Job Creation

Government doesn’t create private sector jobs.  Government needs to create the best job creation environment possible for America’s job creators.  For a long while, but especially the past three years, government at all levels has failed to create anything resembling a jobs policy that makes sense.  Mike has been advocating for a seven-point job creation strategy to boost America’s economy:

• Increase Exports – American manufacturers make the best products in the world, and if given the opportunity to do business on a level playing field, they can compete with anyone.  We need to be expanding our free trade opportunities while at the same time making sure trade agreements are enforced.

• Reduce Regulatory Burden – There’s a difference between oversight and over-regulation.  Through his position on the Government Oversight and Reform Committee, Mike has been one of the leading advocates in Congress, calling attention to and fighting against government over-regulation.

• Flatten the Tax Code – Job creators up and down western Pennsylvania agree that flattening the tax code, reducing rates and eliminating egregious loopholes where the government chooses winners and losers would be the most important thing Washington could do to help private sector job creation.  This would provide job creators the surety in the tax code they need to spend money to grow their businesses.

• Invest in Energy Infrastructure – Pennsylvania is sitting on the Saudi Arabia of Natural Gas and holds one-third of the world’s coal.  We know from several sources that 2 million jobs are sitting on the sidelines because Washington won’t get its act together and develop a domestic energy policy.  Investing long-term in research and development of renewable energies should also have a role in a national energy policy.

• Invest and Transportation Infrastructure -- Congress has not passed a surface transportation bill in over half a decade.  Part of what has made America great and prosperous is the transporation infrastructure our parents and grandparents have built.

• Encourage Entrepreneurship -- Through the patent reform the current Congress has started and restructuring / streamlining of workforce development and job training programs we can incentivize America's greatest minds to start and grow their businesses here.

• Increase Competitiveness for American Manufacturers -- Aggressive free but fair trade export policies should be the cornerstone of American manufacturing policy.  Additionally, we need to be gearing our education policy towards science, technology, engineering and math (stem) and be encouraging our future workforce to pursue careers in manufacturing.