The Honorable Jim Jordan
The Republican Study Committee
1524 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Chairman Jordan,
Thank you for your work in the Republican Study Committee to create the Jobs Through Growth Act, a bill that would provide desperately needed tax and regulatory relief for businesses and job creators throughout the country. Independent Women's Voice endorses the Jobs Through Growth Act, and we urge Congress to pass it.
Since January 2009, our national unemployment rate has been above 8 percent. Yet even the official unemployment statistics fail to communicate the extent of the jobs crisis, since so many Americans have stopped looking for work altogether or have settled for jobs and wages below their potential.
Americans know that the answer to our problems isn't more government. In fact, despite messages from the much publicized Occupy Wall Street movement and class warfare offered by too many political leaders, a recent Gallup poll indicates that Americans know that big government is actually the biggest threat to prosperity. Sixty-four percent of Americans answered that they fear big government most, compared to 26 percent who fear big business. These sentiments were echoed by a panel of female CEOs, who recently appeared at an event hosted by Rep. McMorris-Rodgers. These job creators named our odious tax code and the oppressive and unpredictable nature of our big-government regulatory state as the biggest obstacles for their businesses.
We applaud your efforts as an important step to addressing these concerns. We appreciate that this legislation would exempt small businesses from the regulatory burdens imposed since the recession of 2007. While many of those regulations were aimed at corporations on Wall Street, not surprisingly they have become a burden to American small business – the job creation engine responsible for approximately 60 percent of new jobs each year. Furthermore, the bill’s elimination of the estate tax will also be a boon to small business.
The Jobs Through Growth Act would also give a green light to the Keystone XL project, which could create as many as 20,000 construction jobs. Importantly, this project will provide the United States with increased fuel that can be refined and used here. Ultimately, this will help relieve pressure on our rising gas and energy prices, which is a burden on already cash-strapped American families, as well as a drag on economic growth and job creation.
Independent Women’s Voice urges Congress not only to pass the Jobs Through Growth Act, but to continue to work to get government out of the way of job creation through the repeal of ObamaCare and the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. Our nation simply cannot afford to allow a sclerotic, expensive, and often counterproductive regulatory mindset with excessive opportunity costs to discourage those who otherwise are ready and willing to create jobs.
Sincerely,
Heather R. Higgins
President & CEO
Independent Women's Voice