On Tuesday Nov. 8, 2011 at 3:15 PM the NAHB sponsored a teleconference with Texas Governor Rick Perry. The following is the opinion of the author of the blog and in no way expresses the opinion of the Home Builders Association of Kentucky nor of the National Association of Home Builders.
In my opinion, the Governor seemed to be a very intelligent, driven, and savvy candidate. He was very business-like, but very "homegrown" also, therefore providing an impressive and interesting combination. As with previous candidates, he spent most of the teleconference talking about taxes and the economy. Also, he stated that he felt that this election would provide a huge swing in elected officials and that those proposing "radical changes" would be swept into office. He was emphatic that whoever takes over cannot "nibble along the edges" of change, but must make "radical" changes. He, like many others, wishes to eliminate the Internal Revenue Service as we know it today.
During the teleconference today, our own Shirley Wiseman asked the Governor what he would do, immediately, upon taking over as President to help stimulate the building industry. The Governor's response would be that the most important project that he would tackle to assist our industry would be to develop MORE JOBS so that each and every person in our country would regain faith in the job market. This he said would be possible through his "Cut, Balance, and Grow Plan" which is designed to "get America working in the fastest way".
The "Cut" part is to cut taxes; the "Balance" part is to balance the budget; the "Grow" part is to grow jobs and the economy. His plan is based around a 20% flat personal and corporate tax. While admitting that a "Fair Tax" would be a very solid option to get the economy growing, it is not the fastest because it would require the elimination of the 16th Amendment which would obviously take some time. So he proposes the 20% Flat tax while still protecting the deductions for:
- State and local taxes
- Mortgage interest
- Donations
and would increase the individual deduction to $12,500/person. He said that depending on how your business was set up, you could either choose the 20% tax on your business or on your personal income, but it would not be on both. In doing this he assured that his plan would balance the budget by the year 2020. He did not get into more specifics as to how that would happen, but he virtually "guaranteed" it. By establishing the 20% tax on corporations, the US would now be in line with the rest of the world in taxation, therefore stimulating tremendous growth in the US economy by bringing corporations back to the US and eliminating taxation as the reason for corporations to leave this country.
Therefore, there would be more jobs and that would immediately stimulate the building industry. Shirley was not allowed back on so that we are not sure if that answered her question, but this was his answer.
At the end, he was asked how he planned to control illegal immigration. He was very blunt in stating that he knew how to control the borders of our country, as he had to do that for his state of Texas, but that he could not control all the borders until he would become President. Although he did not say how, he did state that he could assure us that within 12 months of his taking over the Presidency, he would have all the borders secure.
In conclusion, Gov. Perry said that if you wanted to sum up his candidacy in one word it would be "Freedom".
