The Economy

· Principle 14 - Life and liberty are secure only so long as the rights of property are secure.

· Principle 15 - The highest level of prosperity occurs when there is a free-market economy and a minimum of government regulations.

There is no doubt that our economy is in tough shape. We’re facing double-digit unemployment, over 15 million Americans who want work but can’t find it and the continued loss of our manufacturing base. Washington’s answers, however, have only made the situation worse.

The $787 billion stimulus package passed by Congress hasn’t stimulated the economy and our job losses mount. Proposed Cap-and-Trade legislation and the Health Care Reform approved by Melissa Bean will only accelerate our economic decline.

The fact is the financial meltdown and mortgage crisis that precipitated our current situation weren’t caused by a lack of government involvement but by too much. The Community Reinvestment Act was created by the Carter Administration in 1977. That act – designed to boost lending in inner cities with areas of extreme blight by forcing area banks to open new branches in these areas and to have a certain percentage of their lending portfolio of small business loans and home mortgages located in these areas – and the pressures of some in Congress on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to push lending to individuals and deals that were not necessarily creditworthy, created a snowball that has turned into an avalanche in the mortgage industry. The oversight required by agencies entrusted by Congress – and by Congress itself – failed miserably.  We don’t need more regulation that stifles free markets, we need responsible behavior by those entrusted with oversight.

As Ronald Reagan said in his first inaugural address, “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government IS the problem.” If we want our economy to grow and produce jobs again, we must rely on a vibrant private sector to pull us out of the recession. To do so, I will work in Washington to lower taxes, eliminate burdensome regulations and encourage policies that let small businesses thrive and grow. Lowering taxes will send an immediate message to the financial markets, encouraging them to invest and expand. Small businesses create 75% of all new jobs in America. We must free those businesses from the impediments imposed by government to restart the engine of job-creation in this country.