The United States economy didn't have to be in the place where it is now, but decisions that were made during the early days of President Joe Biden's administration are still causing serious issues, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Sunday.
"We didn't have to be here where we have this challenged economy," the Republican governor told CNN's "State of the Union." "Decisions were made in the early days of the Biden administration to give up our energy independence, decisions were made to encourage people to stay home and keep the economy closed."
In Virginia, the labor shortage is hitting the state's economy hard, as there are a "couple hundred thousand workers who have disappeared [and] we need them back," said Youngkin.
Youngkin on Sunday also said that the moves by the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates to curb inflation were "blunt instruments," but he doesn't think more such news will be needed.
"Virginians and Americans are seeing inflation go through the roof and the cost of living skyrocket, and grocery prices and utility bills," he said. "We've got to find a way to re-establish low energy prices and high labor participation…we've had 95,000 people come back into the workforce but we need more."
Meanwhile, the rising costs for energy require an "all-of-the-above" solution that includes an emphasis on green energy sources such as wind and solar power as well as with other sources such as natural gas, nuclear, and carbon capture processes said Youngkin.
"We have a great opportunity in Virginia to lead the nation in the development of small modular reactors and nuclear to provide base load power that's clean and reliable and affordable," he said. Education was one of the key issues behind Youngkin's election, and on Sunday, he defended a new policy in the state concerning parental rights with schools, including requirements that school sports teams and restrooms should not be based on gender identity.
"Parents have a fundamental right to be engaged in their children's lives, [and] children have a right to have parents engaged in their life," said Youngkin. "We needed to fix a wrong. The previous administration had a policy that excluded parents. Parents have this right and children don't belong to the state. They belong to families."
But as far as accommodation for transgender youths, Youngkin said that 'we're saying parents have to be engaged in that situation.
"If parents want their child to be able to change the pronoun of their name, use a bathroom, if parents choose that, legally that's what the schools will do," he said.
However, when it comes to sports teams, "this is a different issue," Youngkin said. "I do believe it's unfair for girls to have biological boys play sports with biological girls."
Tougher abortion laws are also under consideration in Virginia, and Youngkin said Sunday the state elected him as a pro-life governor.
"When the Supreme Court issued their final ruling, we felt that a good place for Virginia to land, which was saving lives, because that's what Virginians have said," said Youngkin, adding that he does believe in exceptions when it comes to the safety of the mother or the fetus and in cases of rape or incest. "I hope [our legislators] can deliver a bill on my desk in January that would recognize a 15-week limit where a child can feel pain."
The governor, meanwhile, sidestepped a question over whether he plans to run for the White House in 2024.
"I'm so focused now on being the best governor of Virginia that I can possibly be," he said. "I'm focused on getting some Republican congressional candidates elected in Virginia and governors elected around the nation and 2024 is a long way away. I'm really humbled by the speculation."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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