Ron Paul (R)
Ron Paul is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing Texas’ 14th congressional district. Representative Paul ran for President in 1988 and again in 2008. He holds a B.S. from Gettysburg College and an M.D. from Duke University.
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At a campaign stop in Chillicothe, OH, Rick Santorum spoke about his plans for the American economy. The Cleveland Plain-Dealer reports:
During a 40-minute speech before about 300 people at Chillicothe High School, the Republican presidential candidate stuck to economic themes in a region still trying to rebound from the economic downturn.
"What kind of country do you want to hand off to the next generation?" asked Santorum. "We need innovative solutions to liberate the American people."
Meanwhile, Forbes is reporting that as Super Tuesday approaches, the candidates have stepped up their rhetoric, and are pledging to hold China accountable:
“If I’m president of the United States…on Day One, I will declare China a currency manipulator, allowing me to put tariffs on products where they are stealing American jobs unfairly. We can compete when there’s a level playing field and we’d win…. I’m going to insist that China plays by the same rules that everyone in the world plays by.” — Mitt Romney (my humble guess is he can call China chopped liver if he wants, but will do nothing to retaliate other than what Obama has already done. Romney’s the most anti-China of the bunch.)
“I want to beat China. I want to go to war with China and make America the most attractive place in the world to do business.” — Rick Santorum (quite mild; doesn’t want a trade war like Romney says he wants.)
“I think we’re going to have to find ways to dramatically raise the pain level for the Chinese cheating, both in the hacking side, but also on the stealing and intellectual property side. And I don’t think anybody today has a particularly good strategy for doing that.” –Newt Gingrich (he’s mostly come out against Chinese stealing of intellectual property; a legitimate, non-emotional complaint based on facts.)
“To fight with China now? They are our third best partners and are great customers. Why say that they are the problem? We complain that they’ve messed around with their currency. What have we done with the dollar over the last three years?” — Ron Paul (Doesn’t think China is the cause of our problems.)
Ron Paul participated in the Republican Presidential Forum On Manufacturing in Pella, IA yesterday. However, Paul did not make any mention of the word “manufacturing” or manufacturing jobs.
Watch the whole video here.
Eight candidates for the Republican Presidential nomination faced off against each other last night at the Ronald Reagan Library in California. During the 1-hour, 45-minute debate, the candidates all spoke about the need to create jobs and attacked President Obama for failing to do more on that front.
However, not a single candidate made mention of manufacturing jobs. In fact, the debate transcript reveals that there was not a single mention of the word “manufacturing.” The closest any of the candidates got to this topic was when Jon Huntsman was asked if he agreed with Mitt Romney’s plan to label China a currency manipulator. His weak response, which we’ve included below, was not what we should expect from the candidate who wants to be seen as the intellectual alternative:
Q: Governor Huntsman, as you know, Governor Romney's new economic plan calls for the U.S. government to officially label China a currency manipulator, But "The Wall Street Journal" editorial page says such a move would cause a trade war, perhaps.
You're a former ambassador to China. You have served four U.S. presidents. In your view, what does Governor Romney not get about China?
HUNTSMAN: He doesn't get the part that what will fix the U.S- China relationship, realistically, is fixing our core right here at home, because our core is weak, and it is broken, and we have no leverage at the negotiating table.
And I'd have to say, Mitt, now is not the time in a recession to enter a trade war. Ronald Reagan flew this plane. I was in China during the trip in 1984. He went on TV, he spoke to the Chinese people -- I'd love to do that too, in Chinese itself -- and he talked in optimistic, glowing terms.
And it reminds me about this, Ryan, we are the most blue sky, optimistic people on earth. We're going to find solutions, and I have an offer for the two great governors over here.
And I hate to rain on the parade of the Lone Star governor, but as governor of Utah, we were the number one job creator in this country during my years of service. That was 5.9 percent when you were creating jobs at 4.9 percent.
And to my good friend, Mitt, 47 just ain't going to cut it, my friend, not when you can be first. We've got to remember, that to beat President Obama, we have to have somebody who's been in the private sector, understands the fragility of the free market system, has been a successful governor as it relates to job creation, and knows something about this world.
I've lived overseas four times, I've been an ambassador to my country three times, I think I understand that.
The American people are angry at Washington for not doing enough to create jobs. Anybody who wants to run the country needs to listen to what the people want: jobs, jobs, jobs.
Read the transcript here.
