Issue Position: Economy

Issue Position

Fundamental tax reform is long overdue. As the debate in Congress rages on and Democrats make false accusations about Republican ideas, we must stick to free-market principles. We must lower the corporate rate while also removing unnecessary special-interest deductions. We have to give corporations the incentives to repatriate their profits so we can grow our tax base, and encourage investments in THIS country. Corporations are not evil, they create jobs, employ Americans, and grow our economy. We must simplify the individual income tax, and remove deductions that distort our economy and reduce revenue unnecessarily. We must stand for pro-growth policies, because we cannot lift the poor out of poverty or raise middle class wages without a strong and growing economy. This is common sense economics, and we must show leadership to make it happen.

We must embrace free trade, and seek to give our businesses advantages by reducing regulatory burdens and lowering corporate tax rates. Small businesses are the primary driver of growth in this country and we need to ensure their success. It should be easy for entrepreneurs to start up their business and contribute to our strong economy. We have to protect the business owners that cannot afford to pay teams of lawyers to comply with tax law and regulations.

Social Security is on its way to complete collapse, and no one is talking about it. The CBO projects the Social Security OASDI trust fund to become insolvent by 2029. Without more revenue, benefits will be cut by approximately 29% in 2029. Until recently, the trust fund balance was growing steadily. But as the population continues aging and the ratio of workers to retirees decreases, the trust fund will eventually be depleted. It is vital to implement a solution that does not unexpectedly cut seniors' benefits, but also does not place an unnecessary tax burden on today's workers.

We must gradually transition to a mixed pay-as-you-go and investment-based system. Current workers will contribute an additional percentage of their taxable income into a personal retirement account (PRA) invested in a limited number of approved investment funds, which offer higher growth. These contributions should be small enough so as not to invite unnecessary risk, but large enough so that future retirement benefits can be maintained without greatly increasing the payroll tax.

Our national debt has doubled in the past ten years. We cannot keep borrowing from our children. We can't just cut discretionary spending, we have to attack the hard stuff: mandatory spending to include Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. If our debt continues to increase, we face increased interest rates that will reduce investment and become a drag on economic growth. We will be less flexible if we need to inject a trillion tax dollars into the economy, as we did during the financial crisis of 2008. Our credit will eventually suffer, and foreign investors will be less likely to buy up our debt, causing the U.S. dollar to collapse. It's time we started making common sense decisions about spending before it is too late.

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