Americans for Tax Reform/Grover Norquist Support Lugar Small Business Legislation
On November 17, 2011, Senator Lugar received support from Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform, for introducing legislation (S. 1873) this week that would provide economic incentives for businesses to invest and create jobs.
As a fiscal conservative, Lugar continues to boast a voting record that is recognized for prudent management of taxpayer funds – returning more than $5.2 million in unspent office funds. He has repeatedly received the nonpartisan “Watchdog of the Treasury” award against fighting wasteful spending and also the “Guardian of Small Business” award from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), in addition to the Citizens Against Government Waste Taxpayer Hero award.
Lugar Introduces Legislation to Assist Small Business Growth
On November 15, 2011, Senator Lugar introduced legislation today that would extend for another year the bonus depreciation and small business expense deductions.
“Together, bonus depreciation and increased small business expensing provisions have given small businesses accelerated tax savings during uncertain times in our economy,” Lugar said. “These extensions will benefit Hoosier businesses by providing certainty and stability as they look to invest in purchasing business equipment, creating jobs and growing their companies.”
Lugar Backs Jobs Plan that Works
U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar was among Senators introducing a jobs plan focused on creating jobs through real tax reform, controlling federal spending and regulation, promoting domestic sources of energy, and promoting exports of American products. The bill was introduced by Sens. John McCain, Rob Portman and Rand Paul. Read the bill summary.
“This is a plan that would work. It unleashes the private sector to create jobs and flourish. The elements of this plan should be on the Senate agenda instead of the failed policies of more regulation, more taxes and more federal spending that the Senate rejected on Tuesday,” Lugar said.
The Republican bill includes many elements that Lugar has long championed, including:
-Tax Reform
-Increasing exports
-Repeal of ObamaCare
-Repeal of financial takeover
-Malpractice and tort reform
-Rolling back and repealing regulatory overreach
-Increasing domestic energy production
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Free Trade Agreement Passage will Boost U.S. Income and Jobs, Lugar says
On October 12, 2011, Senator Dick Lugar praised the final passage in the Senate and House of Representatives on Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.
“I strongly applaud the passage of these three trade agreements which will have an important economic impact on Indiana,” Lugar said. “Successful economic growth must take place in the private sector. A constructive role that government can play is by encouraging trade and providing market access for American goods where there is demand.”
The U.S. International Trade Commission believes the agreements will increase U.S. exports by $13 billion annually, supporting tens of thousands of American jobs.
“In the time the Administration has dithered on passing the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA), U.S. exports to Colombia have faced well over a billion dollars in dutiesjust to enter the Colombian market. That means that every single day, about $2 million dollars in taxes are placed on a variety of U.S. exports sent to the Colombian market, effectively undermining the competitiveness of American products. Upon passage of this TPA, more than 80 percent of U.S. manufacturing and agriculture exports would immediately enter Colombia duty-free. Remaining duties would be eliminated over a ten-year period. U.S. gross domestic product would increase roughly $2.5 billion,” Lugar said. Read the full release.
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Newspapers Across America Support Trade Agreements
Courtesy of Business Roundtable
Lugar: Failure to Ratify Trade Agreements Costing Jobs
On February 8, 2011, Senator Lugar announced that “Americans, and especially Hoosiers, are already losing jobs due to the drop in exports to Colombia and Panama because the Obama Administration is not pushing hard enough for renewed free trade agreements with those South American countries.”
“Because of uncertainty over the future of these trade pacts, Indiana has already seen its exports to Panama drop 14 percent, and fall 12 percent with Colombia,” Senator Lugar said.
According to the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, Indiana exports to Colombia totaled $83,526,403, and $35,096,624 to Panama in 2010. The leading Indiana exports to Colombia were chemicals at $24 million and machinery at $15 million. The leading exports to Panama were chemicals at $22 million, food at $2.7 million and computer products at $2.6 million.
Senator Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released a report on the need to ratify long-pending free trade agreements (FTAs) with Colombia and Panama. The report, “Losing Jobs and Alienating Friends: The Consequences of Falling Behind on Free Trade with Colombia and Panama,” is accessible at http://lugar.senate.gov/issues/foreign/lac/.
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The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the federal budget deficit was about $1.4 trillion in fiscal year 2009 and $1.3 trillion in 2010.
The cumulative effect of this amount of debt raises questions as to how the federal government will be able to borrow enough money to meet these levels. At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, noted economist Lawrence Lindsey testified that to raise these funds the federal government could: (1) borrow the money domestically, which if relied on solely would leave no other funds available for the rest of the economy; (2) borrow the money internationally, which would be roughly equivalent to China’s entire GDP over the same period; or (3), the federal government could push a button and literally “print” or create this money. Lindsey, as well as others testifying warned that the result of massive money creation and borrowing would be vast inflation. Like during the economic hardships of the late 1970s and early 1980s, high inflation would drive up the costs of mortgages, student loans, and the general cost of borrowing to Hoosier families.
Because of the current global economic environment and our perceived economic stability, foreign investors and governments are currently willing to lend money to the United States; however, it remains unclear how long these conditions will remain. The government of China has already begun to publicly question the wisdom of its large holdings of U.S. debt. Furthermore, relying on these foreign investors and governments to continually purchase vast amounts of our debt has significant foreign policy ramifications. It reduces our ability to negotiate on stronger ground and requires our country to make concessions on matters of significant importance, including trade and human rights.
Chart Detailing President Obama's Proposed 2011 Increase in Spending
Repeal the Health Care Reform Law:
Senator Lugar has repeatedly denounced the Health Care Reform Law and in January 2011 cosponsored a bill authored by Senator DeMint to repeal the law.
Senator Lugar Statement's on Economic Security: