The nonpartisan National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Save America’s Free Enterprise Trust announced its endorsement of Meg Whitman for Governor. NFIB made this endorsement after balloting our nearly 20,000 members about which candidate we should support for Governor – and the choice was clear.
Meg is the only candidate who has run a business, created jobs for California and signed the front of a check. She has the track record, commitment and vision that we know will transform today’s Sacramento mindset from heaping huge new burdens upon Main Street to one that will finally provide struggling small businesses the incentives and support they so desperately need.
Meg believes innovation and entrepreneurship should be encouraged, not penalized. She recognizes that small businesses are the backbone of our economy and as Governor, she will make certain California government gets out of the way of small businesses and creates the conditions for them to thrive.
In stark contrast, her opponent Jerry Brown is a lifelong politician who has not created jobs – instead, he increased the size of government and the deficit when he was governor last time.
We should point out that both candidates were invited multiple times to speak to and meet with members of NFIB. Meg met with our members while Brown declined on two separate occasions. In addition, Brown did not return his candidate questionnaire to NFIB while Meg did. Is anyone else wondering what he’s trying to hide?
As governor, Jerry Brown supported raising taxes by more than $7 billion. And as mayor of Oakland, he campaigned for increases in property taxes of $500 million. Under Brown’s tenure as Governor, California was ranked by an independent study as the second to worst state in the country to locate a business because of excessive regulation.
California has to start producing jobs again, and Meg Whitman has the proven skills to lead the effort. As CEO of eBay, she was instrumental in building a community of entrepreneurs and innovators and she helped create tens of thousands of small businesses and job opportunities for people in the Golden State. As she runs for governor, Meg has laid out a clear philosophy that calls for reduced taxes, less regulation and responsible government spending.
Her plan includes a job-creating tax-cut strategy that is affordable and achievable. Meg will eliminate the $800 fee that new business start-ups are currently required to pay – indeed, what she deems a "stop sign" to entrepreneurship in our state. She will eliminate the "factory tax" that manufacturers pay on the equipment they buy to manufacture their goods. And she will eliminate the state tax on capital gains so that retirees and middle class investors can keep more of their own money.
Meg Whitman is a proven leader with the track record and plan that will pull California’s small businesses and working families out of the deep, deep hole we are in. Jerry Brown, on the other hand, will keep on shoveling with reckless abandon.
That’s why it comes as no surprise that the National Federation of Independent Business has endorsed Meg Whitman for Governor, and why we are so proud to join in supporting Meg’s plan for returning our state to prosperity. You can learn more about Meg’s plan by going to www.megsplan.com.