Jobs: Addition by Subtraction

Statement

Dear Friend,

Last Thursday, President Obama addressed a Joint Session of Congress to reveal his "jobs plan." While I commend the President for finally making jobs a priority, I'm concerned that his plan is just more of the same "stimulus" spending on programs that will do little, if anything, to put Americans back to work.

If the President is truly interested in job creation, he should employ one very simple strategy: get the Federal government out of the way.

I spent the month of August with Senator David Vitter listening to job creators and Louisiana workers. As a former small business owner in the oil and gas industry, I know that regulations, taxes, and uncertainty in Washington are the real factors preventing job growth. The Administration, however, simply doesn't get it.

Repeatedly, the Administration has supported massive increases in government red-tape, taxes, and spending. These increases in the size of government are killing American jobs. From the President's healthcare law to Dodd-Frank to the unconstitutional moratorium on offshore drilling, the Administration is making it harder and harder for American businesses to meet their existing payroll, let alone hire new employees.

Since January, my House Republican colleagues and I have worked on a very simple job-creation strategy: addition by subtraction. Under this strategy, we seek to subtract overly burdensome regulations, job-killing taxes, and reckless government spending in order to add good-paying jobs to our economy.

I have voted against job-killing labor regulations 14 times, the President's healthcare law 19 times, and onerous environmental regulations 78 times. Unfortunately, aside from repealing the burdensome 1099 small business reporting requirement in the President's healthcare law, every jobs bill passed by the House has been ignored by the Senate and White House.

Moreover, we have passed multiple bills that would aid job creation by lowering energy prices through increased domestic production and exploration, but again the Senate and White House have yet to support these job-creating measures.

By allowing the hard-working people in the Gulf of Mexico to ply their trade, we can create jobs across the country, increase revenue to the federal government, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. To put America back on a path to prosperity, we must expand domestic energy exploration, expedite the permitting process, and eliminate the bureaucratic roadblocks to energy production.

In short, jobs don't come from government; they come from people who see opportunities, take risks, and earn success. Small business owners don't need Washington to tell them how to succeed. They need Washington to get out of the way and give them the freedom to succeed. In that spirit, I stand fully committed to fighting for the people of Louisiana against more stifling government regulations, job-killing tax hikes, and another stimulus boondoggle.

Sincerely,

Representative Jeff Landry
Congressman, 3rd District of Louisiana

Source