Economy and Jobs

I commit to fight to strengthen the job prospects for the people of the 5th District through a pro-growth economic agenda, encouraging investment and job creation.
I commit to tackling our pressing economic challenges head on by working to facilitate job training and apprentice type programs which allow displaced workers to learn the skills and develop the flexibility to re-employ quickly and productively.
I commit to fighting against the barriers faced by entrepreneurs and small businesses. This commitment includes working to streamline regulatory requirements, access to capital, and mentoring for small and start-up businesses.

I recently visited a small church in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Atlanta where the pastor is a close friend. After the service, I learned that nearly 80% of his congregation is without work mostly due to the collapse of the construction industry. Economic forecasts are not encouraging for the return of those jobs quickly. With stagflation poised to rear its ugly head due to the vastly increased money supply and unfathomable debt, the true picture is worse than the forecasts. Small and medium sized businesses create and support the majority of the jobs in the 5th District and in the Country. They are also the ones who can respond most quickly to efforts to encourage growth. Efforts such as the stimulus and bailouts focused on government and the very largest businesses in hopes of moving the economy to recovery. They simply missed the mark.

Not only did the stimulus miss its mark because of basic flaws in the economics of the plan, the fact is that very little stimulus money has reached Georgia. What has made it here has been spent for the most part on government programs. Government by its very nature does not produce economic growth and the jobs that come from economic growth. Small and medium sized businesses create the majority of the jobs in Georgia and the US. The effect of the stimulus on these businesses is a higher tax burden to fund the enormous debt created by the stimulus and similar programs. If we are to continue to enjoy high living standard and continue to be the “land of opportunity” we must facilitate growth in the small and medium business sector so that significant and productive job growth will follow.