Issue Position: Jobs

Issue Position

Politicians love to take credit for creating jobs, but never take responsibility for the job-killing big government policies that stifle American economic growth. The Innis Agenda for Jobs and the Economy will remove federal barriers to job creation, and allow American entrepreneurs to create the jobs we need.

Free market improvements to trade, transportation, and agriculture policy, as well as overdue regulatory and legal reforms will unleash the American economy. We build business one job at a time, and it's time for Congress to get out of the way so America can get back to work.

Approve the Keystone Pipeline
The Obama Administration has held up the final phase of the Keystone Pipeline for over five years, based on the false claim that blocking this popular project would somehow keep the oil from ever coming out of the ground. Now that the State Department has rejected this claim, it's past time for the White House to step aside and allow final construction of Keystone XL. This project will create thousands of jobs, and bring millions of gallons of affordable oil to the eastern United States.

Work Incentives
Restore the 40-Hour Work Week

ObamaCare defines part-time work as less than 30 hours per week, inaccurately redefining many part-time workers as full-time and mandating that employers provide benefits. This will force employers to cut hours for part-time workers even further. Congress should restore the 40-Hour standard for full-time employment.

Worker Training for Extended Unemployment

Federal Unemployment Insurance is paid for through premiums charged to employers, and lasts for 26 weeks. The extended Unemployment Benefits provided by Congress in recent years are not funded through insurance premiums, but by general tax dollars. Unemployed workers seeking an extension of Unemployment Benefits beyond six months should be required to improve their job skills through state or private worker training programs. Training will help workers to learn new skills and retool for a changing job market, which benefits the unemployed as well as America's companies.

Restore and Strengthen Welfare to Work

Since 1996, Welfare to Work has required at least half of able-bodied adults receiving federal welfare checks to be working or looking for work. This bipartisan reform, proposed by Congressional Republicans and championed as one of the signature accomplishments of the Clinton Administration, not only saved money for taxpayers but helped get welfare recipients on the job and off public assistance faster. In 2012, President Obama weakened Welfare to Work through Executive Order. Senator Mike Lee is leading an effort to restore and strengthen work requirements though the Welfare Reform and Upward Mobility Act. This legislation would require able-bodied adults receiving federal welfare checks to look for work, give states incentives to find savings within their federally-funded welfare programs, and improve federal reporting requirements on means-test welfare programs.

Trade Reform
Remove Protectionist Agricultural Tariffs

The recently approved Farm Bill shows that even the most wasteful federal programs can always get worse, increasing pork-barrel subsidies by nearly 50% from the last Farm Bill five years ago. In addition to the nearly trillion dollars in spending tucked into the Farm Bill are a series of agricultural trade barriers designed to protect U.S. farmers from competition. Removing these protectionist schemes will reduce the price of food for all Americans, and bring needed competition to the agricultural industry.

Repeal the Jones Act

The century-old law preventing foreign cargo vessels from stopping at consecutive U.S. ports is a relic of antiquated protectionist policies that did little to prevent the decline of the U.S. shipbuilding industry. Now, it serves no purpose but to prevent short-sea shipping along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf Coasts, driving up costs and forcing trucks onto our crowded highways. Repealing the Jones Act would open up America's coastal waterways to trade.

Repeal Davis-Bacon

Forcing government contractors to pay artificially high wages is a burden on taxpayers, and means that less work can get done for each dollar spent. On the books since 1931, the Davis-Bacon Act now adds billions to the cost of public works projects annually. Repealing Davis-Bacon would restore market competition to the construction industry, and stretch limited taxpayer resources farther.

Fast Track Trade Agreements

Misguided efforts to protect American businesses from competition ultimately end up harming American consumers by limiting choices and increasing prices. Bilateral Free Trade Agreements are useful to remove trade restrictions. Agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership will open up markets for U.S. exports and provide more choices and lower prices for American consumers.

Tort Reform
Reinstate Sanctions for Frivolous Lawsuits

Frivolous lawsuits not only cost American businesses, they clog courtrooms and prevent people with real claims from getting a timely day in court. In 1993, Congress significantly weakened sanctions against junk lawsuits by allowing unscrupulous lawyers to easily avoid penalties. By removing this loophole, and forcing lawyers to bear the costs of groundless litigation, we can clear the docket for cases that deserve to be heard and put nuisance lawyers out of business.

Coupon Settlement Reform

Class action attorneys also abuse the legal system by extorting huge fees while delivering little or nothing to those they are supposedly representing. Plaintiffs in a class action may receive negligible refunds or coupons good only towards a future purchase, while the attorneys pocket millions. Federal courts need broader authority to reject bogus coupon settlements and sanction lawyers who use them to victimize plaintiffs a second time.

Loser Pays for "Sue and Settle" Lawsuits

Environmental organizations have increasingly turned to the Federal Register to stall legitimate public projects, such as expansion of I-93. They file endless lawsuits based on specious violations of arcane administrative rules, often forcing state and local governments to accept costly conditions just to stop this legal harassment. Making these extreme groups pay the cost of their groundless lawsuits would force more responsible behavior, and allow beneficial projects to be completed faster and cheaper.

Transportation Infrastructure Reform
Transportation Trust Fund

The U.S. Interstate Highway System was vital to America's economic explosion over the last century, and continues to be an important economic resource. But the Highway Trust Fund is now underwater as Congress played favorites with project funding and diverted billions. It has also unfairly subsidized automobile travel at the expense of other modes of transportation. Congress should not be deciding how Americans travel. We must establish a Transportation Trust Fund that supports all forms of transportation. We must also insist on accountability, so that increased investment in our transportation infrastructure isn't wasted like the "shovel ready" projects of the recent Stimulus Package.

Prioritize Repair and Maintenance

In addition to construction, federal highway aid should assist states in repairing and maintaining existing highways, saving billions in long-term reconstruction costs.

Auction Runway Slots to Fund Air Traffic Control Upgrades

One of the most persistent forms of corporate welfare is the antiquated practice of handing out prime take-off and landing times at busy airports to legacy airlines. Auctioning of these valuable runway slots will not only inject much needed competition in the dormant airline industry, but generate billions of dollars to fund an overdue upgrade of our nation's air traffic control system.

Monetary Restraint

Over the past 100 years, the Federal Reserve has served as a lender of last resort to the nation's banking system. Over that century, it has also taken on a larger role in attempting to regulate the business cycle, with quite underwhelming results. Congress should reign in the Fed's misguided attempts to plan the nation's economy. And we should provide transparency for this important public institution with a long-overdue audit.

Strengthen Oversight of Federal Rulemaking
The Obama Administration has abused both Executive Orders and federal rulemaking to pass job-killing policies that it failed to get through Congress. Much like New Hampshire's Administrative Rules Process, Congress should have 60 days to block federal rules that are contrary to federal law.

Retirement Security
The unfunded liabilities facing the Social Security Administration don't just threaten the federal budget, and our nation's long-term fiscal stability. They also threaten the retirement of millions of Americans who are counting on Congress to keep its promises. Congress should provide accountability to the Social Security Disabilities system, which has seen costs skyrocket as people make unverified medical claims. It should also allow workers to own their Social Security Retirement benefits, safe from political meddling, in a secure account that could be invested much like a 401(k) plan.

Our nation's economy is too large and complex for any group to manage, no matter how wise or well-meaning. Let alone Congress. Reducing trade barriers and unnecessary regulatory obstacles, and instituting free market programs and reforms will help unleash the power of America's economy. The Innis Agenda for Jobs and Economy also includes the pro-growth policies of the Innis Agendas for Health Care and for Balancing the Budget, and the Innis Agendas for Education and Energy, coming later this year.

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