GOV. GARY JOHNSON ON MAY JOBLESS NUMBERS: GOVERNMENT KILLING JOBS

Note: Gary Johnson holding a Money Bomb to commemorate his climbing Mt. Everest.  He will also be interviewed on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Santa Fe, NM – Saying the May jobless numbers released Friday are “no surprise, given Washington’s refusal to cut spending and get out of the way of growth,” Libertarian presidential nominee and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson today called on Congress and President Obama to “take a break from the campaigning and deal with the fact that the federal government’s bankruptcy is killing American jobs.”

In a statement, Johnson said, “How many more Americans need to lose jobs, give up on finding jobs, or accept being under-employed for Washington to stop wringing their hands and do what obviously needs to be done: Cut government spending in a truly meaningful way, get the feds out of the way of growth, and fix a tax code that does all the wrong things?

“May’s reported 8.2% unemployment rate, while a disturbing number, does not reflect the real job crisis. Outside the Beltway, everyone knows the real jobless rate is much higher, with hundreds of thousands of Americans either giving up their job searches or having to settle for less than they need to support themselves and their families. We have been stimulated to death, with some in Washington calling for even more stimulus. Last year’s budget ‘deal’ that was supposed to cut spending has turned into a massive charade, and we have a level of federal debt that is rapidly heading to Greece-like levels.

“This crisis can be fixed. Imagine an economy where the government is not sucking more than a trillion dollars per year out of the private economy with its reckless deficit spending. Imagine a tax system in which employers and individuals alike pay zero taxes on income. And imagine an environment in which government regulators don’t wake up every day with new ways to kill jobs with unnecessary intrusions into the marketplace.

“With the right leadership and the courage to truly get government and its debt off the back of our real job creators – the private sector – we could see tens of millions of jobs created virtually overnight. Yet, Washington refuses to take the only steps government can take that will actually let America get back to work.”

During Gary Johnson’s two terms as governor of New Mexico, the state added more than 20,000 new private sector jobs, state government payroll was reduced by 1,200 workers, and taxes were reduced 14 times.