Issues

Jobs

As an entrepreneur who started a nationwide company that has created hundreds of jobs, I am uniquely positioned in this race to discuss how small business owners think and act.

Right now they are thinking that our Government has become a hostile force that attacks success and they are not acting because, in this environment, they can’t predict what the Government is going to do to them in the future.

Layoffs are a problem but the real problem is the lack of job creation.  If one part of the economy goes through a rough patch resulting in layoffs, other parts of the economy are normally expanding and providing job opportunities.  That is not happening today.  Job creation is at a historic low and those being laid off have FEW opportunities.  For every job opening today, six people are actively looking for it. 

We must enact policies that will encourage small businesses to create jobs.  My program is simple: stop doing harm, then start doing good.  Specifically, here’s what I mean by that.

Gerry Connolly and his far-left cronies in Congress have created an environment that discourages business owners from investing.  The following illustrate the harm they have done to our economy:

1. They increased spending so fast that we now have trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see!  Business owners know that this will end badly, with high inflation and even higher taxes.  Inflation and taxes create a hostile business environment.
2. They passed a cap and trade bill that will cause an explosion in energy costs that will harm so many of our small businesses. 
3. They supported card-check legislation that will make it easier for union bosses to organize at even the smallest companies, vastly increasing business labor costs that will price U.S. companies out of world markets.
4. They indicated their intent to increase taxes on business owners.  They position this as “tax the wealthy” but most small businesses are organized as Subchapter S Corporations, which means that a company’s profits show up on their owners’ tax returns.  Increasing that tax further leaves fewer dollars to invest in the business to help it grow.
5. They created a system where banks prefer to lend to the Government instead of small business.  If a bank can borrow at ¼ of 1% and invest in Treasury bonds at 3.5%, why risk lending to a business?  This risk-free lending is what is leading to such outrageous bonuses on Wall Street and the dearth of capital available to small business.

What small businessperson wants to invest in that punishing environment?  If Connolly and his Congressional cronies would stop doing harm, we in the private sector would be able to (1) plan, (2) invest in our businesses so that they can grow again and (3) create the jobs everyone wants but that no one seems to understand how to create.
 
So how can we “start doing good?”  I have a six-point plan that will break the logjam and encourage small business owners to expand and create jobs.

1. Eliminate the capital gains tax on start-up companies.  Venture capital lending to start ups has virtually disappeared amidst the talk of even higher taxes coming their way.  Ending the tax confusion, by eliminating this tax, will increase the number of start-ups and the number of new jobs.
2. Pledge that income taxes will not be increased until the unemployment rate falls to 5%.  Higher taxes are job killers and higher taxes during a recession constitute a policy only Gerry Connolly could love.
3. Freeze Government spending and return unspent TARP and stimulus funds to the Treasury.  This would save over $1 trillion next year alone!
4. Suspend the Federal Unemployment Tax until unemployment falls to 5%.  A small business of 100 people would save nearly $6,000 in taxes under this policy.
5. Cut the payroll tax in half for small businesses until unemployment is reduced to 5%.  This would positively affect both small businesses and their employees, as both contribute to the payroll tax.  Lower taxes mean lower costs to hire new people.
6. Approve the free-trade agreements with Columbia, South Korea and Panama.  Restrictive trade policies are job killers.  Over 250,000 new jobs are created for every 1% increase in exports.  Unions want to punish these countries and Connolly and his cronies are putting their Big Labor contributors over jobs for American workers.

Stop doing harm, start doing good.  This plan will invigorate small businesses and put Americans back to work.  Connolly has cast his vote for higher taxes, out-of-control spending and gigantic deficits.  I will vote for lower taxes, less spending and thoughtful policies that will create the jobs that America – and so many Americans –desperately need.

Energy

Our dependence on foreign oil is costing us money and damages our environment. The politicians keep tinkering, but refuse to take meaningful steps. Instead they cater the lobbyists who give them money. The recent Cap-and-trade bill is a disaster that hurts American families with higher electricity prices. What’s worse is the EPA’s own staff says it will do NOTHING to fight global warming, but does reward special interests. I support Nuclear power, solar power, natural gas, sensible exploration for new domestic energy. We need to do it all to save our economy and our enviroment.

Taxes

Higher taxes are strangling families. Taxes on our homes, food and income make it hard for families to get by. Taxes on business make it harder for them to create jobs. For years the politicians have told us that with higher taxes they would balance the budget and spend the money wisely. But instead they’ve wasted too much of our tax money on pork barrel pay offs. We must say no to higher taxes because Northern Virginia families can’t afford them.

Congress

Congress is broken. The politicians continually put special interest lobbyists first. Look at every major problem and you can see Congress siding with special interests against working families. Energy reform—lobbyists get earmarks. Stimulus bill—the connected power players get paid off. Health care—each lobbyist exempts their group from a change that helps families. We need to stop electing Congressman who think their job is to put their snout in the taxpayers trough.

Spending

Two years ago I ran for Congress saying that spending was out-of-control and the politicians both Democrat and Republican were to blame. Now things have gotten worse. The deficit is the worst since World War Two. China practically holds a mortgage on our America. The wasteful spending is failing to create jobs and merely giving pay offs to political special interests.

Health Care

As a father and and small businessman I know health care costs are skyrocketing at the time we can least afford it. I support health care reform that holds the line on costs and doesn’t switch a messy insurance system for an even worse government run system. Too many of the plans in Congress are wild spending sprees with flawed assumption that will end up giving us less and costing us more.