Polling in low single digits at the national level and in most states as he continues to seek the Republican presidential nomination, former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah took aim Wednesday at his former boss, President Barack Obama, over the economy. Obama has scheduled a major jobs speech next week.

Huntsman, who served in the Obama administration as ambassador to China, unveiled his jobs plan on Wednesday in New Hampshire. He called for reforming taxes and regulations, expanding free trade and seeking more energy exploration to lead to energy independence.

“The president believes that we can tax and spend and regulate our way to prosperity. We cannot,” insisted Huntsman. “We must compete our way to prosperity. It’s time for America to start working again. It's time for America to start making things again.

“It's time for America to stand up and start competing again,” Huntsman continued. “Meeting our challenges will require serious solutions, but above all, it will require serious leadership – a quality in high demand in our nation’s capital, and among my opponents on the campaign trail.”

Huntsman, who has based his campaign in Orlando, vowed to make turning the economy around the chief focus of his campaign. “There is no more urgent priority at this point in our nation’s history than creating jobs and strengthening our economic core; everything else revolves around it,” he said.

Huntsman has attempted to position himself as a different kind of Republican -- a theme he returned to on Wednesday when he noted that he was the only candidate in the crowded GOP field that supported raising the federal debt ceiling.

“It was just four weeks ago that I was the only candidate to stand up and support a compromise to save our nation from default – which would have triggered calamitous consequences for our economy,” said Huntsman. “President Obama never even offered a plan of his own, and all of my opponents supported default, even as far as attempting to undermine the deal at the eleventh hour. That simply doesn’t cut it – especially in these trying times.”

The former Utah governor stressed that he was a pragmatist. “I’m not running for president to promise solutions; I’m running to deliver solutions,” said Huntsman. “My plan may be challenged by the special interests, on the left and the right. But it represents a serious path forward – toward fiscal discipline and economic growth. It also represents a very different vision for our country than the current occupier of the White House.”

Huntsman called for increasing American manufacturing, taking exception with the idea that that sector of the economy was destined to fade.

“We need American entrepreneurs not only thinking of products like the IPhone or Segway; we need American workers building those products.  It’s time for 'Made in America' to mean something again,” said Huntsman, who drew upon his service in China. “Overseas, I’ve heard our adversaries speak of America’s decline as if it were predetermined -- it is not. Some say today’s economy is the ‘new normal we must accept.’  I refuse to.”

Huntsman came out fully behind legislation backed by Republicans in Congress, including U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to lower the federal debt.

“Debt is a cancer that if left untreated will destroy our economy from within,” said Huntsman. “I have been an outspoken supporter of the Ryan Plan, which I believe begins to address the long-term problems that make our current course of spending unsustainable. I also support a balanced budget amendment. Our debt is immoral and it should be unconstitutional as well. But we cannot restore our nation’s economic strength by cuts alone. We must compete.”