Economic Development

Economic Development is quickly becoming the key issue in the 2008 election. Our group believes that this year’s candidates have been so consumed with the Iraq War and a few other minor issues that all of them have taken their eye off the ball and missed the most important issue on the minds of all Americans. If we can all remember back just a few years ago to the Clinton administration one of the most effective statements that came forward during the 1996 election was “It’s the economy, stupid!” In 2008 this statement still holds true. Anyone that has not recently heard all of the doom and despair occurring in the sub-prime mortgage lending market, the housing market collapse, slowing construction, the rise of oil and gas prices, tightening credit markets, and the free fall of the U.S. dollar, must have been living on another planet. The average American family has been or will be affected by all of these serious economic problems now or in the near future. The need to elect a strong economic based President in the 2008 election cycle is more important than ever before. We believe that a few of the 2008 candidates are much better suited to drive economic development than others. In this article we will discuss some of the differences in the candidate’s economic policies and explain why a few of the candidates will allow for a healthier business environment and better economic development.

The definition of economic development usually includes raising the standard of living, expanding economic and social choice, and reducing economic fear. To be able to accomplish needed economic development we believe that there are certain policies a candidate must support and implement to accomplish this goal. Our list of these positive economic policies include 1) low taxes, 2) less government regulation, 3) fiscal responsibility in government, 4) market based health care, 5) and, job growth incentives for small business.

At first glance the one economic candidate that stands head and shoulders above the others is Mitt Romney. His personal education and business background is very sound. He has been very successful in business and has been the CEO of large corporations, the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee, and the State of Massachusetts. Beyond his personal success he understands what it takes for the small business owner to be successful. Mitt Romney has opposed tax increases of any kind. He is in favor of making President Bush’s tax cuts permanent. He opposes internet and service based sales taxes. Mike Huckabee has been in favor of internet and service based taxes and John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Barrack Obama, and John Edwards have all opposed President Bush’s tax cuts. On marketwatch.com there is an article titled “U.S. posts record high budget surplus in December”. According to this article tax revenue is at all time high but so is government spending. McCain, Clinton, Obama, and Edwards have all served in Congress and have become part of the spending problem and not the solution. Mitt has promised to bring his business principles to the White House and instill fiscal discipline in the Federal Government. He has shown he can do this in business and government settings. Fiscal responsibility would even bring about better economic conditions with additional tax cuts and incentives to grow the economy. Mitt has also brought Massachusetts a market based approach to health care. His plan may not be the perfect answer but it is far superior to a Federal Government health plan paid for by a substantial increase in our taxes. A thorough review of socialized government health systems around the world will help all Americans realize that we still have the best health care available anywhere. Clinton, Obama, and Edwards all favor a socialized government health care system. This type of health care system would be a very large entitlement program our country cannot afford. Rudy Giuliani endorses many of the same policies that Mitt Romney proposes but after our review of the candidates Mitt Romney has more business experience than Rudy and he personally has learned what it takes to raise his standard of living and we believe that he can bring this same increase in the standard of living to all Americans.