Action to restore the line. Will he confirm his ongoing commitment to the south west rail link and the future funding for it . First, let me join my honorable friend in paying tribute to the orange army that did such a fantastic job at dawlish in getting that line back on track in such a short period of time. As she knows, we have also committed a further £30 million towards resilience and protection this year, but, more importantly, we are working with the South West Peninsula rail task force to bring together all the strategic and local transport schemes. I am absolutely determined that the southwest will have strong connections road, rail and air with the rest of the country, and those connections are absolutely vital to our longterm plan. You have been watching prime ministers questions. Question time airs life on cspan2 everyone day at 7 00 a. M. Eastern. Watch any time at www. Cspan. Org , where you can button find video of past prime ministers questions and other British Affairs programs. February is black history month. The cspan bus is on the road, visiting the top historically black colleges and universities to discuss Public Policy issues and highlight the role in the education system. This tuesday on washington journal, we will be at Fisk University in nashville followed by spell House College in atlanta. , jeb bush talks about the economy and other issues. Then dr. Joel stein announces the formation of an Exploratory Committee for the 20 16th election. Later, the Senate Finance committee on the budget request for the irs. Former Florida Governor jeb bush detailed his economic plan on wednesday with a speech to the Detroit Economic Club but did not formally announce whether he was running for president in 2016. After his remarks, he took questions on immigration Foreign Policy and the vaccination debate. This is about 45 minutes. Thank you, beth. Leadership makes a difference. Right here in michigan, we are witnessing the power of bold, new, creative leadership. In our companies, in our city, in our state. The alignment of these Leadership Qualities over multiple sectors has resulted in a paradigm shift of what we as michiganders leave is possible. Our nation has seen these paradigm shifts before. In 1980, our nation ushered in a new era with the election of Ronald Reagan and george h w bush. The power of clear, strong principle leadership infused with goodwill and a sense of humor changed our clear, nation. Across the country, other states have experienced the type of rebirth we are now seeing in michigan. One of those states that chartered a new course was florida. Our nations thirdlargest. Floridas economic powerhouse status was not a form loan conclusion. Building blocks were not set in place until our speaker, who we are fortunate to have here today, jeff bush, arrived as governor. Jeb bushs time as the 43rd governor of florida was a time of dramatic change. Education moved to the top of the states agenda with corresponding increases in student achievement. The Business Environment was reformed, along with the size and scope of agenda government, to unleash a torrent of investment, innovation, job creation. He was the first, perhaps, of a crop of new reform minded governors that have swept across the nation. And in many ways, has become the template for other governors to follow. Since leaving the Governors Office after two terms and returning to the private sector, jeb bush has maintained his commitment to the important public issues of our time. Notably, fixing our nations immigration system and reforming how we deliver quality education to the next generation of our nations leaders. His views have been called conservative. They have been called mainstream. They have been called bold. They have been called common sense. For those of us who have been watching jeb bush for over a decade now, you can call them his. What jeb bush says is what he means. He is not tailoring his audience. He is not tailoring his remarks for the audience of the day. As you likely know, governor bush has had some close family members who have also been elected to high public office. Without further delay, please welcome the father of george p bush, texas land commissioner. The honorable jeb bush. [applause] thank you, sandy. When i heard that he was bringing up family members, i was going to use that line. But he stole it. I am proud of my son who got the highest vote total percentagewise, of any candidate running for statewide office in texas. George is going to do a great job. Im pretty proud also of 41 and 43. I love them very much. [applause] i know that is hard for the political world to accept, but it is pretty easy for me to love them. I love them unconditionally. A therapist can opine about that. Im not here to talk about that. Sandy, i appreciate the chance to be here. I am delighted to be here, because you are part of a great story the revival of a city that mean so much to all americans. In the past three years, when can run it with great challenges, you see the opportunity to reform the city level. You have begun to repair the damage done by mismanagement and empty promises. I want to congratulate Governor Rick Snyder for his leadership. I want to a knowledge with johnson and general surety for being here. And mayor mike duggan for his determination to serve the city of his birth. I want to recognize the hard work of kevin moore, who i am proud to say is a son of water florida. I want to recognize all those involved in making difficult and painful decision. Your work is not complete, but your efforts have captioned capture the attention of the nation. We are asking ourselves the same questions. How do we recapture prosperity and opportunity that once defined cities like detroit . How do we restore americas faith in the promise of our great nation, that any child born today can reach further than their parents . This is an urgent issue. Fark too Many Americans live on the edge of economic ruin. Far too many you like they are working harder and longer while they are losing ground. Tens of millions of americans no longer see a clear path to rise above their challenges. Something is holding them back. Not a lack of ambition. Not a lack of hope. Not because they are lazy or the see themselves as victims. Something else. Something is an artificial weight on the shoulders. In coming weeks, i will address this critical issue and offer a new vision, a plan of action different from what we have been hearing in washington dc. It is a vision rooted in conservative principles and heather to our share believe in opportunity and a nation given the freedom to act, to create, to dream, and to rise. We see that belief everyday interaction. In the oil fields once given act, to up for dry, we are securing Americas Energy security. In hospitals, we are beating back once untreatable diseases. In charter schools, we are connecting to their potential. In labs and hacker spaces, invention comes from every corner of society. The world still comes to america to learn how to create and innovate. People know this country can be more than it is today. That each one of us can and must be part of it. They also know this. We have a lot of work to. Americans across the country are frustrated. They see only a small portion of the population riding the economys up escalator. We have seen recent gains, and it is welcome news, but it has come very late. Six years after the recession ended, median incomes are down. Households are poorer on average. Millions of people have given up looking for work altogether. Roughly two out of three american households live a check to pay check. Unexpected expenses can push them into financial ruin. We have a Record Number of americans on food stands and living in part poverty. The relief has been everywhere but the paychecks. The American Dream has become a barrage for far to go many. The challenge we face can we restore that dream . That promise that each generation can do better . If we cannot answer that the challenge wequestion, no tax, no Welfare Program will save our system or our way of life. Americas moral promise is not broken if someone is wealthy. It is broken when achieving success is far beyond our imagination. America is a place where any person may look forward and hope to be a hired laborer this year and the next year, worked for himself, and finally hire men to work for him. America has not given up on the dream of lincoln. The dream of lincoln is alive at 5 00 a. M. At a bus depot in a distance of her, or in the innercity. It is alive in a construction worker running cable under the streets. It is alive in a College Student driving a uber car to graduate debtfree. The dream is alive every day. At every moment, when People Choose to buy a home, start a business, enroll in school, or save for the future. They know thesethey know these commitments are not easy and do not pay off right away. But they are worth doing. If americans are working harder than ever, learning less earning less than they once did, our governments, our leaders should step up. Offer a plan. They should step aside. But ask how we got in this point and start in detroit. The troubles of detroit are an echo of the troubles facing washington, d. C. Decades of Big Government policies, petty politics, impossible to meet pension promises. Chronic mismanagement and broken services, combined with a massive loss of jobs in the auto industry, drove tens of thousands of people from the city and region. For example, detroit, under the previous administration, or under a previous it ministration, was so proud of shutting down businesses that had not paid licenses and fees. They bragged about it in press releases. The city threatened 900 businesses with closure and follow through with 400 businesses, literally shutting them down. Many were Small Businesses run out of homes and alleys. People that wanted to take that first step up the economic ladder. One of the Business Owners derek little, had a simple way to describe his frustration. I am running a legit business. They could be doing something better. While people were trying to build a business, the city could not do its job correctly. They were losing money writing parking tickets. I do not know how you can manage that. On amtrak, they lose money on the snack car. Government inefficiency is not just irritated. It is instructive. If the government cannot collect parking fines or sell snacks on a train, why would government know how to enable every citizen to bump in life . That is why have launched the right to rise path. Four people that do not want to wait for the government to deliver it prosperity. Government is not the only issue. But in a sense fixing Government Policies the easiest problem to solve. And it is most responsive to the demands of voters. So i am getting involved in politics because that is where the work has to begin. The opportunity gap is the defining issue of our time. More americans are stuck at their income level than ever before. It is argued for people to go from the bottom to the top even to the middle. You should alarm you. It has alarmed me. The one thing that can unlock the economic status quo tash the ability to work as a team. Competition is messy, but it is essential. Cap drivers fight web enabled car services. Restaurants fight against food trucks. Retailers fight against internet companies. I am not here to take sides, and i do not think government should either. But when government tilts the field of competition, there is a clear loser. Anyone who wants to create something as a teen ta te am. Anyone who wants to innovate. We know that in the end, standing against competition is a losing battle. In 1955, 6 years ago, the fortune 500 list first appeared. Of the companies on that list, only 80 have fallen away. Todays fortune 500 will be replaced by new Companies Just starting today. This is hard for some people to accept. It is entrenched interests do not like giving up what they have. That is why they fear Small Companies with nothing to lose. Today. This is hard for some people to you know the stories. The president of Michigan Savings Bank imparted wisdom to a young lawyer for a small startup company. The horse is here to stay. The automobile is only a fad. The small start up the lawyer represented was the ford motor company. We can laugh about it now because ford and other innovators of detroit had the region to compete. Our nation has always valued economic freedom. In economic freedom, each citizen has the power to propel themselves forward and upwards. This is not understood in washington dc. You can see why. It is a company town, and the companys government. It is all they know. For several years, they have been recklessly degrading the value of work, the incentive to work, and the reward work. The definition of fulltime job is been cut from 40 hours to 30 hours. We have seen them create Welfare Programs and tax rules that honest people with lost benefits and higher taxes for moving up. Those first rungs of the economic ladder. Instead of a safety net to cushion our occasional falls they have built a spider web that traps people in perpetual dependence. We have seen the rules that help so many people escape over. That instinct does not solve any problems. Other than the problem of how to keep washingtons regional economy well lubricated. And the cost is enormous. Lets say you are a hardworking middleclass family. You work hard, pay your mortgage on time. As president obama likes to say, you play by the rules. For president obama, one of the rules is this he reserves the right to change the rules. Last month, he thought it was a good idea to tax 529 savings plans. 529s were created to be taxfree ways to save for college. Hundreds of thousands of people have done so. Millions have started them for their kids and grandkids. It was no surprise people hated the president s idea, and thankfully, he dropped it. But it was instructed in the liberal and progressive mindset. Saving or college is the responsible thing to do. Instead of embracing 529s, the liberals moved to tax them. It is frustrating, but it shows you how they think. If you want to know how they act, talked to sharon delaney. Sharon founded a recruiting company in ohio. She said it is as if the politicians and regulators in washington wanted me to rail and spent all their times thinking up ways to make sure i do. Here is a message for sharon and millions like her there is a better way. Lets define this path by corn Core Principles of a right to rise society. The path becomes a lot clearer. Lets start with the first principle. When it comes to ensuring opportunity and a chance at success, the most important factor is not government. It is a committed family. Social sciences across the ideological spectrum agree. If you want to predict whether someone will graduate from school, go to college, and move forward, you just have to find out one thing where they raised in a loving household by two parents . You can overcome it, but it is hard. If you did, you have a builtin advantage. Every chance child has a better chance of they are raised by loving, supportive parents in a committed family. This is not the work of government. But it is critical that government leaders support it. A second principle, and this one is often overlooked, growth above all. A growing economy, whether in detroit or throughout the country, is the difference between poverty and posterity for millions. If you want to close the opportunity gap, great opportunity. As a rule does not contribute to growth, why do it . Opportunityif its of tracks from growth, why are we discussing it . I do not think the United States should settle for anything less than or percent growth, which is about twice the current rate estimated by most economists. At that rate, the middle class can thrive. In the coming months, i will lay into detail how we can get there with policies and reforms to tap our report resources whether it is in health care or technology. Third, the right to rise depends on a government that makes it easier to work than not to work. That makes fewer laws restricting the labor market and reducing penalties that come with moving up from the lowest rungs of the ladder. Or to address the income gap lets close the opportunity gap, and that starts with ladder. Doing everything we can to give every child a great education. This will not happen overnight trust me. I know. But it takes every tool we have. Accountability for teachers and school administrators. Assessment for student learning. Rigorous standards. And School Choice of acrosstheboard. These are the elements that make education work for more and more of our students. We had the results to prove it. Lets embrace reform everywhere, especially in government. Lets start with the simple principle of who holds the power. I say give washington less and local governments more. We make multibilliondollar infrastructure decisions based on a labor law a written in 1921. President obama poses proposes making rules on the internet using laws written in the 1930s. We regulate Airlines Using laws built for railroads. Our immigration laws were written half a century ago. Government policy seems frozen and incapable of change. It is in the way, to be honest with you, and we deserve better. If we do not transform ourselves , sees new opportunities, we know what happens next. Look around the city. Better. In its history, there is a warning to all of us. Detroit was americas Great Innovation hub. It was bigger than chicago. It was the nations wealthiest city in 1960. It put the world on wheels and created jobs that let millions of americans into the middle class. It was the arsenal of democracy and delivered the arms needed to defend freedom across oceans. They promised prosperity and it delivered. Sons of s