Issue Position: Jobs

Issue Position

The most crucial issue facing Indiana today is creating jobs for Hoosier families. One need not look outside our own state to see the devastating effects of a struggling economy. In March of 2009, Elkhart County's unemployment rate hit 18.9%. As a result, just one month later, Elkhart County was ranked first in the nation for the highest year-to-year unemployment rate increase. The New York Times even said that Elkhart represented the, "white-hot center of the meltdown of the American economy." However, Elkhart is not alone. Counties across Indiana are being overwhelmed at the prospects of sustaining their communities. Now is not the time for federal government to continue to burden the greatest entrepreneurial minds and most productive workforce in the world.

Unemployment is a full-spectrum problem. Deficit spending, unsustainable government programs, and a crippling national debt are the sources of the relentless government intervention we see in the form of higher taxes, excessive regulation, and hostility toward investment. Couple that with hot-button issues like Cap and Trade, card-check, government-run healthcare, and poor energy policy and it creates a climate that drives Hoosier jobs over state lines or overseas.

My platform for job creation encompasses a full-spectrum approach to a full-spectrum problem. I support creating a market-friendly environment for businesses to operate and grow. This includes lowering taxes on businesses, eliminating taxes on capital gains and investments, promoting sound energy policy, investing in our infrastructure, and opposing the latest market-killing schemes such as Cap and Trade, government-run health care, and card check.

The free market didn't create the problems we face now in the economy, but it can create the solution. The very future security and viability of Indiana, and our nation, depends on creating good-paying jobs, and as your United States Senator I will be an aggressive advocate for job creation in Indiana.

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