Politics & Government

Huntsman Meets, Greets [VIDEO]

Signs barstool at The Barley House, talks taxes, economy.

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman continued his campaign for the 2012 Republican nomination last week, making stops all around the Granite State, including Concord.

At The Barley House on North Main Street, Huntsman met with supporters, undecided primary voters, and Brian Shea, the owner of the restaurant, making a pitch for support.

“It shows that the campaign is really heating up,” Shea said after Huntsman signed a barstool.

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Huntsman, who appeared in the Fox News debate in Iowa the previous evening, said if elected he would focus on controlling the national debt with a Balanced Budget Amendment, reforming the corporate tax code to make the country more competitive and creating economic growth, and energy independence.

Huntsman called federal debt and spending “absolutely critical,” something that would require the country to stop “squandering the future of our children.”

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“No sacred cows, everything must be looked at and analyzed,” he said, saying the country should focus on cutting federal spending down to 18 to 19 percent of gross domestic product.

Huntsman said while governor of Utah, he issued record tax cuts and made the state more business-friendly, which allowed the economy to grow. He said entrepreneurs and the “creative class” kept their capital in the state, which helped create jobs. Huntsman said the same thing could be done across the country.

On trade, Huntsman said the only way to filled the “hollowed out, old manufacturing sites in New Hampshire,” was to reform the tax code. He called the corporate tax rate “the second highest in the entire developed world,” something that needed to be changed, by eliminating loopholes, broadening the base, and ending deductions and biases, in a revenue neutral way.

“It used to mean something when you read ‘Made in America’ on the label,” he said. “We need to return to those days … it can be done and it needs to be done.”

Fixing the nation’s energy policy was also high on his list of things to do, according to Huntsman, something a number of previous presidents had failed to do. He called it “the lowest of low-hanging fruit,” and said he would focus on energy independence and compared the country’s foreign oil usage “a heroin-like addiction.” Huntsman said energy independence had national security implications, adding that the country should promote better use of natural gas.

“So when you see me walking the campaign,” he said, “and you’re wondering what’s going on, and what I’m thinking about, all I want you to know is that the day I’m elected president, we’re going to be prepared to drop on the doorstep of Congress a package that consists of tax reform, regulatory reform measures, and steps towards energy independence.”

Voter's questions

A number of voters asked Huntsman relatively friendly questions about retirement benefits, foreign policy, humanitarian missions, and the economy. However, not everyone at The Barley House was buying his presidential primary pitch.

Sara Dustin of Contoocook asked about tax policy, including the issue of unearned income being taxed at much lower rates than earned income. She said that she knew people who do nothing but flipping money around on Wall Street. She said those same people were paying less in taxes than people working normal jobs.

“They sit in the dens and play on their computers and basically gamble,” she said. “They aren’t creating jobs … would you have any objection to a fairer tax on them?”

“It would be something worth looking at,” Huntsman said, adding that his plan would focus on lowering the rate, broadening the base, and removing loopholes and deductions.

When Dustin mentioned a transaction tax on financial instruments, Huntsman said he wouldn’t support that but countered that all the tax issues should be looked at, with biases removed from the system, and lower taxes on capital gains. Dustin then countered, “There is a very low rate on capital gains right now … does that bother you?” Huntsman said he supported lowering the capital gains rate, to free up the marketplace and get more people to invest and incentivize the system, creating greater volume. Later, when talking one-on-one with Huntsman, the candidate listened to Dustin and said he would follow up on her thoughts about the issue and thanked her for her time.

“Thank you, I’m very glad to meet you,” she said.

As the event began to close, Bill Meyers, a Concord financial advisory, approached Dustin and said that while he would fight to defend her right to ask the questions she asked, he wondered, “Have you ever considered, literally, and I’m not being facetious, moving to Russia or some other country that would do it just like you want?”

Dustin and Meyers then joined in a revolving conversation about the issue of taxes, with Dustin saying that there needed to be a greater share paid by the wealthy and Meyers saying he wouldn’t support any kind of new taxes because the increases are never contained. Dustin said most of the people who would be affected by the tax inherited their wealth while Meyer said people’s wealth shouldn’t be confiscated.

On Huntsman, Meyers said to Dustin, “He’s trying, cut him a little slack, OK?” 

Press gaggle

After meeting with voters and shaking hands, Huntsman answered a few questions from the press.

Huntsman was also asked about whether or not corporate taxes needed to be reformed after a recent Wall Street Journal report stating that the top S&P 500 non-financial sector companies were sitting on $1.2 trillion worth of cash and not hiring workers.

The candidate said that uncertainty in the marketplace was causing the companies to hold onto their cash. He added that there was another $1 trillion or so sitting overseas that could to be repatriated into the United States because the rates were too high. He noted that in 2004, when the rates were lowered, companies paid about $500 billion in corporate taxes from foreign profits.

“We have to figure out a way to bring it here,” he said.

Huntsman said he would make permanent the research and development tax breaks and create regulatory reform, “clearing the clutter.”

On bringing jobs back to America, trade, and tariffs, Huntsman said the free trade agreements were all doing “reasonably well,” adding that three agreements that were held up in Congress needed to be approved, in order to lower export tariffs and create jobs. He added that he had been both at the negotiating table and seen the benefits of being an exporter.

“We need more of them,” he said.

On Texas Gov. Rick Perry entering the presidential race, Huntsman called him “a friend,” adding that he brought successes to the race.

“Anyone who is willing to bring their view of getting this economy back on its feet is a good addition to the race,” he said. “That kind of discussion has to happen, those contributions need to be made, the debate needs to be brought, and that is a healthy thing for our political system.”

Huntsman said he would be focusing “laser-like” on New Hampshire and he would be spending the bulk of his time here, while also campaigning in South Carolina and Florida.

“I like New Hampshire and I’m proud to be here,” he said.

Democrats respond

As Huntsman was being interviewed by a local radio station, Holly Shulman, a spokesperson for the New Hampshire Democratic Party, and Kris Schultz, the vice chairwoman of the Merrimack County Democrats, were sitting at The Barley House bar, sipping sodas and talking politics.

Schultz said Huntsman was adopting “the same extremist Tea Party rhetoric” as all the other candidates, saying it was shocking that he called the Environmental Protection Agency a “regulatory reign of terror” during the Iowa debate. 

“We have one the highest asthma rates, with poor air quality, right here in the Concord area,” Schultz said. “We definitely need the EPA, we definitely need Medicare. To adopt Tea Party rhetoric like that is not good for New Hampshire and it’s not good for America.”


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