Arlington, Va. – Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce is announcing the launch of the new Plan For Economic Growth, a roadmap for individuals and organizations devoted to fiscal responsibility and a smaller, more effective government.With a clear mandate to fix Washington, the new Congress has an opportunity to take important steps toward improving the lives of hardworking Americans. The Plan For Economic Growth focuses on specific and realistic policy solutions — grounded in free-market principles — with the goal of improving the lives of all Americans and putting our nation on the path to economic resurgence.
“The first six years of the Obama administration have been defined by massive debt, broken promises, harmful regulations and an increasingly incompetent federal government,” said Freedom Partners spokesman James Davis. “The Plan For Economic Growth is about providing a positive path forward for the economy and showing how free-market policies can improve the lives of millions of Americans.”
Despite gains in other parts of the economy, stagnant wages have kept low- and middle-income Americans stuck in an economic rut. According to the Census Bureau, household income has fallen by $2,500 since 2008. This is a clear indication that this administration’s government-centric agenda is failing to deliver the promised recovery to most Americans. The new Congress should take a different approach by sending President Obama smart, sensible reforms that will help spur a true recovery that Americans can feel.
“The solutions laid out here will streamline the way our government operates, making it more efficient, more effective and more accountable to the American people,” said Freedom Partners Senior Policy Advisor Andy Koenig. “Curbing excessive regulations, fixing our broken tax code, repairing ineffective government programs and restoring fiscal responsibility are all common sense measures Washington should take.”
The agenda, which is available online at PlanForEconomicGrowth.org, is rooted in the belief that free-market policies are the real key to unleashing economic growth, prosperity and individual well-being. Free markets and free societies do far more to create opportunity and prosperity than the top-down, one-size-fits-all policies of the last six years.
CLICK HERE TO EXPLORE THE PLAN FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH
Below are the three key pillars of the agenda and the policy proposals that will spur the recovery:
REFORM EXCESSIVE REGULATIONS & THE BROKEN TAX CODE
Dismantle Obamacare regulations and mandates while supporting free-market health care solutions.
Create a strong regulatory review process and stop any pending regulations that destroy jobs.
Remove barriers to energy exploration and production.
Make corporate tax rates competitive to keep good-paying jobs here in the U.S.
Allow businesses to bring foreign earnings back into our economy.
Reduce individual tax rates so families can invest where they live, and not in Washington.
Simplify taxes and allow families to keep hard-earned money.
REPAIR INEFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS
Empower families and local communities with more control and more choice of K-12 education.
Expand higher education opportunities by expanding accreditation and ending the federal assault on private sector colleges.
Modernize welfare programs to reduce dependence and encourage—not punish—work.
Transfer greater authority over federal highway and transit programs to states.
Ease the approval of trade agreements that create jobs in the U.S.
RESTORE A FISCALLY ACCOUNTABLE GOVERNMENT
Establish Congressional rules that require balanced budgets without tax increases, fair accounting and dynamic scoring.
Maintain overall spending levels that adhere to the caps already in law.
Stop using taxpayer money to give an unfair competitive advantage to well-connected businesses.
End overpayments, fraud and waste in entitlement programs that face imminent insolvency.
Stop using taxpayer money to prop up big banks.
Tie any debt limit increase to spending cuts and do so right away to avoid potential crisis.
This plan outlines positive and practical solutions that lawmakers can support this year. This list is not a description of all we seek to accomplish but rather simple first steps and reforms to build upon in years to come.
As the new Congress begins its work, policymakers should use the Plan For Economic Growth as a guide to fixing Washington and making it work for everyone. The site will also be updated with fresh content and new perspectives from policy experts on major legislative issues as they move through Congress.