The White House Jobs Summit – What should have really happened
// December 4th, 2009 // View Comments // Small government
Granted, people like myself and small business advocate Jim Blasingame didn’t get our invitations to attend the Jobs Summit in DC this week. You can find my recent appearance on Jim’s radio show here.
But Jim and I shouldn’t be too offended. After all, neither did the US Chamber of Commerce, National Restaurant Association or half a dozen other organizations that work directly with the job creators in small business.
But let’s say that we were sitting in a room together coming up with a job creation strategy for our President. Here’s what I would put on the table. (I’m not getting specific about what tax breaks/incentives to offer because there are people a lot smarter than me who can figure out those details).
1. A moratorium on new spending bills (including health care reform) until the economy fully recovers and our deficit shrunk by at least 30%. The only exception to any new spending would be the war on terror.
2. Offer tax breaks for companies that will hire over the next 18 months. Offer additional incentives if those hiring levels are maintained long-term. Give small businesses that already offer health insurance to their employees a break because that is less burden on any government program that may be introduced for discussion in the future.
3. Give small business access to working capital. But don’t do it with stimulus and bailout money. Simply give private enterprise and private investors an incentive to invest in small businesses. This could come in the form of a tax credit or state-sponsored insurance policies for those who invest capital into small business. Forcing banks to lend could prove to be an irresponsible step. The economy has taken it’s toll on individual and company creditworthiness so bankers will have to step outside their traditional lending guidelines. That is a recipe for disaster similar to the mortgage loan crisis.
4. States must activate real-life educational resources for small business owners (CEO development) and their employees to make US-based small companies more competitive in the global marketplace. Over 82% of small business owners have a bachelor’s degree or less. However, don’t deliver the education through secular progressive universities and colleges. Deliver the programming through chambers of commerce.
5. Allow US-based companies to be competitive in the free market by encouraging free market trade. Sign the treaties that will encourage more US based production and exports. Just a 1% increase in US exports will create 250,000 new REAL jobs per month. Encourage the innovation and production of clean energy here in the US through entrepreneurism. That alone has the potential to generate millions of new US jobs.
6. Protect small business from the #2 and #3 growth killers in America. Mass tort and big labor. We’re not against lawyers, we’re against mass tort. We aren’t against union workers, we’re against the big labor bosses who use their power and influence to cripple free enterprise.
7. (And this is just a recommendation) Be authentic. Don’t run campaigns on a mainstream democrat platform and then operate on a secular progressive platform. If the current leadership of congress and the White House are secular progressives, admit that you are and we’ll respect you more for it. However, saying that you are for the everyday American, and small business and acting to the contrary is exactly why used car salesman got a bad name (and the boot) for the “bait-and-switch technique”.
I got a request from a great serviceman in our Navy named Robb who suggested I make these points available to you so here goes…
If you agree with these 7 points and want to have an impact, download them in letter form here and send them to your representative (congress and senate).
To find your elected officials, visit USA.gov
Your comments and input below as always appreciated and replied to.
