Saturday, September 3, 2011

My Advice to the President

Dear President Obama:



Your decision to request that the EPA suspend its new regulations on ozone that could have easily cost another one million jobs is a good one. Build on it. In your speech on the 8th of September, make the ozone regulation suspension the start of something big.



Announce that you are now suspending all new regulations that are the result of Dodd-Frank, Obamacare, the 2009 Credit Card reform act, new NLRB rules such as the Boeing-South Carolina fiasco. Further, you are suggesting that Congress impose limits on lawsuits against business when the businesses themselves are not at fault (but their employees might be). You are further going to request that Congress suspend minimum wage laws and family leave act provisions until unemployment sinks below six percent. Finally, you are going to ask Congress to exempt all companies with less than $ 50 billion market capitalization from the absurd provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley.



It is okay to say that all of these onerous things will come back once the economy is healthy again, but, for now, we should be brushing them aside so that folks can go back to work.



Once unemployment is below six percent and economic growth is consistently above three percent, then you can go back to demonizing business and imposing roadblocks to growth and employment. You will still do a lot of damage with your policies, but the country would be in a better position to withstand your assault on capitalism at that point.



If you do this Mr. President, you will steal the thunder from Republicans, and virtually guarantee your re-election next year. But, more important by far, the US economy will have a chance to recover and American workers can once again go back to work.



Your Pal,



Ed Burton