GENERATE JOBS

Government doesn’t create jobs. Private industry creates jobs. The job of government is to implement a stable policy of low taxes and less costly regulations that allow American firms to be competitive in the global economy. The security provided by a stable tax and regulatory climate will help American companies access capital and create jobs.

Businesses have to deal with unprecedented uncertainty due to Washington’s inability to set a clear roadmap of future policy changes. A large part of this uncertainty is about potential tax increases and increased regulations.  Businesses are reluctant to hire when they could be facing additional labor, regulatory and tax costs due to government policies.  This, at a particularly vulnerable time due to the credit crunch and financial crisis, spells a death sentence for many small businesses, and stunts the growth of others. Uncertainty is one of the key reasons the American economy can’t emerge from the recession.

The health care debate typifies what has become all too clear to political observers—that extreme liberals in Washington like Gary Peters will jam through Congress whatever high-tax-and-spend legislation they can. Whether or not the American people want the new rules and regulations is of no concern to them. Most importantly, this leaves small business owners in the dark when preparing for the future.

Will they have to pay fines for not offering government mandated health insurance?  Will their employees be able to keep their current health plans or will their companies have to provide new, more expensive health plans that cost thousands of dollars more per worker? Will new regulations cause even further constriction in the availability of capital? Will tax rates on small businesses skyrocket? Will new environmental regulations boost energy prices?

While Gary Peters claims to support small business, on bill after bill, his votes for more spending, more regulation and more taxes are hurting small business and stifling their ability to create jobs because they can’t plan for the future and are held in limbo waiting for government to make up its mind. Because of this insecurity, businesses will simply remain on the sidelines, waiting to expand their companies and hire new workers. High productivity from the critical workers who have not lost their jobs means that businesses can delay hiring with little consequences. With the unemployment rate at about 10 percent nationally and more than 13 percent in Michigan, government must act quickly to end the uncertainty and create an economic environment that provides the security employers need to create new jobs.

As a former small business owner, Rocky understands the problem. He has signed both sides of a paycheck and knows firsthand the obstacles to job creation. In particular, Rocky knows that the stimulus is a dismal failure. In fact, while Gary Peters, Nancy Pelosi and President Obama think the economy is moving in the right direction, Rocky knows that the real unemployment rate (when you include discouraged and underemployed workers) in Michigan is closer to 23 percent. Clearly, their policies have failed and it’s time to try a new approach – one that trusts business owners and investors to keep more of their own money.