Gary Johnson brings small government initiative to New Hampshire
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(CONCORD, NH) Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson wrapped up his first tour of the First in the Nation Primary State with an address to liberty-minded Republicans. The two-term Republican was in New Hampshire to tout the Our America Initiative, and fueled speculation about a possible run from President in 2012.
Johnson delivered the keynote address the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire Forum in Concord on Saturday, promoting a small government agenda. In railing against the increased size and expense of the federal government under both Republican and Democratic administrations, Johnson urged the crowd to remember the words of a Founding Father.
Johnson sat down with New Hampshire Watchdog for an exclusive interview at the New Hampshire Republican State Committee headquarters in Concord.
Johnson has drawn attention for his controversial stand on drug legalization. He stressed the issue as a way to refocus scarce resources on bigger problems.
Johnson ran for Governor with no political experience, won re-election, and set an unofficial record by vetoing by his count more bills than the 49 other Governors combined in his eight years in office. He warns GOP officials not to get cocky over the election of Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts, arguing that voter frustration extends to both parties. But he is also trying to bring Tea Party and Libertarian activists back into the Republican fold, stressing that working within the two-party system is a faster and more productive way to shrink the federal government.
To see our exclusive interview with Governor Johnson in full, as well as his complete address, go to our Video Archive.
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Tags: Gary Johnson
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01/25/10 Gary Johnson Daily News Roundup « Johnson For America Blog
[...] Gary Johnson brings small government initiative to New Hampshire — New Hampshire Watchdog [...]
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Rob Nikolewski Interviews Gary Johnson
[...] days as he travels the country pitching his vision for a freer America. My friend Grant Bosse of New Hampshire Watchdog interviewed him earlier this year. Here’s an interview of Gary on ReasonTV. Here he is on [...]
4:06 pm on January 25th, 2010
For those who are interested, you can find Gary Johnson’s new website at: http://www.ouramericainitiative.com
I also found an official Facebook group that was just created:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gary-Johnson-Our-America/165297924363
I’ve already expressed my support for him and I hope that everyone does the same.
1:38 pm on January 30th, 2010
According to http://www.JohnsonForAmerica.com, Gary Johnson was known for:
* Vetoing 750 bills (more than all the vetoes of the other 49 Governors combined) and over 1000 line items.
* Reducing taxes $123 million annually.
* Shrinking the size of state government by 1200 employees.
* Eliminating the state’s budget deficit.
* Leaving the state government with all-time high bond ratings.
* Enacting major welfare reform, which cut government welfare spending by 30%.
* Shifting state Medicaid to managed care.
* Bringing the New Mexico state government and the Navajo nation leadership together to finally resolve century-old disputes over water, gaming, and other issues.
* Privatizing half of the prisons in the state.
* Shooting down campaign finance legislation.
* Attracting many new private and parochial schools into the state.
* Repealing the Little Davis-Bacon Act, thereby allowing non-unionized labor the ability to be employed in construction of new schools and other public works.
* Overseeing the construction of 500 miles of new, four-lane highway (designed, financed, built, and guaranteed by the private sector).
* Running 100% positive campaigns, never mentioning his opponents once in print or ads.
* Coming from outside of politics with no political machine behind him to beat a former Republican Governor in the Republican primaries and then unseat an incumbent Democrat Governor in the general election by a 10 point victory margin, even at a time when Democrats outnumbered Republicans 2-1 in the state.