Op Ed: Keeping The Jobs We Have

Op-Ed

Most folks across East Alabama are struggling to make ends meet in this economy. In addition to working to help create new jobs, Congress also needs to ask: how can we help keep the jobs we have?

Most folks are rightly concerned about the direction our country is headed, and are looking to Congress for answers.

With Alabama's state unemployment rate at 10.4 percent, up from 5.2 percent this time last year, only a handful of the thirteen counties in the Third Congressional District are doing much better. The numbers indicate the pain.

So what can Congress do to help keep the jobs we have? For starters, it needs to do no harm.
That means, in part, helping keep taxes low, both on hard working Alabama families and on our businesses. Tax increases are not going to solve our problems.

Unfortunately, this Congress started this year by passing a $3.55 trillion budget -- without my support -- that included one of the largest tax increases in our nation's history.

Keeping our economy competitive and our jobs in Alabama also means Congress doing what it can to help keep interest rates low, and not heap on the debt.

Earlier this year, Congress passed the $787 billion Stimulus bill which was intended to help stimulate our economy, but instead had too many short term special interest programs and too little long-term infrastructure spending. That's why, in part, I opposed it. Months later, it still hasn't had much of an effect on our overall economy.

Keeping our jobs also means not penalizing Alabama's manufacturing sector. Just two months ago, the House passed the Cap and Trade bill without my support.

In its current form, this bill is a jobs killer for coal-dependent states like Alabama. The costs could be hundreds per family each year, and could increase energy rates for hardworking families and businesses alike that are already hurting.

Those increased costs could add to the challenges our manufacturing sector faces, and very well drive away many of the good paying jobs Alabama has recruited in recent years. It could make us less competitive with China and India, and further encourage outsourcing of jobs.
As we move forward, Congress must look at ways to strengthen, save and protect our current jobs -- not pass bills that could threaten the jobs we have.

As we all tighten our purse strings to make ends meet, Congress should learn some lessons from us and do the same.

Finally, I'd like to congratulate the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Calhoun County on graduating their 500,000th trainee from the facility.

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