10 Cost-Free US Government Actions for Job Growth
The President says we must create more jobs, yet in the next breath he claims the Government cannot create jobs. One of the main roles of Government is to provide the infrastructure and incentives for continued American economic growth. President Obama has never been employed by corporate America. He either simply doesn't grasp what it takes to create jobs or, perhaps a more sinister twist: blowing up the economy is part of his Marxist agenda to 'overwhelm the system'.
Now that our credit rating has been downgraded, the US Government will find it more expensive to borrow money which will lead to inflation, even less jobs and more social problems. Even if the US could borrow more money, it appears in the court of public opinion that Americans do not want to continue spending money we simply don't have. The short answer is to create more jobs quickly. Jobs generate revenue for business and taxes to fund government, which is what this country needs in order to pay off our debt and continue to thrive in the 21st century.
So how can the Federal government create jobs without spending more money? Here are 10 cost-free steps that will quickly lead to new jobs:
1) Make people cheaper to hire. Replace the 15.3% payroll tax with an 10% national VAT (value-added tax). Repeal Davis-Bacon. Remove minimum wage (remember - this is about jobs. Many employers pay domestic and seasonal help below minimum wage anyway).
2) Pass free trade agreements. Make it easier to do business with the US.
3) Simplify the corporate tax code to a straight 5% tax on profits they report to their shareholders. This move alone will keep billions of dollars in the US to generate new job growth.
4) Repeal Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank, and the Federal Credit Card Act.
5) Cancel all regulations implemented since 2006. Mandate that any new or reinstated regulation have its compliance cost estimated and use the estimate as the budget, just like in business. Audit existing regulations and update their budgets based on reality or eliminate them.
6) Fund known shortfalls in Social Security and Medicare by the VAT in #1 above, and enforce the limits. Shift grant Medicaid to the States as part of the discretionary budget.
7) Cut the top individual and small business tax rate down to 25%. Remove ALL deductions and credits except for interest on a mortgage up to $500K on the primary residence only.
8) Make the corporate tax code territorial so that US corporations can bring profits earned abroad home and invest them here without paying an additional 35% tax on them.
9) Give every foreign student who earns a degree with math, science or engineering at a US university a green card if they can show proof of employment within six months of graduation. After 10 years of continuous employment, offer citizenship.
10) Give a green card to any immigrant who comes into America with $500,000+ and uses that money to start a business that employees at least 5 full-time people within one year of arrival.
So why won't the government enact these cost-free measures before the end of 2011? Discuss.
