They’re at it again: The same lawmakers in Congress who brought our economy to new heights with historic tax cuts are about to take a vote on passing new legislations to make them permanent. (Because of arcane budgeting rules, many of the tax cuts that took effect this year expire after 10 years.)
The proof that this is the right policy is all over the news. Economic growth is above four percent and the unemployment rate is below it for the first time this century. Since tax cuts passed, we’ve put more than 1 million Americans to work. Today, there are more open jobs than job seekers. We’ve achieved 12 straight months of payroll growth. Our competitors are losing tax revenue while hundreds of billions are streaming home to our shores.
The tax cuts are allowing people to keep more of their earnings, stimulating this growth. Exhibit A is our small business job creators, which create two-thirds of new jobs nationwide. As a result of tax cuts, they received a new 20 percent tax deduction that can be used to expand operations, raise wages, and hire new employees. In a recent Bank of America survey, 60 percent of small business owners said the tax cuts are a game changer.
At the same time, core state industries like manufacturing are experiencing a renaissance. According to the National Association of Manufacturers, 72 percent of respondents said they planned wage increases, and more than 75 percent said they planned increases in jobs or investments, because of the tax cuts.
Meanwhile, new reports from the nation’s leading newspapers show that Americans re-entering the workforce or entering for the first time face better opportunities in recovering states than they have in years.
The Wall Street Journal reports more and more employers are loosening requirements to get jobs filled right away. The New York Times recently highlighted the trend with the example of Rick Sandor, CEO of Johnstown, Ohio’s Steel Ceilings. Hungry to hire, he’s opened consideration to candidates without diplomas and with criminal records. “If a person was truly trying to get their life back together, we thought it would be helpful to offer them a job,” he told the Times. Today’s economic success story is reaching more and more Americans at all levels of life.
These tax cuts are causing a virtuous circle of productivity and prosperity from Main Streets around the country to American companies worldwide. New data from the International Monetary Fund shows that, while our economy is growing faster than last year, those of Asian and European countries are growing more slowly. Confident that our economy is both strong and stable, the Federal Reserve is moving interest rates back toward pre-Recession levels at a measured pace that isn’t rattling markets or weakening the dollar.
All this year, Americans have been responding with enthusiasm the success stories unleashed by tax cuts. Polls have shown most respondents like our economic strength and our economic direction, support the administration’s handling of the economy, and say it’s a good time to find a good job.
In November, we’ll be heading once again to the polls. It’s an important election—not just to give a vote of confidence to the lawmakers who delivered for us in such a big way with tax cuts, but to ensure that, going forward, we continue to build on those successes. Americans deserve nothing less.
Jim Burgess
Ohio Republican Central Committee
