Jeb Bush: Admires Romney, but Remains Neutral

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Tuesday he remains neutral and has not yet chosen a favorite among those vying for the GOP nomination for president in 2012, but he is an admirer of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
 

“I’m excited that he is laying out a jobs agenda to try to set the agenda a little bit, because the conversation needs to get to how do we grow, so that we can create jobs over a long period of time, not just short run,” Bush told Fox News’ Neal Cavuto. “Because every one of these things in Washington that has been tried: cash for clunkers, and home incentives, and stuff like that, the net result is, it gets a little burst and then it creates a worse problem.

“And so my guess is that Governor Romney is going to have a proposal that will be longer-term and create sustained growth,” Bush said. “And the conversation — the election ought to be about that, I think. And so I’m excited that, in September, he is launching that.”

Bush said another way to get the nation’s moribund economy back on track is tax simplification.

“If we could simplify the code and eliminate all of these . . . deductions and credits and grants . . . and simplify the tax code, it would be a burst of economic activity,” Bush said. “And it would create more certainty about the future as well. I mean, ultimately, the government is not going to create the engine of growth — it’s the interaction of people pursuing their dreams. And so [the] simpler the code, the lower the rates would create, I think, the greatest opportunities.

“And I hope that the Republican candidates, when they are offering their solutions, it’s good to — to be critical of the president,” he said. “I think the president means well, but his policies have failed — and to point that out, nothing wrong with that — that is politics. But just to stop there and say: Well, I’m going to win because I am against what is going on — is not enough.”