George Pataki in Survey of 2016 Presidential campaign websites
On Families & Children:
Our parents never felt like victims even in Great Depression
[In my childhood], my father was a mailman. When he went to first grade he couldn't speak one word of English. No one lowered their expectations. Instead they helped him learn the skills he needed to succeed.My mother had to turn down a scholarship to
Cornell to work as a waitress. She was the only one in her family with a job during the darkest days of the Great Depression.
My brother Lou and I worked on our farm as kids. For my Dad, working two jobs was the norm.
He would leave at 5 in the morning, deliver mail during the day, work on the farm in the evening until dark.
My parents never saw themselves as victims; they were Americans. And though they might not have had every opportunity for themselves,
they knew their children could accomplish anything.
It is that promise of unlimited opportunity, that belief in America, which I want to restore for every family and every child living in America today.
Source: 2016 presidential campaign website: Announcement speech
May 28, 2015
On Government Reform:
Empower the citizens to take back our government
George Pataki's agenda empowers the citizens of our great nation to take back our government. He believes that Washington has overreached, and that the culture of Washington needs to be changed, not managed.
Liberty is the only way for the independent spirit of the American people to thrive. Governor Pataki was elected as a Republican in a deep blue state--the only New York governor to win on the Conservative Party Line.
He has demonstrated the ability to unite people over the issues that matter and lead our nation back to prosperity. The future of this country and the Republican Party depend on choosing a candidate that can speak to the entire country and win votes
across the aisle. As governor, Pataki provided real solutions that inspired people of all backgrounds to work together towards a better future.
Source: 2016 presidential campaign website GeorgePataki.com, "Meet"
May 28, 2015
On Government Reform:
Ban lobbying by former Members of Congress
Government has grown too big, too powerful, too expensive, and too intrusive. Washington politicians and bureaucrats believe they know better than us, and can tell us how to run our lives, from what health care each of us can have, to trying to dictate
what every child in every school must learn.If I have the honor to lead this country, let me tell you some of the things I'd do right away to get oppressive government off the backs of Americans.-
Today, there is one former member of Congress lobbying for every current member and the first thing I would do is ban members of Congress from ever lobbying. If you serve one day, you are banned, go home.
- I'd repeal oppressive laws like Obamacare
and end Common Core.
- And I'd shrink the size of the federal work force, starting with bureaucrats overseeing Obamacare, and fire every corrupt IRS employee abusing government power to discriminate on the basis of politics or religion.
Source: 2016 presidential campaign website: Announcement speech
May 28, 2015
On Homeland Security:
A strong America is a safe America: strengthen our military
I will not forget the lesson of Sept. 11th. I fear too many in Washington already have.In the face of an increasingly dangerous world this is not the time to weaken America's military, it's time to strengthen our military.
Not so that we can use it, but so that we don't HAVE to use it. A strong America is a safe America.
Ronald Reagan proved that peace through strength is more than a slogan. Peace through strength is a policy that works. Weakness, equivocation and false promises lead only to chaos, brutality and war. The world is a better place when America is strong, an
Source: 2016 presidential campaign website: Announcement speech
May 28, 2015
On Immigration:
Immigrants come to work, not for government handouts
Today, those in the other party, instead of offering ideas, seek to divide. When you have no solutions, instead you offer fear.They say we are anti-immigrant! We the proud children, grandchildren, and descendants of immigrants know that immigration
has and will continue to enhance the greatness of this country.
Let's send that party a clear message. Unlike them, we don't believe newcomers to this Country come so they can get a Government handout. We know they come to work, to strive,
to build a better life for their families. And we welcome all who come here legally.
They say we are against the middle class. This too is nonsense. Everyone here understands it is the men and women who go to work, pay their bills, and follow the
rules that are the backbone of this country. We are the party of the middle class. They are the party of the past. WE must be the party of the future! I KNOW that with the policies we believe in, we can change the world.
Source: 2016 presidential campaign website: Announcement speech
May 28, 2015
On Principles & Values:
Served as mayor, Assemblyman & state Senator before Governor
Pataki grew up in upstate New York working on the family farm where he learned the power of discipline, community, and hard work. His grandparents were immigrants. His father was a postman and volunteer fire chief. George's mother turned down
a college scholarship in order to continue working to help support her family, but she was determined that her sons would go to college. George worked year round to afford tuition at Yale University where he led the school's Conservative Party.
After graduating Columbia Law School, Pataki practiced law, and was later elected mayor of Peekskill. From there, his public service continued, and he went on to serve as State Assemblyman, State Senator, and three terms as New York State 53rd Governor.
He is currently Of Counsel with Chadbourne and Parke LLC, and president of his own small business, The Pataki-Cahill Group, that works in energy, infrastructure, and clean-tech.
Source: 2016 presidential campaign website GeorgePataki.com, "Meet"
May 28, 2015
On Principles & Values:
Raised in a small town where the American Dream was real
When people think of NY they generally think of NYC, and I understand that. But my upbringing was quite different. I grew up on a small farm in a small town in the Hudson Valley called Peekskill NY.
My four grandparents were all immigrants who went through Ellis Island.Peekskill's wealth was not in its money but in its people; black and white, Christian and Jew, both rural and urban at the same time.
We weren't wealthy, we weren't well-connected, we weren't well-known. And yet every one of us growing up in that small town believed in the American dream, believed in hard work, and believed in ourselves.
We believed, no we really KNEW that if we dreamed something, we could do it. If we worked hard, studied hard, had faith, family and friends encouraging us, nothing was beyond our reach. We believed in the American Dream, and it was real.
Source: 2016 presidential campaign website: Announcement speech
May 28, 2015
On Tax Reform:
Throw out incomprehensible tax code: simpler, lower rates
If I have the honor to lead this country, let me tell you some of the things I'd do right away to get oppressive government off the backs of Americans.- I'd eliminate excessive taxes that crush small business.
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I'd throw out an incomprehensible tax code written by lawyers at the direction of lobbyists in the interests of the powerful and replace it with simpler, lower rates that are fair to us all.
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I'd lower taxes on manufacturers to the lowest in the developed world so that factories and jobs could spring up here.
We do this and small businesses will thrive. We will make things and build things here in America again. We will create and
innovate. Jobs will flourish and peoples' faith in America's future will soar. Some say this can't be done. That the course of history leads inexorably towards bigger, more expensive, more powerful government. Don't you believe that for a second.
Source: 2016 presidential campaign website: Announcement speech
May 28, 2015
On Technology:
Travel between cities should be in trains faster than planes
- Let the next decade be the decade when the American worker and innovators, the best workforce in the world, accomplish things we can only dream of.
- Let the next decade be the decade when Americans finally cure cancer and end for all
time the scourge of Alzheimer's.
- Let the next decade be the decade when American energy powers the world with our own clean, unlimited resources.
- Let the next decade be the decade when
Americans travel from city to city in trains faster than planes, in cars that drive themselves, and over paths we have yet to imagine.
- Let the next decade be the decade where Americans can have boundless economic growth while enhancing
and improving, our natural environment.
- Let the next decade be the decade where America proves to the world: "you ain't seen nothing yet."
Source: 2016 presidential campaign website: Announcement speech
May 28, 2015
On War & Peace:
Make sure Iran never has a nuclear weapon
Allies and friends of America must know that our word is our bond. We will stand with our ally Israel, a democracy on the front lines of terror and barbarism. We will stand with our allies in NATO and the free Baltic states against a resurgent Russia.
We will make sure the number one sponsor of state terror in the world, Iran, never has a nuclear weapon. We will provide whatever aid necessary to those already fighting ISIS on the ground to stop their barbarism and inhumanity.
And yes, if necessary American force will be used to actually defeat and destroy ISIS, so they can pose no threat to us here.
We will not spend a trillion dollars or a decade nation building overseas.
But, I will never forget the lesson of September 11th. We will destroy radical Islam's ability to attack us over there, before they have the chance to attack us here.
Source: 2016 presidential campaign website: Announcement speech
May 28, 2015
On Welfare & Poverty:
Replace dependency with opportunity
It seems like liberals have so much compassion for the poor that they keep creating more of them. When I took office, we had every poverty program Government could think of, yet one in 11 of every New Yorker was on welfare. Not Social Security or
Disability. One in 11 of every man, woman and child in the state of New York, from the tip of Long Island to the shores of Lake Erie, was on welfare.The American Dream did not seem real to them.
But after 12 years of my conservative policies, we replaced dependency with opportunity, resignation with hope, mere existence with dreams, and a welfare check with a pay check. When I left office over 1 million fewer people were on
welfare than when I began.
Conservative policies replaced dependency with opportunity in New York State. I know we can do the same thing in the United States.
Source: 2016 presidential campaign website: Announcement speech
May 28, 2015
Page last updated: Dec 09, 2018