The Orion Islands wrote:Dentali wrote:Richardson: Generally or specifically in response to China?
Senator Colbert: “Generally.”
"I'm an old school conservative, Reagan and Eisenhower are my models. As Governor inherited a deficit, a massive labor issue, massive unemployment, and ridiculous taxes. We fought that with balancing the budget and getting $4 billion in tax cuts done. Now we have the fastest growing economy in the country, a booming labor market and one of the largest surpluses in the country. And I am the only candidate in the race to pledge 'No new taxes, No tax increases.' Porter and Prendergast have both suggested tax increases."
"First step is to solidify the gains made under Wolf. The tax cuts expire in 2025, just the act of making them permanent is expected to inject hundreds of billions into our economy. To further increase our prosperity we should index our capital gains tax to inflation which would inject hundreds of billions of dollars into the economy."
"My big idea is Universal Savings Accounts... these work like 401k retirement savings accounts but with less red tape and rules. Americans can deposit after-tax income into the account and their earnings grow tax free. These are not theoretical, in Canada 40% of households use such accounts, with low income households using over half of them. It creates a culture of savings and investing, giving people the flexibility and the motivation to save for something other than retirement."
"We need to continue streamlining and cutting regulations and incentivize states to do the same. Certain projects that would take 2 years in Europe can take 12 in some states, we can't realistically talk about infrastructure until we fix this problem."
“This means a continuation of the rollback President Wolf got started, to make sure we have an appropriate and healthy balance between protections and economic strength, without exploitation or abuse. Wolf’s regulatory reform brought us as much economic growth as the tax cuts themselves, and codifying many regulatory changes to things like the clean water act and the endangered species act will be a massive boon to our nation’s businesses, that can’t be taken away at the whim of an unelected bureaucrat.”
"We should allow businesses to deduct capital expenses from their taxable income under what is known as ‘full expensing.’ The Tax Foundation has estimated that full expensing would allow economic output to grow by 5.4%. It primarily works by allowing new investments in a business to be tax deductible, for example a construction business buying new tools for its workers. This works because it is forward looking and removes the bias against investment, if a company needs new computers to increase productivity it’s easier to buy them. This would exclude investments that would eliminate jobs through automation. Our nation’s start up rate is stuck at 30% below its pre-2008 level, and full expensing is the single best way to encourage new startups and entrepreneurs. It would also encourage larger corporations sitting on uninvested cash balances to begin investing it in new buildings, equipment, and innovation, which is exactly what our economy needs."
“We also have to recognize the need to focus on restoring and growing our industrial capacity, our manufacturing sector, it is not a call to socialism... our free market and American entrepreneurship is the driver of our greatness as a nation. But we also must recognize that as a nation, we have national interests beyond short term profits. Without increasing strength in trade-able sectors we will not have the capability to be secure and prosperous. What I am calling for is not nationalization as the left would have, they would do well to remember that throughout American history we have relied on collaborations between the public and private sectors to reach new heights as a nation, whether through winning WW2 or by putting a man on the moon.”
“Our small businesses are doing great right now but small business startups are still lagging. We should modernize and reform our Small Business Administration program to encourage investment in small businesses in key sectors like aerospace, rail, electronics, telecommunications and agriculture. We also need to expand the amount of federal money we are giving for Research and Development to Small Businesses.”
“For our big businesses, we need to acknowledge that a bunch of the bailout money from the recession was used to buy back shares, not save jobs. And we need to acknowledge that our tax code still incentivizes that. We should codify the write off for any investments in machinery, structures, land and make sure to reward the investment of profits back into the company and its workers.”
“The tradable sector, manufacturing, industrial agriculture, energy, minerals… the areas I want to focus on… every dollar of manufactured goods sold generate $1.33 in other sectors. If you build a dishwasher, someone will sell it in retail. But every dollar in retail generates only 66 cents, a similar number in professional and business services. We export far more manufactured goods than we do services.”
“We cannot continue as a Great Power, let alone a Super Power if we do not have our own innovative, dynamic and health manufacturing base. To say nothing of having a base that is utterly reliant on our biggest rival. Imagine trying to win the Cold War if we bought all our missiles from the Soviet Unions.”
“We must make the Wolf Tax cuts permanent, and continue to reform our tax code in a way that incentivizes making investments in companies and workers. With a special focus on the tradable sector. This includes a tax code that incentivizes raising wages and hiring workers rather than stock buybacks. If we don’t we will just be continuing a self destructive cycle.”
“Our energy sector is in need of similar reform and refocusing. We are a net exporter of oil, our natural gas boom is the main driving force behind our economy right now. But we are still not truly energy independent.”
“The crude oil we export is fairly useless without refineries, which we lack. While we are up over a million barrels a day compared to a decade ago, that is really not a massive jump. If our oil and petrol trade halted tomorrow we would see massive shortages of gas and other usable fuel, but we would have plenty of crude oil which doesn’t help you get to work in the morning. Drilling more holes in the ground isn’t going to cut it. We need to focus on our refining capability if we want true energy independence.”
"But thats a bit off topic. My approach combines traditional conservatism with some more populist aspects of Wolfism, all geared to strength the family, our country international and general prosperity."