U.S. presidential candidate Jeb Bush offers to cut gov't size, curb lobbyists' influence

U.S. republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush on Monday outlined his plans to cut the size of the federal government and rein in the influence of lobbyists.

Speaking at a rally at Florida State University, the former Florida governor chided Washington for being fraught with "excess or abuse in the federal government", and pledged to challenge the culture in the country's capital.

On the list of his domestic policies unveiled on Monday, Bush called for a 10-percent reduction on the federal payroll that would result in an immediate hiring freeze as well as a six-year waiting period before U.S. lawmakers could become lobbyists.

Since 10-percent of the current federal work-force would retire over the next five years, Bush said his proposal of creating a "smaller government" would replace every three retired federal staff with one new employee, eventually reducing the current federal payroll by 10 percent without raising the unemployment rate.

Though likely to be greeted with stiff opposition from the labor unions and the federal employees, Bush also proposed changes to the civil service system that would make it easier to punish or even fire federal employees.

In his most specific economic policy speech after announcing the White House run last month, Bush also targeted K Street, Washington's collection of lobbying firms, by proposing stricter disclosure standards and legislation that would ban U.S. ex-lawmakers from lobbying for six years.

Though promising a vision "on a scale we haven't seen since the Reagan years," Bush's Monday speech did not include plans for tax and regulatory reform proposals, which he said would be presented in the coming months. Endi