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November 5,
2004 2005
To Bring New Reforms By
Congressman Joe Pitts The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
reported this week that our economy added 337,000 jobs last month.
Altogether, more than 2.2 million jobs have been created since
August 2003. It
is clear that by the barometers we use to measure economic strength the
economy is growing and becoming stronger every quarter. I agree with President
Bush, however, that our work has only just begun.
In his first press conference following the election, the President
cited fiscal and economic issues among our top priorities heading into
2005. It is important to keep
in mind that government does not create jobs.
However excess regulation and taxation can destroy jobs and force
businesses to close. So, our
aim in Congress was to work with the President to make That is why Congress
will work to make the tax relief permanent.
Because of an arcane Senate rule, we had to allow the tax cuts to
expire in ten years. If we do
not act tax rates will snapback to their previous levels.
This specter of automatic tax hikes hinders the ability to plan for
the future. In addition, our tax
code has become so burdensome that it actually harms our economy
regardless of where the tax rates are actually set.
The resources it takes to fill out forms and comply with this
quagmire of regulations siphons billions out of our economy every year.
There’s just no way around it: our tax code is a mess.
The vast network of
loopholes and special handouts enable the wealthy and large corporations
to evade paying taxes. In
fact, there is a multi-billion industry centered around evading taxes by
capitalizing on loopholes. That
needs to change. Over the
years, leaders in both parties have recommended changes to the tax code
and there ways to accomplish fundamental reform.
By doing so our intent is to make the tax code flatter, fairer, and
simpler. Secondly, we need to
strengthen Social Security. Unless
the system is strengthened, this country will one day awaken to a stark
choice: either a drastic rise in payroll taxes, or a radical cut in
retirement benefits. Either
option is unacceptable, which is why something must happen.
Social Security is a solemn promise from the The problem is Social
Security has remained relatively unchanged since its inception in 1935.
Once the baby boomer generation begins to retire, fewer workers
will be paying into the system and more retirees will be receiving
benefits. This will cause the
trust funds to be depleted, and eventually force the program into
bankruptcy. It is important
that we improve the way Social Security funds are managed.
Congress and the
President need to make some fundamental decisions in the coming years
about Social Security. Before
new proposals are considered, the federal government must ensure the
benefits and cost of living adjustments (COLAs) for current retirees are
not imperiled. While
preserving Social Security for those at and near retirement, I also
believe we should begin to seriously investigate long-term, structural
reforms to Social Security so that this important program will be around
for generations to come. It
is possible to design a safe system of voluntary, personal investment
accounts that will allow individual workers the option of investing a
portion of their current payroll taxes in accounts they own.
These accounts would be available for younger workers and would
grow over time, and upon retirement, provide future retirees greater
benefits than Social Security currently provides.
These two issues will
form a large part of our agenda in #
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