Jeb Bush Campaign Press Release - Jeb: Shaking Up Mount Washington

Seven years into Barack Obama's presidency, the American people are growing increasingly distrustful of all things happening in Washington, D.C.

A recent Iowa Poll conducted for The Des Moines Register found that 90 percent of potential Republican caucus-goers were either unsatisfied or "mad as hell" about the federal government. It is not hard to see why. President Obama has led a massive expansion of the federal government. If left unchecked, over the next 10 years, he will have raised taxes by nearly $2 trillion. At the same time, he has still managed to grow the national debt by $8 trillion. His signature policy achievement, Obamacare, has been a drag on economic growth, discouraging hiring and resulting in businesses cutting back on workers' hours. For the first time in history, more American businesses are failing than starting up. Workforce participation has fallen to a 38-year low. Middle-class families' incomes have declined by $2,000 and 6 million more people are living in poverty.

While the American people struggle under the failed leadership of Barack Obama, the insiders in Washington, D.C., have never had it better. The nation's capital is now America's new boomtown with the highest per capita income in the country. The wealth explosion in Washington is not attributed to innovation or manufacturing new products. It is driven almost completely by influence peddling. There is something deeply wrong with the fact that special interest groups, lobbyists and political insiders are profiting from bigger government, higher taxes and a soaring national debt while the average middle-class family in America hasn't received a pay raise in 15 years.

While others in this race pay lip service to reforming Washington, I am the one candidate for president with the strongest record of bringing disruptive change to government. As governor of Florida, I turned the political culture of Tallahassee upside down. We took on the teachers unions to make Florida a national leader in school choice and school accountability. We took on public employee unions to shrink the size of the state bureaucracy by 11 percent. We took on trial lawyers to rein in frivolous lawsuits and make our business climate more conducive to small business growth. And we took on big spending politicians from both parties to balance eight budgets and cut taxes eight years in a row by a total of $19 billion.

My reform agenda includes passing a Balanced Budget Amendment and line-item veto to put an end to the deficit spending and crushing debt that is threatening America's future. I will push for a six-year lobbying ban on former senators and members of Congress, closing the revolving door of the influence industry. I will push for term limits to end political careerism. And I will fight for a new law to cut the pay of lawmakers who refuse to show up for work. If they skip votes or miss hearings, they should have their paychecks docked — that's what happens in the private sector. Finally, I will dramatically downsize the federal bureaucracy by 10 percent, matching the level of reduction in government I achieved in Tallahassee.

These reforms will make the political class more accountable to the American people and turn off the spending spigot. But the most important things we can do to curtail the arrogance and overreach of the federal government is to dramatically change our tax and regulatory systems.  The status quo benefits the politically connected who can hire the best lawyers and lobbyists. It is time to clean out the tax code of all the special carve outs, deductions and loopholes that benefit the wealthy so we can provide real tax relief to the middle class. My tax plan would put $2,000 back into the pockets of the average working family in the nation, and my regulatory reform agenda will unleash the entrepreneurial spirit in the nation and make it possible for more Americans to start and build successful small businesses.

We are at a watershed moment in our nation's history. The American people are yearning for change. The question is who can deliver it. We are not going to fix a dysfunctional Washington, D.C., by electing a celebrity entertainer or D.C. senator who is either part of the problem or has proven incapable of fixing it. I have the most successful conservative governing record in the field and I intend to be a president who will shake up Washington in a dramatic and profound way that will free up the American people to pursue their dreams and achieve earned success.

Originally Posted on the Des Moines Register