Letter to President Obama - No Cost Stimulus

Letter

Vitter Leads 52 Members of Congress in Signing No Cost Stimulus Letter to Obama

U.S. Sen. David Vitter today led a group of 52 members of Congress in signing a letter to President Obama urging the president to consider the No Cost Stimulus Act as a job-creating alternative to deficit spending and further government intrusion in the private sector.

The signers include 16 senators and 36 members of the House of Representatives. The text of the letter is below:

February 4, 2010

The Honorable Barack Obama
President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Obama:

Over the next year many difficult decisions will be necessary to stimulate our staggering economy while at the same time attempting to control our skyrocketing deficit. Unemployment now stands at 10 percent, and if you include underemployed or those that have simply given up looking for work, the number is above 17 percent.

Throughout your presidency you have continually stated that you want to work across the aisle to bring all ideas to the table. With that in mind, we would like to take the opportunity to accept your offer of openness to all ideas.

We would like to make you aware that on March 11, 2009 a number of House and Senate members introduced the No Cost Stimulus Act of 2009. This legislation was introduced with a strong endorsement from the Alliance for Worker Freedom, Americans for Tax Reform, National Association of Manufacturers, National Black Chamber of Commerce, National Taxpayers Union, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

As private sector payrolls continue to shrink, it is important to recognize the difference between taxpayer funded jobs in government and deficit spending on temporary employment, versus wealth generation which creates long-term private industry jobs. For private industry to create jobs and generate wealth (and thus more tax revenue without raising taxes) the people and businesses of this country need more than access to raw materials, labor, and markets for the material goods produced.

Private industry and the people of this country must also have a regulatory environment whereby they are given access to the resources of this country as well as agency policies that do not stifle business or cripple domestic industry attempting to compete on a world stage. Massive influxes of capital and government spending have not, and will not, replace the importance of wealth generation for the economic wellbeing of our country.

The current regulatory regime being pushed by the Department of Interior, Department of Energy, and Environmental Protection Agency are antithetical to the creation of private sector jobs. Limiting American's access to domestic resources, whether it is cutting off water to farmers in California, limiting access to federal lands in Utah and Wyoming, or preventing access to energy in West Virginia and the Gulf of Mexico, is no more helpful than massive new regulatory expansion of government mandates on the private sector.

The current policy coming out of the aforementioned agencies is destructive to private businesses' ability to generate wealth and for the private sector to create jobs. Attached to this letter is economic analysis supporting our legislation.

The No Cost Stimulus Act was designed to limit agency bureaucracy, provide access for U.S. citizens to U.S. resources, and to prevent the continued backslide of our energy policy. The act will also streamline review processes that are preventing millions of new jobs from being created.

As Congress considers additional legislation to help the economy grow and to create American jobs, your consideration of this legislation in developing job creating strategies, and the attached document is much appreciated.

Regards,

Senate:

David Vitter John Barrasso
Mike Crapo Jim Inhofe
John Ensign Thad Cochran
Tom Coburn Kit Bond
Kay Bailey Hutchison Mike Enzi
Jeff Sessions Jim Risch
Sam Brownback John Cornyn
Jim Bunning Jim DeMint

House:

Rob Bishop Kevin Brady
Steve King Todd Akin
Michael Burgess Tom Price
Bill Posey John Fleming
Doug Lamborn Phil Gingrey
Kenny Marchant Trent Franks
Jean Schmidt Dan Burton
David Roe Louis Gohmert
John Shadegg Cynthia Lummis
Jason Chaffetz Kevin McCarthy
Dana Rohrabacher Mike Simpson
George Radanovich Don Young
Wally Herger Devin Nunes
Paul Broun Michael Conaway
Charles Boustany John Sullivan
Joseph Pitts Sue Myrick
Bill Cassidy Marsha Blackburn
Henry Brown Steve Scalise

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