Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has written a piece for Politico today, sort of an advance response to Obama's inevitable "solutions." McConnell proposes specific steps to allow the private sector to increase jobs:
- cut government regulations
- simplify the tax code
- reform the budgetary process so that every line item is reviewed annually
- pass free trade agreements with Central America.
Here's McConnell's piece in full:
President Barack Obama will reportedly do two things in his speech to a joint session of Congress tonight: ask us to believe that a second stimulus will be more effective than his first; and pin the blame on others for a jobs crisis that his own economic policies have done more than anything else to perpetuate.
Such a speech would, no doubt, cheer the most ardent Democratic partisans. But it would do nothing to create jobs.
That’s why many of us believe the president should instead begin by candidly acknowledging the failures of an economic agenda that centers on massive government spending and debt. He should then reach across the aisle for a plan that puts people and business at the forefront of any effort to lift the economy.
The plan we’re suggesting is built on the simple premise that if the American people are going to have control over their destiny, they need to have more control of their economy. The only way we can bring about a stable, long-term recovery is by shifting the center of gravity away from Washington and toward those who actually create jobs.
Above all, this means putting an end to the regulatory overreach that’s holding job creators back. The president took a positive step last week by reversing himself on a proposed ozone regulation. But he’ll need to do more if he’s intent on sparking serious and sustained job creation.
The administration has 4,000 regulations in the pipeline, according to one estimate. Every one should be reviewed. If the president really wants to create jobs, he needs to be as bold about liberating job creators as he has been about shackling them.
Putting the American people back in charge of our economy also means reforming an outdated tax code. Washington should get out of the business of picking winners and losers and lower the U.S. corporate tax rate — the second highest in the world, behind Japan.
We should also level the playing field with overseas competitors by approving the free-trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea that have been languishing on the president’s desk. These pacts would help create tens of thousands of jobs here by vastly expanding the market for U.S. goods.
Another thing we need to do is reform the budget process. There is no good reason that nearly three-fourths of government spending is on autopilot. Or that last year’s spending levels should automatically carry over into the next — regardless of whether they’re effective or affordable. Reforming the budget process is an essential part of getting Washington to live within its means and thus removing the specter of default.
Contrary to the president’s claims, the economic approach outlined here is not aimed at pleasing any one party or constituency. It’s aimed instead at giving back to the American people the tools they need to do the work that Washington has not been able to do, despite its best efforts over the past few years.
Equally important: All these ideas are rooted in a respect for the independence, the wisdom and the power, as President John F. Kennedy once put it, “of a free people and the efficiency of free institutions.”
The president is free to blame his political adversaries, his predecessor or even natural disasters for America’s economic challenges. Tonight, he may blame any future such challenges on those who choose not to rubber-stamp his latest proposals.
It should be noted, however, that this is precisely what Democratic majorities did during the president’s first two years in office. Where did that get us? The national debt exploded, America’s once-pristine credit rating was downgraded for the first time in our history, the average length of unemployment recently surpassed 40 weeks for the first time ever. Just last week, we learned that in August not a single new job was created in this country — not one.
Here’s the bottom line: There are now 1.7 million fewer jobs in America, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, than there were before the president signed the economic stimulus into law. By the president’s own standards, in other words, the centerpiece of his jobs agenda has been a failure.
At this point, most Americans have concluded that the problem with our economy isn’t that Washington is doing too little — but that it’s doing too much.
Whether you believe this or not, however, there is a simpler reason for opposing the president’s economic agenda that has nothing whatsoever to do with politics: It hasn’t worked as advertised.
Such a speech would, no doubt, cheer the most ardent Democratic partisans. But it would do nothing to create jobs.
That’s why many of us believe the president should instead begin by candidly acknowledging the failures of an economic agenda that centers on massive government spending and debt. He should then reach across the aisle for a plan that puts people and business at the forefront of any effort to lift the economy.
The plan we’re suggesting is built on the simple premise that if the American people are going to have control over their destiny, they need to have more control of their economy. The only way we can bring about a stable, long-term recovery is by shifting the center of gravity away from Washington and toward those who actually create jobs.
Above all, this means putting an end to the regulatory overreach that’s holding job creators back. The president took a positive step last week by reversing himself on a proposed ozone regulation. But he’ll need to do more if he’s intent on sparking serious and sustained job creation.
The administration has 4,000 regulations in the pipeline, according to one estimate. Every one should be reviewed. If the president really wants to create jobs, he needs to be as bold about liberating job creators as he has been about shackling them.
Putting the American people back in charge of our economy also means reforming an outdated tax code. Washington should get out of the business of picking winners and losers and lower the U.S. corporate tax rate — the second highest in the world, behind Japan.
We should also level the playing field with overseas competitors by approving the free-trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea that have been languishing on the president’s desk. These pacts would help create tens of thousands of jobs here by vastly expanding the market for U.S. goods.
Another thing we need to do is reform the budget process. There is no good reason that nearly three-fourths of government spending is on autopilot. Or that last year’s spending levels should automatically carry over into the next — regardless of whether they’re effective or affordable. Reforming the budget process is an essential part of getting Washington to live within its means and thus removing the specter of default.
Contrary to the president’s claims, the economic approach outlined here is not aimed at pleasing any one party or constituency. It’s aimed instead at giving back to the American people the tools they need to do the work that Washington has not been able to do, despite its best efforts over the past few years.
Equally important: All these ideas are rooted in a respect for the independence, the wisdom and the power, as President John F. Kennedy once put it, “of a free people and the efficiency of free institutions.”
The president is free to blame his political adversaries, his predecessor or even natural disasters for America’s economic challenges. Tonight, he may blame any future such challenges on those who choose not to rubber-stamp his latest proposals.
It should be noted, however, that this is precisely what Democratic majorities did during the president’s first two years in office. Where did that get us? The national debt exploded, America’s once-pristine credit rating was downgraded for the first time in our history, the average length of unemployment recently surpassed 40 weeks for the first time ever. Just last week, we learned that in August not a single new job was created in this country — not one.
Here’s the bottom line: There are now 1.7 million fewer jobs in America, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, than there were before the president signed the economic stimulus into law. By the president’s own standards, in other words, the centerpiece of his jobs agenda has been a failure.
At this point, most Americans have concluded that the problem with our economy isn’t that Washington is doing too little — but that it’s doing too much.
Whether you believe this or not, however, there is a simpler reason for opposing the president’s economic agenda that has nothing whatsoever to do with politics: It hasn’t worked as advertised.
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