Gary Johnson presidential campaign, 2016/Labor and employment
2016 Presidential Election Gary Johnson 2016 Libertarian presidential nominee Running mate: Bill Weld |
Libertarian National Convention • Polls • Debates • Presidential election by state |
Domestic affairs • Economic affairs and government regulations • Foreign affairs and national security • |
Hillary Clinton (D) • Jill Stein (G) • Donald Trump (R) • Vice presidential candidates |
2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016 |
The overview of the issue below was current as of the 2016 election.
Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, voters named the economy and jobs as the "most important" problems facing America.[2] Job growth remained a top priority for Americans even as the unemployment rate in the U.S. returned to pre-recession levels. In October 2009, after nearly 9 million jobs were eliminated and following a 44 percent decrease in job openings during the Great Recession, the rate of unemployment reached 10 percent. Starting in October 2015 and throughout the 2016 presidential campaign season, unemployment hovered close to 5 percent.[3][4]
In 2016, the presidential candidates focused less on the unemployment rate, and more on "bringing back" jobs that have been outsourced, particularly in the manufacturing sector. Hillary Clinton called for investment in American infrastructure as a means of creating "good-paying" jobs and increasing wages.[5] Donald Trump's economic plan called for trade, tax, energy, and regulatory reform to make America the "best place in the world to get a job."[6]
Read what Gary Johnson and the 2016 Libertarian Party Platform said about labor and employment below.
| CANDIDATE SUMMARY | |
Johnson on labor and employment
- In an interview with New York Magazine published on June 14, 2016, Gary Johnson offered this pitch to a Trump supporter who lost his job to a dying industry: “Look, I’d tell you what I’ve done, what I did in New Mexico, where I don’t think I ever compromised my Libertarian views. I’d tell you how I will apply these same ideas to the country: the basic platform of fiscal conservatism and social liberalism.” When pressed to explain how he would convince a voter to support him, Johnson said, “Convinced? I don’t know about that. I’d tell him what I had to say, let him think it over. If he still thought he’d vote for Trump, he should vote for Trump. I’m not going to try to convince anyone how they should vote.”[7]
- In an interview with The Daily Caller in February 2015, Johnson expressed support for right-to-work laws. In his experience running a construction company, Johnson said that he found union workers were some of the best and worst employees. "I had to fire or get rid of the worst and I was able to reward the best. If I was a union shop I would have had to except [sic] both as equals and that’s not real, that’s not the real world. I want to be able to reward the best and I want to be able to get rid of the worst," he continued. Johnson also said he believed that unions contributed to increased government spending because of their prevalence in the public sector.[8]
- In a February 2012 op-ed for The Washington Times, Johnson criticized the government for impeding employment opportunities. He said, "When I was governor of New Mexico, I had the highest job growth of any of the 50 governors. But I didn’t create a single job - businesses did. I just got government out of their way."[9]
- Read what other 2016 presidential candidates said about labor and employment.
| The 2016 Libertarian Party Platform on labor and employment | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||
Recent news
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Gary Johnson Labor and Employment. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Reason.com, "Gary Johnson To Announce He's Running for President Today," January 6, 2016
- ↑ Gallup, "Most Important Problem," accessed September 13, 2016
- ↑ Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey," accessed September 13, 2016
- ↑ Bureau of Labor Statistics, "The Recession of 2007–2009," February 2012
- ↑ Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign website, "Jobs and wages," accessed September 13, 2016
- ↑ Donald Trump 2016 campaign website, "ECONOMIC VISION: WINNING THE GLOBAL COMPETITION," accessed September 13, 2016
- ↑ New York Magazine, "Gary Johnson Takes His #NeverTrump Pitch to Times Square," June 14, 2016
- ↑ The Daily Caller, "Gary Johnson Takes On Forced Unionization," February 28, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Times, "Johnson: Let's get America moving again," February 2, 2012
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Libertarian Party, "The 2016 Libertarian Party Platform," accessed August 24, 2016
