Republican candidate stumps at Foss Manufacturing
By Max Sullivan
Hampton Union, Friday, September 4, 2015
[The following article is courtesy of the Hampton Union and Seacoast Online.]
HAMPTON — Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush knocked GOP front-runner Donald Trump during a visit to Hampton Thursday, calling him “too pessimistic” and calling his idea to force Mexico to pay for a wall “absurdity.”
Bush told employees at the Foss Manufacturing plant off Towle Farm Road that Trump is “preying on people’s angst and fears” with his campaign rather than encouraging the nation to chase an optimistic future, as he claimed he is doing.
“We are on the verge of the greatest time to be alive, and there is one candidate in the Republican Party that is preying on people’s angst and fears, that has the philosophy that is not about goodness and greatness of the American people,” Bush said, later revealing he was referring to Trump. “He’s too pessimistic, and my belief is that if we create the right climate the right climate, America is going to rise up and lead the world for the next generation of time.
“Donald Trump’s view is that the end is near,” Bush continued. “His pessimistic view is, ‘Let’s close the border, let’s create tariffs, let’s do this, let’s do that,' all based on negativity. The net result is that that all of us will suffer if that philosophy gains favor.”
Bush said he supports walls in small sections of the border, such as near Tijuana, but outside of condensed urban areas he said the idea makes no sense, especially Trump’s idea of forcing Mexico to pay for the construction of a wall across the entire border.
“The notion that another country will pay for a wall we’re building is ludicrous beyond belief,” Bush said.
Bush went on to say that he supports a guest worker program which would allow illegal immigrants to "come out of the shadows," pay taxes and function as members of society in America without granting them full citizenship.
"Here's what I don't think is practical. Rounding people up, dicing up families. That would cost hundreds of billions of dollars," Bush said. "There's got to be a practical way to deal with this."
The former Florida governor also said he intends to improve the U.S. economy's growth rate by reforming the tax code. He said lowering corporate tax rates "as low as you possibly can" will give businesses more incentive to keep their business in the United States.
Bush said he will divulge more details of his plan on Sept. 9 in Raleigh, N.C., but he said his goal is to take the current growth rate of 2 percent and increase it to 4 percent.
“The tax code is rife with all sorts of deductions and credits that make people feel compelled to follow the script (of investing outside of the U.S.),” Bush said. “The basic notion of this (plan) is to make our tax code an economic driver for investment in our own country.”