. As the Obama administration has dithered, other nations are making the choices necessary to compete in the 21st century. Ive seen that firsthand.
In Brasilia and Beijing, New Delhi and Seoul, our competitors are making the hard choices that will help assure their children a better life. If we fail to do the same, we are robbing our children of an inheritance every previous American generation has had, Huntsman continued. Im running for president because Im prepared to lead the American people to that better and brighter future.
Huntsman ended with a last attack on Obama, contrasting the presidents 2008 slogan with one of his own.
We have no choice; we must unite and look beyond politics for solutions," said Huntsman. Its time for America to start building things again. Its time for America to start working again. Its time for America to compete again. I believe with a new administration we can do just that. President Obama won in 2008 on hope; were going to win in 2012 on solutions.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
