Cleveland Plain Dealer...
Create jobs, grow the economy
By U.S. Senator Rob Portman
Tuesday, August 16, 2011 

The recent downgrade of the U.S. credit rating was unprecedented, but, sadly, not unexpected. It was the experts’ confirmation of what most Americans already understand: Government excess fueled by mounting debt is a threat to America’s economic vitality. 

On the same day as the downgrade, the government released a jobs report that showed the unemployment rate still hovering at a painful 9.1 percent. Twenty-six million Americans are unemployed or underemployed today -- too many people out of work, for far too long. 

These two reports -- one on our fiscal health, the other on joblessness -- are not unrelated. We can’t create the jobs needed against the drag of ever-increasing debt. Economists tell us that nations as heavily indebted as ours tend to experience 1 percent to 2 percent slower GDP growth, which translates to millions of lost jobs. 

By the same token, Washington’s fiscal hole is so deep that economic growth and job creation are needed, along with spending restraint, to help stem the tide of record debt. Fiscal discipline and job creation can and must go hand in hand. 

On spending cuts, the recent debt agreement was a step in the right direction, but did not go far enough to restore our fiscal health. More is needed, including structural reform of unsustainable entitlement programs. 

At the same time, we must press forward with common-sense, bipartisan ideas to spur job growth. Here are seven surefire job creators Congress could take up and pass this year: 

• First, with gas prices inching back up toward $4 a gallon and new federal rules threatening to drive up electricity costs, Washington should adopt an aggressive, pro-growth national energy policy, including getting away from our $250 billion-per-year addiction to foreign oil. 

It’s time to focus on energy production here at home, and we have lots of opportunities, including remarkable new discoveries of oil and natural gas in states like Ohio that could help create thousands of new jobs. 

The plan must also include energy efficiency and our own renewable sources of energy. Washington shouldn’t pick winners and losers, but we can remove the government barriers to energy exploration and production. 

• Let’s reform the tax code to make the United States more competitive. Americans now spend nearly 8 billion hours annually complying with a Byzantine tax code that discourages working, saving, investment and entrepreneurship. Eliminating tax preferences and lowering tax rates will enhance our competitiveness, free businesses to create more jobs and ensure a tax code that’s fair for everyone, not just those who can manipulate it. 

• Third, let’s provide regulatory relief by cutting needless red tape. Job creators small and large are increasingly burdened by expanding layers of Washington regulations. Let’s go beyond the rhetoric and enact common-sense cost-benefit analysis that separates the necessary regulations from those that kill jobs, and insist agencies use the least burdensome alternative. 

• With 95 percent of the world’s consumers living outside the United States, giving our workers, farmers and service providers fair access to those markets should be an urgent national priority. Let’s get serious about expanding exports and adding jobs, starting by approving the trade-opening agreements long negotiated with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, which would create an estimated 250,000 American jobs. 

• Fifth, let’s give workers the tools they need to be successful in the 21st century. America’s workers have traditionally been the most productive in the world, but we are falling behind. Congress can act immediately to help retrain today’s workers by revamping the $18 billion spent annually on federal training programs. Those already in the work force deserve better than the bureaucratic complexities of 44 different federal employment and training programs administered by nine different agencies. Let’s reform and modernize our job-training programs to connect directly to private-sector needs. 

• Americans deserve a health care system that provides access to quality, affordable health care. Many of us believe this requires repealing the new health care law, which will cost trillions and kill as many as 800,000 jobs. But in the meantime, let’s reduce health care costs and add jobs by expanding choices and putting consumers in charge, through expanding health savings accounts, allowing people to buy health insurance across state lines, reining in frivolous lawsuits and reducing regulatory barriers to medical innovation. 

• Finally, as noted above, let’s continue to reduce federal spending now and cap the growth of government. President Barack Obama was right when he said last month that dealing with our record debt and deficits would lead to greater certainty and job expansion. 

Each of these seven ideas will bolster business confidence, private investment and jobs. Each has bipartisan support. It’s past time for Washington to move aggressively to adopt these common-sense policies to get our economy back on track. 

Read it at the Cleveland Plain Dealer