08
Oct
2012
Two of the nation’s most pro-job organizations have endorsed GOP candidate for Utah’s 2nd Congressional district, Chris Stewart, setting him apart as the candidate with the best prescription in the district for the ailing economy.
In a letter announcing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s official endorsement of Stewart, Thomas J. Donohue, President and Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Chamber, stated, “At no other time in our nation’s history has it been more critical that Members of Congress provide leadership that protects and advances the interests of the business community. We believe that your [Chris Stewart’s] election to the U.S. House of Representatives will help produce sustained economic growth, help create more jobs, and get our country back on track.”
Lisa Goeas, the Vice President of the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) echoed the U.S. Chamber’s endorsement of Chris Stewart by saying, “Your election is not only critical to the small-business owners in your district, but also to protecting free enterprise across America. On behalf of all NFIB members, our nation’s job creators, we look forward to standing with you as you work to do big things for small business.”
New statistics released Friday by the U.S. Labor Department indicate the unemployment rate dropped to 7.8 in September.
“Even though there is improvement, there is still a lot of work to be done. While numbers are better than they have been, they are still not good. We are seeing more unemployment than at any time–even during Jimmy Carter’s presidency,” candidate for Utah’s 2nd Congressional District, Chris Stewart, said.
With 23 million people underemployed and unemployed, at the rate of 114,000 jobs added a month, it would take 230 months to employ the people of the United States.
“Let’s keep this in perspective. The average unemployment rate under President Clinton: 5.21%. The average unemployment rate under president Bush: 5.27%. The average unemployment rate under president Obama is over 9%,” Stewart said.
But, Stewart says with changes made to create a more business-friendly environment we can get more people back to work.
“Americans deserve better. We can fix this! We’re going to fix this! We’re going to turn this thing around. If we get this right, we can build an economy that will create jobs again! If we get this right, we can build an economy that will allow working men and women to look to their future with the same hope and optimism that their parents did before. We can build an economy that will allow us to recapture the American Dream,” Stewart said.
Stewart is the president and CEO of a small business that is nationally recognized for its consulting expertise in energy and the environment, as well as government anti-terrorism training and corporate security and executive preparedness consulting. Stewart’s approach to the economy would create a more business-friendly environment.
“Small business is the heart of the U.S. economy, creating roughly 65-percent of jobs over the past 20 years. Yet, government regulations make it nearly impossible for small businesses to thrive. As a small business owner, I know what conditions are necessary for small businesses to flourish. That involves getting government out of the way, ” Stewart said.
Stewart plans to control and eliminate hundreds of thousands of pages of regulations that have never received the direct blessing of either voters or Congress but were instead put into place by disconnected Washington bureaucrats.
“Federal regulations are a $1.6 trillion deadweight on our economy–the last thing we need as we struggle to create jobs. We need to review every rule and regulation to ensure that they are not an undue burden on the economy,” Stewart said.
The National Federation of Independent Business and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are non-partisan and have endorsed Democratic candidates, including 4th district incumbent Jim Matheson.
“My opponent, Jay Seegmiller, has tried to paint himself as the next Jim Matheson. These key endorsements are one of many proofs that he is not,” Stewart said.
Seegmiller’s “3-2-1 Plan” takes a Democratic approach to the economy and cannot guarantee his promise of sustainable job creation.
“Jay and I have vastly different economic philosophies. President Obama would likely support Jay’s plan. It takes the approach of more government involvement to create jobs. The President has tried this over the past few years, and it is clearly the wrong method. More troubling is the fact that Jay wants his business tax cuts to be temporary. Temporary tax cuts equal temporary jobs. Why would we ever be satisfied with temporary jobs? Make the tax cuts permanent so that we create permanent jobs,” Stewart said.
Stewart supports permanent reductions in business taxes. He also supports simplifying the personal tax code by creating a new code consisting of just three rates for federal income tax: 10%, 15% and 25%.
At the top of Stewart’s agenda is slashing the federal deficit.
“Of every dollar spent by the federal government about forty cents are borrowed. This clearly would not be economically sound for a household, and it is not economically sound for our nation. We have witnessed the downgrade of our credit rating, and if we do not control spending, we will witness further economic hardship,” Stewart said.
As part of his plan to reduce the federal deficit, Stewart supports ratifying a Balanced Budget Amendment and enacting real entitlement reform.
“Getting the federal deficit under control is going to take work from both sides of the aisle. Government spending is out of control. Part of the problem lies in entitlements, which already consume 66-percent of our federal spending. I have a plan to reform Social Security and Medicare to save the systems in a cost-efficient manner while protecting those who rely on the programs,” Stewart said.
While Stewart’s plan reduces the federal deficit, Seegmiller has stated he would like to increase spending on health care, welfare and environmental expenditures. In order to pay for increased government spending Seegmiller has indicated he would like to increase government fees as well as raise taxes.
Stewart says he is pleased with the NFIB and the US Chamber of Commerce endorsements and has hope that Americans will support a plan that will lead to sustainable job creation.
“I am committed to making essential changes that will lead to more jobs. There is still hope that the American Dream will remain alive, but we need to act now,” Stewart said.
