Columns
As families and loved ones gather across the Third District over the coming days to celebrate Christmas, I want to extend my season’s greetings to you and your family. During this time of year, our thoughts and prayers go out to the men and women, and certainly their families, who sacrifice so much to defend our freedoms.
The November jobs report, which showed nearly twice as many Americans dropped out of the labor force than found work, underscored the deep and systemic problems still affecting the economy. One of those areas is our outdated tax code. Over the years, it has grown too complicated and cumbersome, and it is fundamentally unfair. There are many drivers of our sluggish economy, but we never will recover the jobs lost during the recession unless we undertake comprehensive tax reform.
With our nation in the midst of the worst jobs crisis since the Great Depression, you would think policymakers would be focused on reducing barriers to job creation. Not so. High unemployment has many drivers, but one of the most obvious culprits is over-regulation.
Unnecessary regulations and their unintended consequences are self-inflicted wounds on our economy. They drive up the cost of doing business, leaving employers with fewer resources to hire and invest. Instead of making job creation easier and cheaper, Washington has been making it harder and more expensive.
Over the past several weeks, Washington has had multiple opportunities to address the nation’s massive spending problem. Instead, the only thing Congress was able to accomplish was prove again how broken Washington has become. Despite the setbacks, we must redouble our efforts to end the unsustainable spending going on in our nation’s capital.
The holidays are a special time to reflect on the past year, to celebrate, and to give thanks for the freedoms and opportunities we enjoy as Americans. President Ronald Reagan reminded us of our blessings in his 1982 Proclamation on Thanksgiving Day: “I have always believed that this anointed land was set apart in an uncommon way, that a divine plan placed this great continent here between the oceans to be found by people from every corner of the Earth who had a special love of faith and freedom.”
On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, the guns in Europe fell silent and the War to End All Wars was over. And on that day every year thereafter, Americans have come together to remember the sacrifices made by the veterans who took up arms on their behalf to defend freedom.
In his speech on the beaches of Normandy to commemorate the 40th anniversary of D-Day, President Ronald Reagan said, “We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared so we may always be free.”
One of the most significant challenges holding back the American economy is our overly complex and outdated tax code. Instead of having tax policy to encourage hiring American workers and investing here in the United States, our obsolete tax system incentivizes businesses to leave profits and jobs overseas. This dynamic is stifling job growth here in Nebraska and across the country. If we are serious about stimulating our economy, it is time to reform the tax system to make the United States a more competitive place to invest and create much-needed jobs.
For 32 consecutive months the national unemployment rate has been at or above 8 percent. Today, it stands at 9.1 percent. Nearly 14 million Americans continue to look for jobs as average family incomes are dropping and the poverty rate is rising. Maintaining the status quo is unacceptable.
After nearly five years of delay and political gamesmanship the trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea finally passed the U.S. House of Representatives with bipartisan support. It was a pivotal moment for America’s economy. With these agreements our economic and national security will be strengthened; and more opportunity will be created for our farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, and workers.