George Pataki Meets with Students

Republican presidential hopeful and former New York Governor George Pataki met with about 50 Dartmouth students on Monday, October 5 in the Rockefeller Center’s Class of 1930 room. Following the meet and greet with students, Pataki gave a talk entitled “America’s Economic Future” at the Tuck School of Business. Pataki’s lecture was the first in a series Co-sponsored by the Tuck Center for Global Business and Government and the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy, which will feature presidential candidates addressing the topic of America’s economic future.

The following is a recap excerpted from the Oct 6 Valley News article “Pataki Pitches Over Pizza” reported by Nora Doyle-Burr.

Students quizzed Pataki on a variety of topics from the recent surge of support for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt; Americans’ frustration with Washington politics and climate change. Asked by Dartmouth College senior Noah Cramer for his take on Sanders’ recent surge in the polls, Pataki said Americans are dissatisfied with Washington and the way in which “interest groups” sway lawmakers. Though Sanders is a US Senator, Pataki said he is “not perceived as being part of the system.”

George Pataki meets with students in the Class of 1930 room. Photo by Philip Son '16.

Dartmouth senior Latrell Williams, a government major with a minor in history, asked Pataki to describe how he would change Washington.

Pataki said he would like to shrink the size and power of the federal government by simplifying the tax code, reducing the number of federal employees, requiring that bills approved by Congress also apply to members of Congress and preventing former members of Congress from serving as lobbyists.

Cramer, who works for NextGen Climate, asked whether Pataki would support the goal of reaching 50 percent clean energy by 2030. Pataki said he hopes the country can do better than that. In order to be a “party of the future,” Pataki said Republicans have to “embrace science.” That said, Pataki said he differs from Democrats in how he believes carbon emissions ought to be reduced. He does not support fines, fees or taxes, which he said would drive companies offshore and fail to reduce global emissions. Instead, Pataki said the government should encourage new technologies—such as fracking to extract natural gas, next generation nuclear power and improving efficiency of solar and wind in the electric grid.