Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush says he will repeal President Barack Obama's executive orders — including those on gun restrictions and immigration — on his first day in the Oval Office if he is elected president.
In a wide-ranging
Newsmax TV interview, Bush stressed that he especially believes the gun restrictions Obama unveiled this week are clearly unconstitutional.
"I believe (they are) and on Day One, I will repeal every executive order that I believe goes beyond his authority, including the DACA and DAPA resolutions," Bush said, referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans – two highly controversial executive orders Obama made on immigration.
"We need to do this through Congress," the former Florida governor continued told "Newsmax Now" hosts J.D. Hayworth and John Bachman. "The Constitution gives a clear path on how to solve these problems and they need to be solved, but as it relates to guns, it's better to do it at the state level, better to do it respectful of the law-abiding citizens that are not part of the problem, better to do it kind of like how Florida did it, which was probably one of the top Second Amendment states. We have 1.5 million concealed weapon permit holders, more than any state by far."
In the lengthy interview, Bush also:
- Laid out his detailed plan for destroying ISIS
- Discussed his relationship with Sen. Marco Rubio, now a competitor but often described as Bush's protege.
- Revealed his policy differences with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, often described as another Republic establishment favorite with Bush.
Bush also said that his plan to reform the nation's welfare system would "liberalize" states to "innovate and come up with new approaches so that there is less fraud and abuse and more focus on making sure that people can rise out of poverty.
"The way you would get out of poverty, the best way, is to work, to have a quality education, and to have intact families," Bush said.
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"Those three things are the drivers for upward mobility," he said.
Bush unveiled his plan Friday, which would eliminate the federal food stamp program and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program — replacing them with "Right to Rise" grants directly to states so they can develop programs particular to their residents.
His proposal also would double the Earned Income Tax Credit for childless workers and expand the credit to younger workers.
The former governor told Newsmax that, while the War on Poverty initially raised living standards for low-income Americans, the poverty rate has not dropped since around 1970.
"It has remained totally flat — and we've spent literally $1 trillion a year," Bush said. "At some point, someone has to say: 'This hasn't worked. Let's try something different.'
"A quality education, a safe community — a focus on marriage being an element of success, where two incomes exist to provide support for families — and making sure that the incentives exist for work rather than non-work is the way to go."
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