Just get government out of the way
By Cong. Mac Thornberry
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. The President has been travelling around the country talking about his Jobs Bill." His latest tactic is to promise to do things without waiting on Congress. The truth is this latest jobs plan did not even pass the Democratically-controlled Senate in whole or in part. Even some in his own party could not stomach more borrowing and government spending in an attempt to create jobs and most Americans have quit listening.
At the same time Americans do want a jobs plan that will work and some have asked me what House Republicans would suggest. The
answer is at
www.jobs.gop.gov and it has been there since spring.
Government regulations take the biggest toll on small businesses according to a new Gallup poll. And that is exactly what I continue to hear in our part of Texas.
The Gallup Small Business Index a poll of 600 small-business owners in early October showed that of all the obstacles facing small businesses 22 percent felt government regulations caused the biggest problem while 15 percent noted consumer confidence and 12 percent blamed a lack of consumer demand.
Week after week the House has been voting to limit or repeal job-killing regulations coming out of the Administration. The House has also voted
on measures to promote domestic energy production as well as to cut spending to begin to get our fiscal house in order.
Too many of these bills are still stuck in the Senate. But we will keep pushing and keep passing additional jobs bills. You can track the progress of some of these key bills at the
jobs.gop.gov website.
I have been making a special effort to visit with as many businesses of all sizes in our area as I can. I talk with them about what the federal government could and should be doing to help them grow. Generally they are not interested in temporary tax credits or incentives. They would just like government to get out of their way.
Right now there is much uncertainty about what will happen with taxes as various provisions are expiring in the near future. There is great anxiety about the new healthcare bill and what it will mean.
And everywhere I go I hear about regulators that are more aggressive than they have ever been before. The concern about new regulations and the approach of these regulators makes businesses more cautious and less likely to expand or to create jobs.
Jobs and economic recovery come from the private sector. Governments job is to help set a climate in which those in the private sector can succeed based on their ideas abilities and
willingness to work.
Most Americans understand that; unfortunately it seems that the President does not.
A 5th generation Texan Mac Thornberry serves in the U.S. House of Representatives for 13th District of Texas where he is a lifelong resident. He currently serves on the Armed Services Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
