JOHNSON: Excuses and blame don’t create jobs — Except for speech writers.

The following is the response by Governor Gary Johnson to the Romney and Obama speeches.

Saying "Enough with the excuses and blame," Libertarian presidential candidate and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson responded to Ohio speeches today by both President Obama and Mitt Romney by stating that neither will "commit to the steps that are truly necessary to put America back to work.

In a statement, Johnson said, "While Barack Obama and Mitt Romney deliver dueling economic speeches in Ohio, the simple fact is that neither of them will commit to the steps that are truly necessary to put America back to work in an economic environment freed from the burdens of smothering deficits and government meddling that are, in fact, killing jobs and preventing recovery.

"We are in deep, deep trouble economically, and virtually every American is paying the price. Yet we have a president making excuses and promising that things will get better if we just let him have four more years to keep going down a failed path. And we have a Republican candidate promising to do better, but without offering anything dramatically different from the same policies that have gotten us into this mess.

"Enough with the excuses and blame. Neither creates jobs — except for speechwriters. We must eliminate deficit spending now, not someday off in the future when it won't hurt so much. I pledge to send Congress a balanced budget in 2012. And whether Congress adopts a balanced budget or not, we need a president who will veto every bill that will cause us to spend money we don't have. It can be done. I did it 750 times as governor.

"If reducing taxes a little bit on businesses is a good idea, as both Obama and Romney have suggested, cutting them to zero and turning America into the job-creating monster of the global economy is a better idea. I propose to do just that.

"And if we are to expect investors to invest and employers to employ, the nation's chief executive must act aggressively to cut regulatory burdens and align them with common sense. Uncertainty and angst about 'what the government will do to us next' are just as much job-killers as are high taxes and out-of-control spending.

"This economy will only recover and let America get back to work when Washington stops helping us to death and faces the fact that we cannot spend or tax our way to prosperity. Stop the deficits, stop the government interference in the economy, stop printing money, and get out of the way. That's what government can do to help.”

For more information about Gov. Johnson, please visit his site.