Club for Growth has released their Presidential White Paper analysis of Gary Johnson’s record as Governor and his public positions on the issues. Not surprisingly, Governor Johnson’s record stands tall among the GOP field.
Please share the Club’s report with your friends and acquaintances. We’ve included highlights from the white paper below.
Encourage others to compare Governor Johnson’s white paper with those of other candidates in the race. We believe they’ll agree that no candidate is more qualified to hold the highest office in the land.
While you can read the Club’s full report at this link, here’s their conclusion:
“With few exceptions, Governor Johnson’s tenure as New Mexico’s Governor and his public record since that time has revealed a generally pro-growth attitude … Governor Johnson deserves special praise for his consistent use of his veto-pen as Governor. We believe that Governor Johnson would most likely be a pro-growth President if elected.”
Here are additional highlights from the Club for Growth’s Presidential White Paper on Gary Johnson:
TAXES
“Overall, Governor Johnson has an excellent record on taxes and consistently pushed for tax cuts despite having to deal with the liberal New Mexico Legislature.
“Late in his second term, the Cato Institute found that Johnson was one of ‘four governors proposing or enacting the largest income tax rate cuts during their tenures.’
“In his first term, Governor Johnson proposed reducing the top rate of the state personal income tax from 8.5% to 8%, along with other tax cuts … He signed a repeal of a 1993 6-cent-a-gallon tax hike.
In 1997, Governor Johnson again proposed to cut the top rate, this time to 8.3%. The legislature proposed to cut it to 8.2%, but offset some of the revenue losses from this and other tax cuts with a cigarette tax increase. According to Cato, Johnson signed the income tax cut, and ‘vetoed the cigarette tax hike.’
“Unlike some of the other Republican candidates for President this year and in past election cycles, Gary Johnson never raised the cigarette tax. While the tax on cigarettes has little relevance to economic growth, the fact that he held the line on such taxes demonstrates how strongly he opposes tax hikes.’
“Over the course of his two terms, Governor Johnson ‘cut the state income tax, the gasoline tax, the state capital gains tax, and the unemployment tax.’
“As a candidate for President … [h]e called the 2010 deal to temporarily extend the Bush tax cuts for two years ‘not a good one’ because it didn’t make them permanent.”
Learn more about Gary Johnson’s record as Governor of New Mexico at: http://www.GaryJohnson2012.com/record.
SPENDING
“Governor Johnson was one of the most anti-spending governors in New Mexico history.
“Governor Johnson set a state record for vetoes as Governor, earning the title ‘Governor No’ after 742 total vetoes of bills over two terms…
“Governor Johnson looked for private alternatives to the infrastructure spending that too often busts state budgets. For example, Highway 44 between Albuquerque and Farmington was ‘designed, financed, built, and guaranteed by a private company.’
“In 2000, he refused to sign a budget and forced a special session with the legislature over funding priorities, a battle which ended with Johnson signing a $3.5 billion dollar budget but vetoing several small spending priorities such as $5 million on expanded Medicaid…
“On federal issues, Governor Johnson says he would have opposed TARP. ‘Government should not have been involved in this…Why should Goldman and AIG be saved but not Lehman?’ He also wants to eliminate government subsidies for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He says he would have voted against the stimulus.
“He has said that he would cut the federal budget by 43%, ‘Start out with the big four – Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and defense,’ Johnson said in New Hampshire in early 2011.”
There is no one more committed to reducing government spending than Gary Johnson. Let him know today that you support cutting federal spending today: https://donate.GaryJohnson2012.com.
ENTITLEMENT REFORM
“Governor Johnson has an excellent record of holding down the exploding growth of entitlement programs that now cripple state budgets.
“As Governor, Johnson presided over the beginning of managed care for Medicaid recipients in New Mexico and pushed for speedy implementation. The managed care program (known as Salud!) … has generally been described as operating with ‘significant savings to both the State and Federal governments,’ when compared to fee-for-service.
“In 2000, Governor Johnson proposed to re-impose a gross income cap on welfare recipients. In 2002, Johnson proposed limiting eligibility for Medicaid from 235% of the federal poverty level down to 200% for families with children 5 and under and 100% for ages 6-18. He also let his state’s S-CHIP program expire after vetoing an attempt to make it permanent.
“Governor Johnson’s website lists some major entitlement reform proposals, including:
- Block grant Medicare and Medicaid funds to the states, allowing them to innovate, find efficiencies and provide better service at lower cost.
- Repeal [President Obama’s health care program], as well as the failed Medicare prescription drug benefit.
- Fix Social Security by changing the escalator from being based on wage growth to inflation.
“Governor Johnson has also said that he would be open to personal accounts for Social Security, as well as means testing the program.”
Learn more about Governor Johnson’s ideas for addressing entitlement reform at: http://www.GaryJohnson2012.com/issues.
REGULATION
“In 1999, Johnson vetoed a bill which would have raised the minimum wage from $4.25 per hour to $5.65. He also signed a law deregulating New Mexico’s electricity market that allowed residential, small-business customers and schools to start shopping for their electricity supplier.
“He’s argued that when a Democrat negotiates with labor unions through collective bargaining it’s a ‘giveaway’ instead of a negotiation. He says he doesn’t believe in cap-and-trade legislation, saying that ‘I do not believe that taxing carbon emissions is the way to go forward.’
“Governor Johnson also opposes so-called ‘Net Neutrality’ regulations that would lead to a larger government role in the use of Internet bandwidth.”
Governor Johnson supports the policies that are right for America. Show your support for these ideas with a generous donation: https://donate.GaryJohnson2012.com.
FREE TRADE
On trade, Johnson ‘generally supports NAFTA and other free-trade agreements.’ In a June 9 segment on John Stossel’s program on Fox Business, Johnson … said he wanted ‘no tariffs, no restrictions’ on trade.
“He did sound a little squishy on trade in a March 2011 interview when he said that ‘So much of the legislation that we pass isn’t really free market at all. It’s touted as free market, when the reality ends up to be very corporate. The reality ends up to be corporatism … I was always looking at business legislation from the standpoint of having it affect everyone equally as opposed to big business being further advantaged … so many of these treaties, NAFTA being one … the criticism of NAFTA should be rooted in the fact that big business became even bigger business.”
NOTE: Of course, there is no greater proponent of free trade than Gary Johnson. He supports free trade as vigorously as he does free markets, and will ensure that all government-negotiated trade agreements truly promote free trade – not government-regulated trade.
Learn more about Governor Johnson’s views on the issues at: http://www.GaryJohnson2012.com/issues.
SCHOOL CHOICE
“Governor Johnson has a consistent record of support for school choice and vouchers. Governor Johnson proposed giving every student in the entire state of New Mexico vouchers worth $3,500.
“He once compared the program to child-care vouchers, saying ‘For those mothers who are on welfare, we give them what in essence is a voucher which allows them to choose where to send their children to child care, and in many cases that child care is religious. That’s a state-funded program. We don’t call it a voucher but it might just as well be called a voucher.’”
“He supports eliminating the Department of Education and wants universal school choice.”
Imagine the prospect of a President committed to ending the Department of Education. Show Governor Johnson your support today: https://donate.GaryJohnson2012.com.
TORT REFORM
“Governor Johnson formed a task force aimed at limiting punitive damage awards in 1996. He also supported the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act that toughened liability standards for securities litigation.”
Learn more about Gary Johnson at: http://www.GaryJohnson2012.com.
POLITICAL FREE SPEECH
“Governor Johnson [has] stated that he opposed campaign contribution limits.
‘The problem isn’t large contributions. The problem is that we don’t know who contributed. In New Mexico, there’s no limit on what I can receive from anyone, but I have to disclose it all–with the exception of soft money,’ said Johnson. ‘If you limit contributions from an individual to, say, $1000, then I think just the opposite occurs. Then you have politicians beholden to way too many people.’ In 2010, Johnson said he favored unlimited contributions by corporations as well.”
Governor Johnson deserves our support. Imagine the prospect of a true fiscal conservative in the White House. Only you can make that happen: https://donate.GaryJohnson2012.com.
Ron Nielson
Senior Campaign Strategist
Gary Johnson 2012
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