Issue Position: Economy

Issue Position

As someone who has been working to create jobs and establish prosperity in New Mexico for over 40 years, Harry Teague understands southern New Mexico's economic challenges and opportunities. New Mexico's success is based on our underlying commitment to hard work, our ingenuity, and our community values. For too long, Washington has worked for the wealthy and well connected. Harry is fighting to put Washington to work for New Mexico working families. Whether you head to work in a shirt and tie or a hard hat and safety boots, Harry is going to wake up early, roll up his sleeves, and do what he thinks is right to help you. In Congress Harry will fight for:

Making New Mexico the energy capital of America - From the forests of Grant County to the oil fields of Lea County, southern New Mexico's diverse and abundant energy resources mean thousands of good paying jobs for New Mexicans -- but only if we have someone fighting for a Do it all, Do it in New Mexico energy policy. Some people say new alternative energy jobs "aren't real." That's plain wrong. New Mexico can double up on energy jobs and expand investment in rural New Mexico by creating green crude oil, generating electricity from wind and solar, increasing investment in nuclear energy, and expanding oil and natural gas development. Harry's Do it all, Do it in New Mexico energy plan will create thousands of new energy jobs across the 2nd district, cut our dangerous dependence on foreign oil, and strengthen rural New Mexico communities.

Rural Jobs Tax Credits - Harry understands the importance of family and community and will work to create economic opportunity so our children can work here at home in New Mexico. He is a proponent of Rural Jobs Tax Credits that reward companies who employ Americans in non-metro areas so southern New Mexico can attract competitive, high paying jobs that will keep our kids from having to move away to larger cities like Dallas and Phoenix. In order to keep our families together here in southern New Mexico, we need great jobs with great benefits.

Support for Small Businesses - As a longtime small business owner in the energy industry, Harry Teague knows the real economic engine of our economy is small businesses. New Mexico is home to many small businesses that have been hit hard by the economic downturn. That is why Harry fought for our small businesses through the Small Business Financing and Investment Act that reformed federal small business lending making it easier and more affordable to get loans, access to capital and provided tools for veterans, women and rural families to start businesses. Harry also supported the Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Act to extend successful Build America Bonds to spur investment in small business and entrepreneurs looking to start a business.

Fiscal Responsibility - As a Lea County Commissioner, Harry worked to create a more efficient and fiscally responsible county government. As our representative, he has fought for a return to fiscal sanity and balanced budgets after eight years of spending and spiraling debt. Because he didn't think it was right to take a pay hike when New Mexicans were tightening their belts, the first thing Harry did as a Congressman was lead the fight against the Congressional pay raise. He opposed President Obama's budget that didn't do enough to fight the skyrocketing deficits, and he crossed party lines again to oppose government bailouts with taxpayer funding for the TARP program. Perhaps most importantly, Harry was an original cosponsor of Pay-as-You-Go legislation. The Pay-Go law means that government has to live by the same budgeting rules that families and small business live by: pay for what you spend and no more. In a huge victory for Harry and future generations of Americans, the Pay-Go law was signed into law.

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