Pat Discusses Roadmap to Economic Recovery

Press Release

Lays out 7 common sense job creation measures that will help put economy back on track

At a news conference today at Leefson Tool and Die in Folcroft, Pat Meehan, the Republican candidate for Congress in the 7th Congressional District, laid out a series of seven policy proposals he supports that can help spur job creation and get the American economy back on track.

"Over the past several months, I have met and spoken with dozens of small business owners and executives," said Meehan during the news conference. "I have toured local companies and talked with workers. I have heard firsthand about the challenges facing business owners who are struggling to meet their payroll and pay their bills. I have also heard from working families who are struggling to do more with less and are constantly re-evaluating their own family budgets in this difficult economic climate,"

"My discussions have shaped my understanding of the challenges our small businesses face and helped me to develop a list - a roadmap of sorts - of policies I would support in Congress to help our economy recover. This list reflects the suggestions I have heard from business owner, economists, investors, and small business advocacy groups" Meehan continued.

Meehan cited seven specific proposals he supports that will help put the nation back on the path to economic recovery:

1. Institute a payroll tax holiday for a period of 6 months. A suspension of the payroll tax would put more money back in the pockets of hardworking Americans, reduce labor costs and provide much needed relief to small businesses struggling to stay afloat. This is often the most burdensome tax on a small business, because it must be paid no matter how poorly a business is performing.

2. Reduce the capital gains tax to encourage investment, particularly on investments made during the start up phase of a business. New start-up companies drive employment, and we need to encourage investors to provide the seed money for these businesses.

3. Provide tax credits for businesses hiring their first or second employee. Too often, policymakers in Congress have proposed giving tax credits for hiring new employees to large corporations, but this is short-sighted. Often, those businesses already had plans to hire those employees, so it is not having the desired impact of adding new jobs that would not already have been created. We need to focus our efforts on the local plumber or accountant - the sole practitioner - who may be looking to hire a secretary or assistant so that he or she can grow their business.

4. Encourage investment in America by reducing the corporate tax rate by 15%. The corporate tax rate in America is the highest among the OECD industrialized countries. By reducing the tax rate 15%, to the OECD average, we can begin to bring jobs home. Cost is the biggest factor a company considers when deciding where to locate its business. We are taxing businesses right out of the country and they are taking jobs with them. We need to remember that we are competing in a global economy, and we need to maintain corporate tax levels that are competitive to foreign countries. If we don't do that, we are going to continue to see jobs leaving America.

5. Extend all tax relief from the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. Now is not the time to be raising taxes on individuals or the businesses we rely on to create jobs. We need to maintain current tax levels for all Americans and small businesses. These are the same small businesses that provide the best opportunity for job growth needed to emerge from this recession.

6. Eliminate the death tax that hurts family-owned businesses. At the stroke of midnight on December 31, 2010 the death tax will return to a top rate of 55 percent. It will impact family-owned and small businesses, 401k and retirement plans, homes and other possessions. We cannot allow the death of an individual to also result in the death of a business and the loss of countless jobs.

7. Repeal and replace healthcare reform. The Health Care law is an absolute job killer. The known costs are going to directly impact and limit an employer's ability to hire new employees and the unknown impacts of thousands of pages worth of regulations will only drive up the cost for small business even more. We need true reform that will address the problems of rising health care costs while also providing individuals with access to affordable coverage and insuring that no one is denied based on pre-existing conditions. We can do that without imposing unreasonable and excessive costs on our job creators.

"I have no illusions that we can turn around the economy overnight, but I do believe that with the right policies in place we can start to make the changes that will help our small businesses - the drivers of our economy - thrive again," Meehan concluded.

"I believe Pat Meehan has laid out the right policies at the right time that have the potential to turn our economy around," said Dan Leefson, Vice President of Leefson Tool & Die Co. and President of Keystone Mint. "We have seen that the policies of the Obama administration that Bryan Lentz supports are putting companies out of business and folks out of work. We need fiscal conservatives like Pat Meehan in Congress to get our economy back on track."

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