Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign is pushing his plan for the restoration of federalism on the campaign trail this week.
The former Florida governor penned an op-ed for FoxNews.com arguing that a governor would be most capable of returning power to the states as president.
“Governors are on the front lines of federalism: helping people, getting things done and balancing all the pressures that come from running a state — especially a big, complex and occasionally crazy place like my home state of Florida,” Bush wrote. “Governors also have the best sense of when the federal government is exceeding its proper role in our constitutional system, at the expense of the states — and, most importantly, the people. Long before President Obama’s lawless power-grabs began, I supported moving more power to the states and a more bottom-up — rather than top-down — approach to government.”
Bush has long talked about how he thinks voters want someone with a record they can admire, but the polls have not confirmed his position just yet. Political newcomers Donald Trump and Ben Carson have performed better in national polls of GOP voters than Bush in recent months.
Bush’s “Restoring Federalism Platform” was created in concert with Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt. His platform consists of five main points, including strict adherence to Constitutional limits on federal power, choosing agency officials that are committed to federalism, reforming the regulatory process, enhancing state enforcement of federal immigration policies, and the promotion of state-driven labor and employment policies.
Pruitt wrote an op-ed in National Review saying he was impressed by Bush’s desire to created a “detailed and bold” plan.
“The federalist approach to immigration reform is particularly noteworthy,” Pruitt wrote. “The platform proposes revisions to the Immigration and Nationality Act that will allow the states an unprecedented role in aiding in the enforcement of federal immigration policy. … By empowering the states, Governor Bush’s platform addresses the critical shortcoming of current federal immigration policy, which is not a lack of immigration laws, but rather a lack of enforcement of those laws.”
Bush argues that he’s “all-in” to return power to the states and points to his plans to repeal and replace Obamacare and “preserving and protecting” Social Security and Medicare as evidence. Bush ranks fifth in the Washington Examiner‘s newest GOP presidential power rankings.
