Two-Year Tax, Regulation Moratorium Can Jumpstart Economy

By Mike Rogers

Americans are understandably sick and tired of partisan gridlock in Washington, D.C.

They want real solutions that will allow the private sector to create real jobs, while finally reigning in Washington's out-of-control spending.

I am proposing a common-sense solution that costs nothing but puts the certainty back in the economy that job creators tell us is so desperately needed.

It could unleash $2 trillion in private sector dollars and wouldn't cost the taxpayers one penny.

This week, I will introduce a one-page bill to prohibit any new taxes or new regulations on America's employers for two years — including the massive new health care mandate coming down the pike.

Job creators tell us there is roughly $2 trillion in private money currently sitting on the sidelines waiting to be invested here in America. The money is not being put to use because employers don't know how much their taxes or regulatory costs will be next year.

Politicians in Washington, D.C., have been threatening higher taxes and more unnecessary regulations at every turn. A business right here in southeast Michigan may want to hire your out-of-work neighbor, but they simply don't know how much that employee will cost in taxes or government mandates next year, or the year after.

With a one-page bill, we can change that.

Other common-sense, bipartisan solutions for which I will continue to advocate include environmentally responsible American energy production that would create at least 1 million jobs and keep billions of dollars on our shores; cracking down on China's currency manipulation, which would create more than 2 million American jobs; and stopping China's cyber theft of American intellectual property, which could save up to $250 billion each year.

To allow the private sector to have access to the capital it needs to grow and create jobs, we must also stop the record Washington borrowing and spending of the past few years. I will continue to advance a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the cut, cap and balance plan, which would cut current federal spending, cap future spending and finally balance the budget.

Continuing to steal from the future opportunity of our children and grandchildren by record deficits and debt cannot be an option.

To help you keep track of this plan, I have launched a Jobs Tracker on my website at mikerogers.house.gov, where you can track the status of these jobs bills.

America has the greatest middle class on the face of the Earth, and it is worth defending. Now more than ever would be a terrible time to introduce new taxes or regulatory burdens that will threaten middle-class jobs or see them shipped to foreign countries that are hungry to steal our way of life.

These are simple, but real, solutions to create jobs at home.

Let's turn down the volume of bickering and get to work.

Editor's note: U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers represents Michigan’s 8th Congressional District, which includes the Brighton and Hartland areas. This opinion column was originally published in The Detroit News on Friday and re-released to the media Monday. You can follow Rogers on Twitter at @RepMikeRogers or on Facebook.