Jeb Bush on Jobs

	Jeb Bush on Jobs Republican FL Governor; V.P. prospect

Employ American Workers Act led to lost ideas & lost jobs

Buried inside [the 2009 stimulus] was a union-backed provision called the Employ American Workers Act, which restricted H-1B visas for any company that received federal recovery assistance. "Within days of the president signing it into law," recounts a professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, "a number of US banks reneged on job offers extended months earlier to foreign-born MBA students." The net result, says Slaughter: "Lost ideas. Lost jobs. Lost taxes." Source: Immigration Wars, by Jeb Bush, p. 93 , Mar 5, 2013

Job growth during Bush terms, but very low wage jobs

In his 2006-2007 Budget Message he said that the "state's economy is one of the strongest in the nation, with rapid job growth and income growth providing its citizens with a wealth of economic opportunities." He cited the lowest unemployment rate in the nation and an "unprecedented" job creation rate.

While there was job growth during the Bush term of office it was smaller than in any gubernatorial administration since 1978. In addition, much of the job growth was the product of a growing population rather than the tax cuts the governor generated.

Most of the jobs created during the Bush administration were in the low-paying sectors of the economy. The state's 2004 median hourly wage ($13.10 per hour) was below the national average and the state had an unusually high percentage of very low-wage workers who earned wages at or below the federal minimum wage.

Source: Aggressive Conservatism in Florida, by Robert Crew, p.109-10 , Dec 11, 2009

Gambling is emblematic of "something for nothing" culture

Jeb worked against a slot-machine gambling amendment in 2004. Jeb, as a good Christian conservative, has long opposed gambling as emblematic of the "something for nothing" culture that afflicts America. And so when the gambling interests put on the ballot an initiative to allow slot machines at pari-mutuels in Miami-Dade and Broward counties by local referendum, one would have expected Jeb to fight it tooth and nail, right?

Wrong. In fact, Jeb barely lifted a finger. The consequence: the pro-slots initiative passed. Jeb mobilized his people to defeat it in Miami-Dade, but could not stop it in Broward.

But why so little effort? [Jeb might say], "My brother was facing a tight race again, and I needed every Republican and independent vote I could get, including the libertarians who have no problem with gambling." And so, Florida in 2006, with a conservative Republican governor, finally got casino-style gambling that Democratic governors had successfully staved off in 1978, 1986, and 1994.

Source: America's Next Bush, by S.V. Date, p. 14-15 , Feb 15, 2007

Operation Paycheck: stimulus for 33,000 construction jobs

In recent weeks, we have already taken bold steps to help restore our economy, launching programs like Operation Paycheck and passing an economic stimulus package aimed at creating more than 33,000 new construction jobs in this state. And I am pleased to say that these measures are working.

Over the long haul, we must restore the health of the businesses we already have and we must grow new businesses that diversify and strengthen our economic base. Chief among the new industries that will transform Florida are those that create high-tech jobs, from Florida's globally-recognized strengths such as the simulation, optics, and space technology fields to emerging new sectors such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence.

Source: State of the State address to 2002 Florida Legislature , Jan 22, 2002

More R&D & tax incentives for small farmers.

Bush signed the Southern Governors' Association resolution:

Resolved,

Create a major funding research and development block grant initiative to state departments of agriculture and other appropriate state entities which could work with universities and non-traditional research entities to spur value-added processing;
Discourage, eliminate and prosecute “insurance farmers” under the crop insurance program and require coverage of farmers for disaster relief payments eligibility;
Urge the U.S. Justice Department to review the implications of the consolidation of agricultural businesses with respect to the Sherman Anti-trust Act and assign a senior level Justice official to this task;
Support programs that will sustain small farms;
Invest in our infrastructure and transportation network to assure that agriculture and other producing and consumer interests are well served;
Encourage new farmers to enter agriculture production with incentives and other programs such as capital gains taxes, new tax-deferred savings accounts and deferred loans;
Discourage dual marketing systems for biotech and non-biotech products, maintain the current regulatory system on labeling of biotech foods, and pass legislation to protect against crop destruction aimed at academic research institutions and biotechnology companies

Source: Resolution of Southern Governor's Assn. on 2002 Farm Bill 01-SGA5 on Sep 9, 2001

Repeal the federal unemployment "temporary surtax".