The Economy and Job Creation

By Paul L. Hackett

Paul's plan to boost the economy and create jobs in the 2nd District

Giving a boost to small businesses is denounced as "big government." But when a huge oil company receives a taxpayer subsidy, it's hailed as "good government" and "growing the economy." That's Un-American. That's wrong.

I'm a small-business owner. I have five employees. When Hackett Law Offices has a bad month, we don't fire half the staff and then get a handout from the government for doing it.

Yet that's exactly what's happening with American corporations. The government is offering financial incentives to corporations for outsourcing our jobs overseas.

Those are our tax dollars. They should benefit us, the American taxpayers. They shouldn't be funneled to some large corporation with an American name and an offshore bank account that is relocating thousands of jobs a hemisphere away.

Outsourcing our country's intellectual and technological wealth not only puts our economy at risk, but also our national security. An example of this dangerous practice is the partnership the United States has with Egypt to build M1A1 battle tanks. It's bad for jobs. It's bad for national security. It's bad for the economy.

What's more, government funding for scientific research is declining for the first time in years. So while big business is enjoying bigger and bigger tax breaks, we're stunting the growth of American innovation. That's also bad government, and bad leadership.

It's time to re-examine our priorities and remember just what it is that makes America great.