Presidential candidate Jeb Bush came out forcefully for a renewal of America’s “traditional role” in world affairs Friday. The first featured speaker at the Americans for Prosperity (AFP) summit in Columbus, Ohio, Bush paid tribute to the free market capitalist mission of the organization, before weighing in on foreign policy.
“There is one thing that will hold us back — if as Americans we don’t lead the world. This country is not a warmongering country. Our history is replete with examples where we… create peace and security. This president and his secretary of State believe we are part of the community of nations, believe that we can lead from behind,” Bush said.
“We need to rebuild the military. We need to show respect for our veterans. We need to rebuild our intelligence capabilities, and our intelligence capabilities. And there should be no gap with the alliances that have kept us safe, starting with Israel,” Bush continued.
He concluded: “The world is a lot more dangerous today than it was the day Obama got elected president …The world has been turned upside down because of the lack of American leadership. I promise you, if I’m elected president of the United States, I will restore the traditional role of the United States as a leader for peace and security.”
Freshman Senator David Perdue, R-Ga., another speaker at the event, mainly focused on economic issues. He noted that he introduced a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution in the Senate, and attributed the country’s current financial problems to Democratic programs enacted under “supermajorities” over the last one hundred years: Obamacare, the New Deal, Dodd-Frank, and the Great Society.
“The solution to this is not complicated,” Perdue said of how to reduce the national debt. “First of all, we have to break the gridlock, that both parties are responsible for in Washington. One side wants tax increases, the next wants spending cuts. And we have gridlock for a generation. My answer is this: We have an 18 trillion dollar economy. Let’s get the economy going again. Put people back to work. That’s the solution to our debt crisis.”
Perdue also touched on the issue of class relations and the reputations of the various political parties on that issue. “We let the Democrats get away with the ultimate lie — that they represent the working men and women of America.”
Bobby Jindal, Jim Jordan, and AFP financial patron David Koch also spoke Friday.
