Tomorrow, Governor Christie will make a speech at the University of New Hampshire at Manchester where he will lay out a detailed proposal to create economic opportunity for middle-class Americans. This five point plan will address the following areas, in addition to other details that will be outlined in the speech:
- Comprehensive tax reform that will include lowering rates for every American by simplifying the income tax system to just three individual income tax rates, instead of the current six, as well as eliminating or modifying deductions, credits, and targeted provisions in the code. Gov Christie will also propose reducing the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25% and encouraging companies to invest in the U.S.
- Reforming and reducing regulation which is killing American economic growth, including a day one revocation by the next administration of the most egregious and unlawful rules and executive orders published under the Obama administration.
- Renewing calls for a pro-growth national energy strategy that unlocks the full potential of the North American energy renaissance.
- Creating incentives to work, including eliminating the payroll tax for those above age 62 and those newly entering the workforce, below age 21.
- Expanding middle-class economic opportunities by better connecting skills with job opportunities and creating greater transparency in higher education.
Here’s what you need to know (along with excerpted remarks):
Governor Christie’s economic proposals address the fundamental question: Why has the income of middle-class Americans not grown for 15 years?
“Today, we have a stagnant economy after a brutal recession; unimaginably high national debt that is still growing; an entitlement state that is out of control and will compromise our future; the heavy hand of government regulation in every corner of our lives, and, again, a president who ran on a single idea “hope and change”, and who now tells us that our lives are really better than they feel to us and that, if they’re not, it’s not his fault, but the fault of a Washington, D.C. culture that he has only made even worse.
“We must put an end to this toxic mix of pessimism and arrogance – this belief that government can exert greater control over our lives but then refuse to accept responsibility for the failure that control has wrought; this fantasy that the last six years have been a great success when wages are flat, full-time employment for the middle class is shrinking, and wealth is at all-time highs only for the privileged.”
Governor Christie outlines how the economic policies of the Obama Administration have been focused on the wealthy getting wealthier while the middle class has experienced little or no economic mobility.
“...The weak economy combined with a set of monetary policies in these last six years geared for the wealthy have exacerbated the very problem the left loves to harp on - that of income inequality. The reality is that, in the stronger, higher growth economy we enjoyed in the 1980s and 1990s, incomes grew for most Americans. When real growth was slower and inflation was higher, such as in the late 1970s, income inequalities grew more.
“In the last six years, during this administration, we have had two overwhelming, policy-driven factors, which have again made income inequality worse - materially worse. The “easy money” policies of the Federal Reserve have helped the value of financial assets grow substantially. So those we own such assets, including stocks, are doing fine.
“With jobs hard to find, with wages stagnant, and with weak GDP growth, those in the middle cannot enjoy higher incomes. For the first time in our history, median income has actually declined during a post-recession recovery. So under this president, we have a roaring financial economy for the wealthy and a weak real economy for the middle class. He has worsened income inequality through his policies.
“Bottom line: the fed’s easy money policies and the President’s anti-growth policies have made the rich even richer and made our middle class work longer and harder for less pay and less promise for the future.”
Governor Christie makes clear in his remarks that he believes government shouldn’t be picking winners and losers in this economy, politicians shouldn’t be finding villains to blame for loss of opportunity and Republicans shouldn’t be protecting the wealthy.
“It is time to recognize that an economic policy driven overwhelmingly by the belief that government should pick the winners and losers rather than the efforts and ingenuity of the American people is a path to misery – to a lower standard of living and a loss of opportunity and freedom for too many Americans.
“As a Republican, I don’t suffer from the disease that Democrats do – I don’t feel the political need to vilify the wealthy and accomplished. But by the same token, I do not feel we need to protect them either. The policies of this president have led to a crippling decline of middle class wages and opportunities, while our wealthiest have gotten wealthier on a stock market fueled by borrowing and easy money. I will not attack or vilify those who have been successful, but America now needs leaders who will fight for our middle class by growing our economy and unleashing the opportunities that will come with growth.”
Governor Christie also calls on the Democratic Party to stop reflexively disagreeing and to come together to get things done on policy areas where there has been agreement in the past.
“In the past, these have been the subjects of bipartisan agreement. But what has happened in our politics? What has happened to today’s Democratic Party? Will today’s democrats oppose tax reform that promotes growth and makes it easier to do your taxes each year? Will the oppose provisions to incentivize work instead of dependency? Have today’s democrats turned so far left, so reflexively left, that they oppose every growth initiative, even ones the party has supported in the past?
“Only they and their nominee can answer that question, but my answer is this? It is time to come together and get things done for America.”
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