Blog Archives
Virginia is better than Maryland…just in case, you didn't know
For the full disclosure, I was born and raised in Maryland. In fact, there are times I miss the place due to family and friends. However, in terms of the taxes and excessive regulations brought on by years of Democratic leadership, I am glad to be a Virginian.
Recently, The Washington Times had an editorial, which cited a recent American Legislative Exchange Council study that shows Virginia ranking as one of top ten states in terms of economic outlook. Maryland ranked 21st in terms of economic outlook.
Maryland is a very expensive state to live in, as property and income tax rates are higher than some of the surrounding areas. However, Virginia has been placing more focus on bringing business into the state, thus boosting the economy. Recently, CNBC ranked Virginia as the top state for business, and the state government has been placing focus on providing more tax incentives for companies looking to relocate to the Commonwealth. Maryland was ranked 29th, as the cost of living and cost of business were higher in the rankings.
Will this news serve as a wake-up call for Maryland? Probably not. It will not change until new leadership takes over the state government.
Bill Bolling: Chief Job Creation Officer
Recently, the Roanoke Times had an article focusing on Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling and his role as Chief Job Creation Officer. The McDonnell Administration is focused on making Virginia a better place to do business, as their focus has been on economic development. Bolling has done an exemplary job in his role. As the Roanoke Times highlighted in their article, Bolling saved one of the NASCAR races from being moved to Kansas City.
Bolling’s star continues to shine through his role as Chief Job Creation Officer, as well as his overall service.
Hope and Change Waning among Young Voters
During the 2008 election cycle, there was great momentum among young voters 18-30 towards Barack Obama’s candidacy for President. You had celebrities touting his candidacy and YouTube videos dedicated in Obama‘s honor. A few months ago, I had written a post on Bearing Drift chronicling the growing dissatisfaction among young voters with President Obama, according to a Pew Research Study, and another recently released study is confirming the continued dissatisfaction.
Recently, Quinnipiac University released a poll showing Obama losing to a Republican challenger by 37-34 percent. With unemployment numbers being at an all-time high and many of these young voters out of work, this is not surprising. Many young voters who supported Obama are becoming impatient, as he failed to fulfill his campaign promises of creating new jobs. The stimulus legislation has failed to yield new employment opportunities, and now, many young voters are realizing that they will be paying for the excessive debt left behind by this administration (and the previous administration).
Does this bode well for the GOP in embracing young voters? There is always a possibility, but it remains to be seen who can attract the voters by utilizing common sense, conservative principles in 2012. Right now, the GOP needs to field a candidate, who is fiscally conservative and will lead the country by following the Constitution. This candidate needs to be concerned with addressing and curbing government spending, while providing businesses with tax incentives to keep jobs in America. However, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done in terms of reforming the party structure between now and 2012.
Talk about Embarrassing…
Terry McAuliffe is back! This time he is focused on attacking Bob McDonnell for not bringing jobs to the Commonwealth. In an interview with reporters, McAuliffe said that McDonnell was making it harder for the Old Dominion to attract jobs. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, McAuliffe said:
“McAuliffe says the new governor, who just marked his 100th day in office, isn’t making it any easier to attract new jobs to the state by getting bogged down in controversies over his Confederate heritage proclamation and resisting legal anti-bias protections for gay Virginians.”
Isn’t it ironic considering that Northrop Grumman is relocating to Virginia? Governor McDonnell worked hard for this deal and has fulfilled one of his campaign promises of bringing more jobs to the Commonwealth. This all happened during the first 101 days in office. There will be 110 new jobs created from this move.
McAuliffe is busy playing politics (supposedly, he wants to run for Governor again) and ignores the positive job growth occurring here in Virginia.
Real Solutions to Restore Confidence in Our Economy
Guest Post by Congressman Bob Goodlatte
Earlier this week President Obama delivered his first official State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. The President articulated to the American people in very frank terms, what most Americans know all too well – economic uncertainty continues to plague our nation. In this tough economic climate, Americans are looking to the government for leadership.
President Obama laid out his domestic agenda for economic growth and job creation. While I particularly welcomed the President’s call for fiscal discipline, I am greatly concerned that the Democrat controlled Congress continues to pursue a job-killing, tax-and-spend agenda.
A year ago, the Congress passed the so-called “economic stimulus” legislation which was supposed to put Americans back to work. However, as recent reports have shown this legislation has been a failure. 2.74 million more jobs have been lost since last March. Not only did the stimulus legislation fail to create jobs but it is now estimated to be costing American taxpayers around $1.2 trillion including interest.
Just last month the President signed into law an omnibus spending bill which included a twelve percent increase in spending. It is these reckless policies that have cost us nearly three million jobs and caused our national debt to explode in the last year. In fact, according to the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget, our national debt will grow an additional $9 trillion over the next decade to more than $20 trillion.
As a member of the House Republican Economic Recovery Solutions Group, I am working to find real solutions to address our nation’s unemployment crisis and restore confidence in our economy. The first thing we must do is restrain federal spending. That is why I have introduced bipartisan legislation which amends the United States Constitution to force Congress to rein in spending by balancing the federal budget. This legislation ensures that the federal government is held accountable and that the money our citizens work so hard to earn is not squandered on wasteful spending and programs.
Secondly, we must remove barriers to employment including the threat of higher taxes, new government regulations and costly mandates. It is common-sense that you should not raise costs and taxes on employers at a time when unemployment is at record levels.
Our economy continues to face historic and unprecedented challenges. Meeting these challenges with unprecedented spending of taxpayers’ dollars is simply not the answer to this current crisis. I remain committed to working with the President and Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to focus on real solutions that will create American jobs and restore confidence in our economic future. To contact me about this or any other matter, please visit my website at www.goodlatte.house.gov.
