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Our Founder Steve Foley, who’s running for congress in California’s 47th District, on Jobs:

Recent statistics make it crystal clear why growing private sector jobs and opportunity must be at the top of my priority list in Washington.

At 10.9 percent, California was second in the nation for unemployment in January 2012. Add in the underemployed and those who have stopped looking for a job, and the figure spikes to an abysmal 20 percent.

National figures are still poor, as well. In February, the official unemployment rate stood at 8.3 percent–14.9 percent with discouraged job seekers and the underemployed figured in.

Growing jobs involves creating an environment in which opportunity can thrive. Such an environment has several components, all of which must be addressed.

BOLD SOLUTION A: Strip away Overregulation of Business and Industry

The financial costs of regulatory compliance currently stymie both the establishment of new businesses and the expansion of existing ones.

Small business has created approximately two-thirds of all U.S. jobs in the past 15 years. However, in a February Gallup poll, 46 percent of small businesses surveyed cited concerns about new government regulations among the reasons they are not presently hiring. In addition, overregulation has contributed to an exodus of large businesses and industries from American shores. When those companies leave, American jobs go with them.

Our Founders wisely established limits on government, knowing that too much of it would hinder freedom–including the freedom to start a business, grow it, and create good jobs. Peeling back layers of burdensome and unnecessary federal regulation will help to release government’s current chokehold on job creators, stimulating real opportunity in the form of solid, private sector jobs.

BOLD SOLUTION B: Reform the Federal Tax Code and Corporate Tax Rates

Simplifying our labyrinthine tax code and structure would greatly benefit the job market in California and the U.S. In addition, we must lower corporate tax rates. In fact, the U.S. currently has the second highest corporate tax code among all developed countries. Making these crucial changes would help to stop the flight of American business overseas and the loss private sector jobs.

Visit my page on Tax Policy to learn more about the 9-9-9 tax reform plan I support.

BOLD SOLUTION C: Debt Reduction

If any business conducted its finances the way our federal government does it would collapse. Yet government spending continues, and with it the demand that business prop up this crazy spending and debt with ever more taxes and fees.

This cycle traps businesses, forcing them to walk an increasingly fine line between keeping production and service levels high enough to meet demand while maintaining affordable consumer prices. As the balancing act becomes more difficult, jobs are inevitably sacrificed. Addressing the national debt in a serious way will relieve this negative trend.

Visit my Bold Solutions page on the Economy to learn more.

BOLD SOLUTION D: Revamp Energy Policy

Backwards U.S. Energy policy is currently driving up the price of nearly everything…and costing jobs. The more expensive it becomes for business and industry to operate, the more our job market will suffer.

Moving energy policy in a better direction would not only lower costs; it would also create valuable private sector jobs in the energy production field

Visit my Bold Solutions page on Energy policy to learn more.

BOLD SOLUTION E: Reform Patent Law and the FDA Approval Process

PATENT LAW REFORM

Depending on licensing arrangements, an invention can actually generate jobs through multiple producers. Unfortunately, inventors and the companies that produce inventions often struggle under current patent law. Legal claims against a new invention–or fear of potential claims–often tie up tremendous time and resources that would otherwise facilitate a speedier path to production and job creation.

An Independent Inventor Defense–such as that proposed by Stephen Kinsella or Alexander Tabarrok–may be one helpful means of ensuring that more resources are invested in producing solid inventions and creating real jobs than on paying patent lawyers.

FDA APPROVAL REFORM

Reforming an overly bureaucratic FDA approval process would similarly benefit job creation.

We all want to know the products used to treat us are safe. However, copious research now reveals that the FDA has become more costly and obstructionist than valuable and effective in the approval of new drugs and medical devices. Valuable time and resources are being wastefully absorbed in political complexities and bureaucratic delays . With responsible FDA reform, these resources could be better directed into actual product manufacture and job growth.

Economists Daniel Klein and Alexander Tabarrok–both fellows of the Independent Institute and faculty members at George Mason University–have proposed a number of highly informed FDA reforms. These reforms would potentially eliminate much or all of the red tape that currently delays effective treatment for people in need, as well as provide a means for the FDA to restore its rather compromised credibility. The reforms would have the additional benefit of yielding good jobs faster.