Rep. Gohmert Cosponsors Pro-Growth Package

WASHINGTON D.C. – US. Rep. Louie Gohmert (TX-01) is an original cosponsor of the Economic Growth Act of 2008 legislation designed to provide broad growth-oriented and permanent incentives that result in a long-term economic stimulus.

The Republican Study Committee (RSC) a group of over 100 conservative House Members introduced the legislation at a press conference Wednesday as a step towards spurring economic growth by providing much-needed incentive-based relief to job-creators that history has proven is far more effective than individual tax rebates alone.

The Economic Growth Act’s key provisions seek to promote economic growth by offering strong tax incentives to those willing to create jobs.

During the press conference Rep. Gohmert and the RSC leadership expressed the need for a quick and effective stimulus package warning of the strain the slowing economy has already had on east Texas. Congressman Gohmert lamented the hundreds of jobs lost as a result of the Goodyear tire plant’s closing in Tyler. 

He pointed out that he had previously set out with a fact-finding group to determine why so many companies have taken good American jobs and moved them overseas to China. He was surprised to find that most of the businesses agreed that China provided cheaper labor but their quality control did not compare to that of U.S. workers. Company after company reported moving because the huge reductions in corporate taxes China offered made it too attractive not to relocate.

Gohmert pointed to his having previously met the former Prime Minister of Ireland John Bruton who took one of the worst economies and transformed it into one of the leading and fastest growing in the world by cutting corporate taxes. His strategy attracted many businesses to move there creating jobs in abundance. 

Bruton is now the European Union Ambassador. Now even some in Europe have begun to find that they can draw jobs away from the United States simply by dropping their corporate taxes lower than those of the US.

The Congressman disagrees that tax rebates alone will push America out of its economic slowdown especially providing rebates to non-taxpayers. “With the government’s hefty deficit giving away even more money especially to people who don’t pay any income taxes at all doesn’t really make sense” Rep. Gohmert said.

He drove home this point at the press conference by pulling out and reading from a dictionary the definition of rebate: “A deduction from or a return of part of a payment. To deduct or return an amount from a payment.” He clarified “Before you can get a re-bate you gotta first put in some bate.”

He added “I am sick and tired of losing jobs to other countries. I want our jobs back in America and if we’re going to do that we’ve got to make it more attractive here like it used to be than it is in China Ireland the European Union or third world countries. We have better workers here so it is time to do what our package says in order to help real Americans with real jobs.”

Gohmert concluded “We should be making fuel cheaper to help hard-working people make ends meet. Instead the majority passed a bill before Christmas destined to make our fuel more expensive.  We continue to keep our own U.S. natural gas off-limits to drill even though we have the second largest deposit in the world.”

“We lost several hundred jobs in Lufkin when the paper mill closed.  Their rationale for shutting down was that natural gas prices here in the US are some of the highest in the world.  There is no reason for that if we drill what we have in our outer continental shelf.  From the royalties of that alone we could give a tax rebate and have more jobs here. Let’s help people where they work and live first with some sustained help - not a one-time band-aid that gives Congress a quick bump up in the polls but really leaves people still hurting two months later.”