Issue Position: Unemployment

Issue Position

Unemployment

No one needs to be told we face the highest unemployment rate in decades. No one needs to be told most Americans grapple with our economy (or lack thereof). Or do they? So many in Congress behave as though they either don't know or don't care.

To be completely honest, the economy is not the most important issue to me. The Constitution is. The Constitution, and the liberty it protects, are the real sources of the bountiful life we enjoy today.

Our predecessors pursued self-interest, which often led to the creation of products others found made their lives more comfortable. The desire to possess these things led to the need to make them on a large scale. The self-interest of men like Henry Ford led to the creation of the assembly line. This in turn led to jobs in manufacturing, which gave more people money to purchase different items, as well as cheaper goods, thanks to mass production. The sequence just keeps going, all without the hand of government.

It has never been the role of government to create jobs. It can't, without taking cash from you and me. Any job produced by government actually takes money out of our economy, rather than putting any in. The role of government is to create an environment in which businesses may flourish.

For the last few decades, Government agencies like the EPA have done more to discourage business than allow it to grow. In fact, the EPA has been so bold to suggest that if Congress doesn't do more to restrict CO2 emissions, they will do it themselves. The Constitution does not allow this kind of behavior from any agency of government!

Fixing Unemployment in 2016

A balanced approach between stewardship of our physical environment and our economic one is necessary. There was a time in our not so distant past when manufacturing truly abused our physical environment. Currently, the condition has reversed. Environmental policy punishes manufacturing. Between environmental fees and fines, taxes, the specter of mandatory employee health insurance, and permits and licenses, can we really expect business to be successful? Can we expect new business to form? Regardless of how one feels about business, big or small, we have to acknowledge its necessity at any size, to be successful.

The balanced approach will restore an environment where manufacturing business becomes inclined to return to the U.S. This will create jobs. Supply and demand dictate the more jobs available, the more they all will pay. When there is an abundance of workers, and few jobs, all jobs pay less. Potential employees are in competition. As manufacturing jobs return, and the labor pool is reduced, all wages go up because companies are competing. They have to, in order to attract and retain good employees. The higher the wages, the more cash becomes available to purchase goods. Prosperity is now back in sight.

This requires less regulation, not more. America became the most prosperous land on the planet, not because of her government, but because of her people.

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