Issue Position: Jobs

Issue Position

Right here in the 5th District, Hoosier families are struggling with the challenge of finding a good paying job. According to an August 2011 report from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, Blackford, Grant, and Madison counties face double-digit unemployment rates. This is one of the most critical issues facing Hoosiers today.

There is a big disconnect in Washington's rhetoric when it comes to the issue of job creation. For too long, politicians have characterized unemployment as a problem they feel compelled to solve, yet never stopping to identify what the root cause is: government. The reality is that the private, free enterprise system creates jobs, not the government. True economic development is a result of the government's ability to foster an environment that leads to job-growth. I stand for four basic tenants of job-creation:

Lower taxes on innovation, hard work and investment. The tax code should reward hard work and risk taking. I support comprehensive tax reform that would give us a flat income tax with only a few exceptions for home mortgages and charitable deductions. By lowering our marginal tax rate into the 25% range we can spur economic investment, reward citizens who work hard, and drive job creation that will benefit all Americans.

Fewer regulations on businesses that create jobs in America. Right now it costs every small business, on average, nearly $12,000 extra per employee just to complete all the Federal paperwork and follow the thousands of confusing, contradictory, and costly regulations. Many of these regulations have long outlived their usefulness and no longer help us to get a cleaner environment, safer work place, or healthier community. They simply impose unneeded costs when there are better ways to achieve these goals. I propose setting the standards that businesses must achieve to protect health, safety, and the environment, and then unleashing the creativity of American free enterprise to find the best and least expensive way of achieving those goals. Finally, it is imperative that government refrain from intervening in the free market by bailing out failing businesses--no matter how big. This only distorts the incentives of the marketplace and ultimately results in lower economic growth.

Balance the budget by making immediate cuts, putting in caps on future spending, and passing a Balanced Budget Amendment with overall limits on future taxes and spending. Most states have balanced budget provisions in their state constitutions--and many require a super-majority before they can raise taxes. Career politicians have used spending as a means to reelection. We need a strong balanced budget amendment that has the teeth to break that cycle and ensure that American families remain free to spend their own hard-earned money the way they know best.

Sound money supply. A sound dollar is the foundation of a sound economy. However, the Federal Reserve has overstepped its core mission of protecting the value of the U.S. Dollar. From pushing through trillions of dollars of taxpayer-funded stimulus, to keeping private investment on the sidelines through over-regulation of local and community banks, to embracing failed quantitative easing policies that simply amount to printing money, the Fed has only further weakened confidence in the dollar. At a recent Heritage Foundation conference, economists lauded the Lewis E. Lehrman plan for a new Gold Standard as the best way to promote economic growth. By adopting this approach to our currency, Congress will stabilize our money supply and head off the potentially disastrous inflation that currently looms on the horizon.

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