Rudy Giuliani on the Issues

In contrast to his fellow Republican presidential aspirants, Rudy Giuliani has not overseen a state government, let alone played a part in the federal counterpart. Therefore, troublesome as it may be, in examining the possible views of Giuliani in the upcoming primaries and the race for the White House, until an explicit plan is given, the only sketch available is his handling of the city of New York during his mayoral term. This is particularly evident in the issue of the federal budget and the economy; however, it is not unreasonable to extrapolate some of his views and stances to the national arena.

In the 2000 State of the City address, Giuliani stated that economic development is not limited to expansion, but also maintenance of the infrastructure of the city. Specifically, Giuliani said that maintenance of the roads, subways, and bridges took a backseat to the financial crisis of the city, which is a mistake that should be taken in stride but not repeated. Extrapolated to the federal budget of the nation, Giuliani could be expected to put the care of federal infrastructure near the top of his budgetary priorities list; however, whether he will cater to pork barrel politics has yet to be seen.

Giuliani also appears to be a traditional conservative in terms of governmental spending, and advocates fiscal responsibility as opposed to the heavy spending patterns of the present Bush administration. Between 1990 and 1993, prior to the Giuliani mayorship of New York, the government of the City of New York ran a $2 billion budget deficit, in addition to losing over 320,000 jobs . During the remainder of the decade, Giuliani managed to not only reduce taxes by a total of $2.3 billion, but gave the city a $2 billion budget surplus. Additionally, this fiscal change resulted in the creation of 305,000 jobs, which was the highest rate of job growth in the history of the city (RudyYes.com).

In the arena of taxes, however, Mr. Giuliani appears to have recently changed his position and begun to cater to the fiscal right. In March of 2007, upon accepting the endorsement of former presidential candidate and magazine executive Steve Forbes, Giuliani stated that he liked the idea of a flat tax. Without going into specifics of the plan, such as an income level above which the tax would apply, Giuliani is an advocate of a greatly simplified tax code. Most popularly advocated by Steve Forbes' candidacy in 1996, this change of position is in direct conflict with his prior statements dating back to that time, when he was firmly against the Forbes flat tax plan (New York Times).

Furthermore, Giuliani has recently indicated his advocacy of supply-side economics, also known as "voodoo economics," a term coined by George H.W. Bush in the presidential race of 1980. This much, it appears, would not change in a transition between a Bush and Giuliani presidency.

Sources:

RudyYes.com, "Proven Leadership" website. December 9th, 1999.

NYTimes.com, "As Forbes Endorses Giuliani, Giuliani Endorses a Flat Tax." March 29th, 2007.