Issue Position: Jobs & the Economy

Issue Position

Legislators must improve the environment for job creation and a strong state economy, but they must not directly create jobs by growing government or by handing out direct incentives to private hands. Government growth and distributed wealth do not lead to a stable and prosperous economy; history is our witness.

Just a little more than a year ago, North Carolina had a tax burden upon its citizens in relation to creating economic opportunities that was ranked as the 44th worst in the entire Nation. Last year as your representative, I fought alongside other like-minded members of the General Assembly to bring to reality a full-fledged reform of our State tax code (an action that had not occurred in over 80 years). Due to the reform of our tax code, individuals within all spectrums of our state economy have the opportunity to keep more of their hard-earned money and greater prosperity is in the future as North Carolina has gone from one of the very worst tax burdens to now one of the best in the Country (now nearly in the top 15 of all states). Your state was able to lower the tax burden uniformly upon individuals, while maintaining the needed resources to provide for the role of state government, in-part by removing the loop-holes and subsidies built into the old tax code to benefit special interest and a favored few. I believe that you know how to best spend your own money than some bureaucrat or politician. As a result, in effort to allow for a better environment for individuals to be able to provide for themselves and their families, it is imperative that we preserve the positive reforms to our tax code in future legislative sessions. There has already been attempts, and their will continue to be efforts, for special interest to work its way back into your tax code to benefit a select few at the expense of all others. If elected to serve as your representative, I will continue to defend against your state government taking money from you for the role of state government and then handing your hard-earned tax dollars out to private interest. Allowing you to decide how to spend your own money leads to greater outcomes for you as an individual, as well as, greater economic growth for the state as a whole.

*The environment for job creation only thrives with maintaining a low tax burden.

*Maintaining a low tax burden requires government to focus on its constitutional responsibilities and essential roles. Regardless of the good intention, government action and spending outside of its proper role is harmful to the individual.

*Once government has the proper perspective of its role, then spending can be cut from those areas outside of the government's responsibility. This approach will lead to the ability to lower the tax burden for all citizens of this State and initiate greater economic growth as individuals know better how to spend their own money than any politician..

*A strong economy only exists with proper and limited regulation. North Carolina has a serious problem with unnecessary regulation. State regulations and the regulatory process which you have to follow to work in North Carolina have grown to oppressive levels. Regulations are constantly growing and changing as regulatory policy evolves both inside and outside of State Statute Law. I have worked to repeal and reform inefficient and ineffective regulatory processes and unnecessary regulations while maintaining the protection of our health, safety, and our commonly shared environment.

Further Reading: Jobs & The Economy

In regard to the state of our economy and the current job situation in North Carolina, there is no question that we need to reflect back on the past, learn from the missteps, and correct the course. A majority of the leaders of this country, and of this State, have lost perspective of the proper bounds of government and the sanctity of the free market. Government intervention inside the free enterprise system is extremely harmful; while limited government oversight and protection of private property outside the free market is essential. This important distinction is imperative to the economic prosperity of our nation, North Carolina, and the individual. Most of what we groan about in this economic environment is simply due to government intervention in the free enterprise system.

The solution is simple and effective; government must get out of the way and be put back into its proper place. Government has a role, but a limited one. Even when the intention is good, government that grows beyond its proper role becomes oppressive and harmful to the citizens it represents.

*Government intrusion inside the free market must be eliminated. This restraint will result in truly free trade, where government intervention does not distort the market and create economic uncertainty.
*Direct government incentives are an example of the harmful role government plays inside the free market. Direct incentives mean that government takes public money from the pockets of taxpayers and puts it in the hands of private companies, granting unfair advantages to those companies who "create the most jobs" and stacking the deck against other business fairly striving for growth. The answer to incentives is for legislators to "create the environment for growth", not "create jobs", by funding the essential role of state government and reducing the tax burden for all to unleash the power of pure capitalism.
*Government must be limited to its essential roles outside the market. There is a role for government to play: to present a fair and sound playing field for economic prosperity. The government must create and administer fair rules for the game to be played, but it must not participate in the game.
*Regulation is needed to a degree, but this State has a significant problem with "unnecessary regulation". There is no doubt that over regulation is one of the major reasons for economic misery in this State, and until our regulatory agencies are scaled back to their essential roles, economic growth will be limited.

The economic environment will be prosperous again once the tax burden is reduced and over regulation is reigned in. Not only will our current residents prosper, but our State will become attractive to other investors without the need to bribe them to North Carolina with dollars confiscated from tax payers. There is a solution to economic growth, but that solution is just not the government.

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