Posted by
Defend America on Friday, December 04, 2009 5:41:53 AM
Full Interview with Governor-Elect Bob McDonnell
by Cal Thomas
Q. What will be your first two or three agenda items after you become governor next month?
A. Jobs, jobs, jobs. That's what I campaigned on; that's what I'm going
to govern on. We've got tough economic times and economic development
will dominate the first (General Assembly session) for me. I've got to
find as many ways as possible to promote small businesses, keep our tax
and regulatory climate good and strong, recruit business to Virginia
and put other economic development and incentives in place so we can be
the most competitive state in the country. MSNBC and Forbes have ranked
us as the most business friendly state in America three years in a row.
I want to make sure we keep it that way. We've got a 6.7 percent
unemployment rate. That's below the national average but it's still the
top issue I campaigned on and it's the top issue people are concerned
about.
Q. How do you plan to do this? The standard Republican approach has
been to cut taxes and reduce spending. What kind of cooperation do you
anticipate from the legislature?
A. I've met with the leaders of both parties in both houses.
Everybody understands this fiscal plight we're in. We will have to grow
our way out of it with good economic policies. I think we're going to
get a lot of cooperation from both parties. What they've told me is
that we have to increase tax revenues for economic development. There
are some who want to raise taxes, but they know I'm not going to do
that. I'm looking at restructuring parts of government, cutting
spending and making our economic development apparatus work better.
I've outlined several different tax credits; retooling the Governors
Opportunity Fund, which gives the governor the ability to offer
incentives to get businesses to come to Virginia. And I want to go to
foreign countries to extend the economic machine. We have no offices in
India, China and other places where there should be good opportunities
to exploit Virginia's goods and services and I want to be present
there.
http://townhall.com/columnists/CalThomas/2009/12/04/full_interview_with_governor-elect_bob_mcdonnell