America has a choice: Bill Weld
Governor Weld has an unblemished record of public service. In addition to seven years in the Department of Justice, he served two terms as Governor in Massachusetts, where he was reelected by the largest margin in state history. He cut taxes 21 times, never raised them, balanced the budget, and oversaw six upgrades in the state’s bond rating. He signed landmark welfare reform, made public schools accountable, and was a trailblazer as an early proponent for LGBT civil rights. Governor Weld was ranked the most fiscally conservative Governor in the country by the Cato Institute and the Wall Street Journal.
The Most Fiscally Conservative
Governor in the Nation
Widely credited with bringing Massachusetts back from the brink of bankruptcy, Bill was ranked the most fiscally conservative governor in the country by both The Wall Street Journal and the Cato Institute. When he was elected, Massachusetts faced a $1.3 billion dollar deficit. Unemployment was at 9.1% – 2.3 % above the national average – and the state had the 2nd highest income taxes per capita in the nation.
Believing “there is no such thing as government money, only taxpayer money,” Bill cut taxes 21 times, balanced the budget without borrowing from Wall Street, reined in wasteful programs, improved state services, and signed into law one of the strongest welfare reform laws in the country. His regulatory reforms made state government a partner, not an adversary, to job creators and entrepreneurs.
The result: Massachusetts didn’t just emerge from a fiscal crisis; it thrived. Unemployment, health care costs, and welfare rolls decreased while the state’s bond rating and reserves increased.
Bill Weld achieved all this as a Republican governor in a blue state where Democrats out-numbered Republicans by more than 3 to 1 in the state legislature. Building alliances across party lines was a hallmark of his administration — a stark contrast to what is happening in Washington today. Bill restored the state’s financial health while fighting for tougher criminal justice laws, better education, and protection of natural resources & open space. He was one of the first governors in the U.S. to advocate equal rights for the LGBTQ community, demonstrating his unequivocal belief that all citizens be treated equally.
Proven Experience at the
Highest Levels of Government
Prior to being elected governor, Bill served in President Ronald Reagan’s Justice Department, first as the United States Attorney for Massachusetts, where he won 109 convictions in 111 prosecutions of public corruption, and then as Assistant U.S. Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division, working on many of the Reagan administration’s criminal justice initiatives, including the capture of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega on drug trafficking charges.
Earlier in his career, as a staff member on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, Bill participated in the Watergate impeachment inquiry. He also worked for US Senator Jacob K. Javits (R-NY). He served as national co-chair of the U.S. Privatization Council & of U.S. Term Limits.
Real International Credentials
Bill is a self-described “inveterate internationalist,” believing that America is strongest when acting in concert with our economic and strategic partners. As governor, he led sixteen trade missions to Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe to promote Massachusetts as an international hub for business, technology, and education. He is an ardent supporter of free trade, having worked with Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich in 1994 to help craft the North American Free Trade Agreement, and believes that international coalitions are vital to a safer and more prosperous America.
Bill is an active member of the Council on Foreign Relations and served for 5 years as a member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council. He has worked extensively throughout Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe, and serves as an associate member of the InterAction Council, an elected group of former heads of state from throughout the world focused on nuclear proliferation, sectarianism, natural resources, energy, food, and water.
Why Bill Weld?
During a career in public life that has included roles as assistant counsel on the U.S. House Watergate Impeachment Inquiry, US Attorney for Massachusetts, Assistant US Attorney General for the Criminal Division under Ronald Reagan & two terms as the Governor of Massachusetts, Bill Weld has dedicated himself to three enduring principles:
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Respect for the Rule of Law
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Responsible Fiscal Restraint
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Ensuring and protecting individual liberties for every single American
Bill Weld believes that those entrusted with public office must meet the strictest standards of honesty and fairness, and of adherence to the laws as laid out by our Constitution. In the past Bill Weld has routinely held individuals who abuse or neglect that public trust to account, and as he surveys the chaos and corruption of political circles in Washington DC today, and the paralyzing gridlock on Capitol Hill, he is—quite frankly—appalled.
He believes we have reached a critical tipping point in the history of our nation—in terms of the urgent crises we are facing domestically and internationally, and the alarming and rapidly intensifying dysfunction of our current government—and that not one of us can afford to stand by idly on the sidelines any longer. We must all have the courage of our convictions, we must all stand up.
Bill Weld is running for President as a Republican (the party he has belonged to and believed in since the age of 18) to bring the bedrock principles and practices he believes in—ie fiscal conservatism, total honesty and transparency, absolute support for all matters of individual freedom, informed and intelligent practices of free trade and international diplomacy, intense dedication to environmental issues (conservatism in its most literal form), a laser-like focus on the future of jobs and wages, and unrelenting efforts to close the income inequality gap—back to both the U.S. government as a whole and to the Republican Party specifically. In the process of doing so, he hopes to restore the sorely missed qualities of decency, civility, intelligence, integrity, wisdom and experience to our conversations, at home and abroad.
Bill Weld understands that each of these issues (and many others of grave importance!) involves a web of side issues —for example, ‘income inequality’ encompasses not just wage & wealth disparity, but differences in access to healthcare, parental leave, child care, quality education, and a host of other social goods that help each person reach his or her full potential. Similarly, climate change is an issue that fractures into a myriad of side debates, such as carbon pricing, nuclear power, natural gas, transmission upgrades etc. A broad and deep understanding of how all these issues are interconnected requires intense and sustained study by a leader who has a curious, focused and open mind — an asset the current occupant of the White House does not possess and will never possess. America deserves better.
America deserves better. America, in fact, deserves the best.
America deserves President Bill Weld.
Good leadership also requires the ability to communicate (in positive, not negative, ways) and to reach across the aisle to forge deals-something we have seen none of during the current administration, where it almost seems that one party doesn’t believe in democracy and the other doesn’t understand capitalism. America deserves better. Bill Weld believes in democracy and capitalism, and he understands that the former needs reforms while the latter needs regulations. Bill Weld knows how to reach across the aisle to make these reforms and regulations—he did it every day as a Republican Governor of a Democratic state.
America deserves a President who is dedicated to the public trust. A President who cares about our laws, about balancing our budget and about finding smart and innovative ways to meet the challenges we face. America deserves a President who has courage, integrity and other real leadership qualities.
Will you take a stand and make history with us?
Bill is relying on you to help create the better America we deserve!