Jeb Bush touting conservative policies to aid middle class

The nation’s economy can grow much faster by unshackling government burdens on business, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush told an audience of influential Detroit-area business leaders on Wednesday in his first major economic speech as a 2016 Republican presidential prospect.

In his address to the Detroit Economic Club, the son and brother of former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush offered the economic principles that would form the foundation of an economic platform, should he continue on the path toward a campaign. Bush was also expected to attend a fundraiser Wednesday evening in Detroit.

Bush spoke mainly about improving the economic fortunes of middle- and low-income families, especially in cities, such as Detroit, which has recently emerged from bankruptcy.

“I know some in the media think conservatives don’t care about the cities. But they are wrong. We believe that every American and in every community has a right to pursue happiness,” he told the audience of 600. “They have a right to rise,” Bush said, borrowing from his economic mantra and the name of the political action committee he formed in December. Wednesday’s speech was the first in a series of stops his aides are calling his “Right to Rise” tour.

Bush said the federal government needs to encourage economic growth among the middle class, which, he argues, has languished despite the ongoing economic recovery. Conservative economic policies, he says, would provide incentive for middle-income families to reach higher income.

Bush touted education as a way forward for struggling families, an issue he has long supported. In his second term as Florida’s chief executive, Bush enacted the nation’s first school voucher program, aimed at allowing families in failing school districts to choose charter and private schools at state cost.

The former governor also is in favor of paring down government, calling bloated bureaucracy, onerous taxes and voluminous regulations shackles to economic growth and American families’ ability to climb.

The Detroit event represents a departure for Bush, who has spoken only at paid events and private fundraisers.

Aides also confirmed that Bush plans to make his first trip to Iowa as a presidential prospect in March. Bush plans to participate in an agricultural policy forum hosted by Republican Gov. Terry Branstad and agribusiness leader Bruce Rastetter.

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Jeb Bush touting conservative policies to aid middle class

Kuwait"s conservative tribes make election gains

KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait (AP) — Kuwait’s conservative Sunni tribes made gains in parliamentary elections while liberals reclaimed a foothold in the Gulf region’s most politically powerful elected body, according to results yesterday after voting forced by the ongoing political upheavals in the oil-rich nation.

The outcome from Saturday’s election still leaves the 50-seat parliament in the hands of lawmakers friendly to Kuwait’s pro-Western ruling family.But the boost for the tribal bloc, which took at least 10 seats, suggest possible alliances with Islamists and other opposition groups angered over crackdowns on dissent that have targeted prominent government critics and online activists.Kuwait, one of OPEC’s top producers, has been battered by political unrest for the past two years. A variety of groups inspired by the Arab Spring have stepped up pressure on the ruling Al Sabah family, led by the 84-year-old emir, over alleged fiscal mismanagement, corruption, and efforts to police social media.Some Islamist-led groups boycotted the election — Kuwait’s third in the past 17 months — but reported turnout of more than 52 per cent indicated that few others heeded their call. In last December’s election, liberals and others snubbed the voting and participation was about 40 per cent.Liberal lawmakers seeking greater social and political freedoms gained at least six seats, the results showed. The biggest blow came to Shiite candidates who benefited from last December’s boycott, dropping from 17 seats to eight.Two women, one Shiite and one with the liberal camp, were elected.The election — a rarity during the holy month of Ramadan and its dawn-to-dusk fasting — was called after a court invalidated the chamber elected in December. The court found technical flaws in the election, but let stand new voting rules ordered by Kuwait’s ruler that brought one-vote per person.The former system allowed four votes per person, which could be spread among various candidates. Critics say it encouraged vote buying and pressures by tribal leaders to keep the votes within their clan.Kuwait’s parliament has by far the strongest powers of any elected body among the Gulf Arab states, allowing lawmakers to directly challenge the government and demand questioning of top government officials.Other Gulf Arab countries are closely watching the moves by Kuwait’s Islamists, considered by the United Arab Emirates and others as part of wider networks ideologically linked to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and seeking to bring down the Gulf’s pro-Western fraternity of rulers.Washington, too, is deeply vested in Kuwait’s stability as a critical link in the Pentagon’s military array against nearby Iran. Kuwait hosts thousands of US soldiers in the largest deployment of American ground forces in the region.A caretaker government is expected to be named later today. The new Cabinet will be named in coming weeks by the emir.A Kuwaiti woman cast her vote at a polling station in Salwa, Kuwait. (PHOTO: AP)

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Kuwait"s conservative tribes make election gains