Martha's Blog

Grow Jobs, Not Government

While traveling throughout the Second District, I have heard time after time how worried people are about the state of our economy.  I hear stories about people who have searched for months and still can’t find a job, and about families who wonder whether they’ll be able to pay the mortgage or put food on the table. 

This morning, we learned that Alabama’s unemployment rose to 11% in December, a number that represents more than 225,000 people looking for work – the highest level in 26 years.  In some counties in the Second District, like Conecuh County, the unemployment rate is approaching 20%. Nationwide, the number of jobless claims in December also increased .   

These grim job numbers demonstrate that the Democrats’ approach to recovery and job creation is simply not working.  Even House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has admitted this much.

We need to put the Second District back to work. As I have said before, the road to recovery begins and ends with putting money back in the hands of the taxpayers.  Did you know that nearly 50 tax cuts expired at the end of 2009?  Combine those with the Democrats’ efforts to tax and penalize our healthcare plans, their attempt to impose a national energy tax with cap and trade, and restore the estate tax, and American families’ paychecks will only continue to dwindle.  Congress must actively work to cut taxes and must not impose any new taxes.

Another barricade to economic recovery is the Congress’s current spending spree.  While American families are tightening their belts and cutting expenses, our representatives continue to recklessly spend and borrow, leaving our children and grandchildren with the bill.  Congress must act responsibly by stopping the tax, spend, and borrow agenda.  Decreasing the deficit and reducing the national debt must be a priority. Even just returning per capita spending to pre-recession levels, we’d be able to balance the budget by 2019.

When the $787 billion stimulus was passed, we were told it to put more Americans back to work.  Instead, we have seen the unemployment numbers only continue to rise and the size and power of government continue to grow.  The role of the government should be to enable and incentivize businesses large and small to hire workers.  Increasing taxes on businesses, imposing burdensome regulations, and increasing bureaucracy only grow the size of government—not the number of jobs.

Recovering from this recession will take time, and it won’t be easy.  However, Congress must make the creation of jobs a priority, and must pass common sense legislation that will improve the economy and put Americans back to work—not grow government.