The recent release of the unemployment numbers indicate a very unsettling trend in our nations future for an economic recovery. In spite of the numbers showing a .2% decline in unemployment, the real disturbing numbers were the number of permanent jobs lost that are never to be recovered and the number of people who have simply given up on ever finding work.

There reasons for such miserable numbers recently cited by the L.A. Times include the following:

• Slump in retail sales and no plans for any expansion. Unemployed people simply can’t purchase things.
• Uncertainty on tax increases when the Bush tax cuts expire, increased government regulations on the financial sector, and uncertainty on energy costs as the Cap and Trade bill looms in Congress.
• Inability to obtain capital from previously available sources as well as uncertainty in the effect of the Financial Regulations being placed on our Banks and lenders.

Small business accounts for more than 70% of our workforce. In spite of incentives for new start up businesses, the growth rate among this group is near zero. Fewer and fewer people are willing to overcome the mountains of regulations, unwillingness to invest capital during uncertainty in the global economy, and uncertainty in taxation due to mounting government deficits. Add to the mix, the costs associated with the new Obamacare are directly impacting the bottom line of every small business and few are willing to venture into a new startup with requirements to provide healthcare benefits from day one, face the prospects of fines if they don’t, and have needed capital to overcome that 3 year window of uncertainty in which over 70% of the failures occur.

Let’s also add to the mix the increases in government jobs at every level of local, state, and Federal government. Those are additional taxes needed to pay the salaries and benefits of newly hired government employees. At the time when government deficits on every level are climbing due to losses of previously stable tax revenue, government still insists on creating jobs with the Stimulus dollars with “use it of lose it” rules. Instead of using those dollars to temporarily fund the deficits, new government jobs are created and more debt is incurred.

These state and local governments are also facing budget shortfalls that has resulted in the loss of many teachers, policemen, and firefighters. Yet, due to the rules of the Stimulus money, few of those funds are being used to save those jobs. The talk of tax increases to maintain these lost jobs are receiving push back from those citizens who understand they are being squeezed so much now in taxes, that there is nothing left to pay higher taxes with. Countless small businesses too, are feeling the burden of increased local government taxation needed to keep their budgets balanced.

We are in a death spiral of government debt, excessive regulation, and more mandates from the Federal government. Washington has failed to “get it”. The solutions are simple and lead down one path alone and Mike believes that until that uncertainty is removed, we will not see our economy recover. His plan is simple:

• Enact the FairTax. Removing the burden of Income taxes puts more money in peoples pocket and allows them to have the needed money to make buying decisions, not wishful thinking. It will bring over $13 TRILLION in private investment dollars into our economy and allow free market principles to work when there are no tax implications from those investments. This alone will begin the job creation needed to spur economic growth.
• Cut the deficits in half this year. Until our government can learn to live within it’s means and end the borrowing just to pay for basic government needs, taxes will escalate and those burdens are being passed through “generational theft” to our heirs.
• End any additional Stimulus and TARP spending. These programs have failed in their intent and are simply adding to the debt of this nation.
• Repeal Obamacare and end the uncertainty of higher taxes to our small businesses. The promises of lower health care costs are false promises and already escalating premiums, higher costs, and loss of coverages are occurring. The $1.3 TRILLION dollar price tag again, adds to the debt of this country and we can ill afford to be faced with increased taxes to pay for it.
• Begin serious reforms of our entitlement programs. We are faced with over $106 TRILLION in unfunded liability(DEBT) over the next 20 years in these programs. Since they are NOT part of the Government budget- that spending is on automatic pilot- we are facing financial collapse in paying for these programs.

We as a nation must return to the principles and foundation of our Founders of smaller government, regulations that do not impede business but PROMOTES it, and low taxes to fund a smaller and less intrusive government. It is time to head the warning of Jefferson:

A government big enough to give you everything you want is strong enough to take away everything you have.

After listening to the President’s State of the Union Address I have come but to one conclusion- our President has little regard for individual liberties and views “big government” as the solution for issues our nation is facing. His inability to recognize that his massive expansion of government has not fixed a single thing and the voice of the American people don’t have his ear.

His desire to pass Health Care “reform” in which the people overwhelmingly have said “WE the People” don’t want your Plan, indicates he hasn’t taken the time to listen to both sides. Yet, he want’s unity from Congress in this matter and views the opposition as somehow a personal attack on him personally. It is not a personal issue Mr. President, but is the American people’s voice that isn’t being heard and I will stand up for them long before I stand up for your agenda that is laden with “behind closed doors deals”.

You, Mr. President, were hired by “WE the People”, not the special interest groups, the union bosses, and lobbyists. You convinced the American people that a $787 BILLION Stimulus bill would keep unemployment below 8%, yet no jobs are being created, people are losing their homes, and the banks and Wall Streeter’s are standing on solid and profitable ground.

Small businesses are under attack as you press for Cap and Trade, Health Care, and “Card Check”. As I listen to these business owners, they feel threatened by your agenda and will most likely not survive your onslaught of taxes and fees. Yet, you offer the smoke and mirrors that “capital gains tax reductions” and “hiring credits” which in reality, will not create jobs. “Capital gains” don’t happen in a small business, but it’s capital investment in people, in expansion of inventories, and increased business activity they need. Investment in those areas make business succeed and are never subject to any “capital gains taxes”, but are what fuel the economic engine of our nation and result in those PROFITS you want to tax even more. We are not stupid Mr. President as you pandered the those who have never owned a business and won’t understand either, when they lose their source of family income when their employer closes his doors.

Good speeches don’t pay the bills of the ordinary American, jobs do. Cap and Trade, Health Care, and bank bailouts don’t put food on the table, jobs do. More regulations and higher taxes on our Small Businesses, and the threats of even more, don’t cause economic growth, and won’t create new JOBS, Mr. President.

Making college tuition loans part of a Government sounds all nice and fuzzy and having payback in 20 years has a nice ring to it, but making Public Service a condition of a 10 year payoff tells me that more expansion of GOVERNMENT is on the table for this Administration. Mr. President, the PEOPLE want LESS government, and and end to the deficits and your plans will produce another $1.9 TRILLION this year alone. Sooner or later, Mr. President, no nation will want our Debt instruments (bonds), as they aren’t so sure that your agenda will bring back the needed economic growth to pay back that debt.

It is time for Fiscal responsibility from our government and that means accepting the fact we are spending far too much, not taking the steps to cut the size and scope of government, and to offer a “spending freeze” that isn’t really a “freeze” on the areas where government needs massive overhaul. THAT, Mr. President is nothing more than pandering to the American people and is simply more “smoke and mirrors” that the American people are tired of. You promised to cut spending,  not increase it 25% so you could simply freeze a mere $20 billion.

You want to create more exports from our nation, yet, what did you put on the table that would bring more manufacturing from American shores? Those jobs are gone to where Mr. President? Let me give you that answer- China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and India. You can’t export things you aren’t making, so those cargo ships that come into Jacksonville’s Port, simple return with the ONLY thing we seem to be exporting- AIR.

I’m sorry Mr. President, but your agenda falls well short of the desires of WE the PEOPLE. Excuses and “blame Bush” will no longer cut it for your failures and inability to listen to what the American people are telling you. No longer will promises of transparency, no lobbyists, and no back room deals for the cronies be acceptable as every single promise you ran on have been broken. We are a Representative Republic Mr. President, not a nation that you “RULE”, but one you GOVERN. You can’t govern unless you listen and you have lost the trust of those who hired you. Our government has 3 distinct branches Mr. President, and your chastising the Supreme Court indicates that you feel all 3 are there for you pleasure, and you don’t understand their roles are to protect us from the very tyrannical “RULE” you wish to impose.

Like any CEO will tell you, without the results you promised, the stockholders want a new direction. Let’s make sure we bring that new direction that works to our nation in 2010 and put our nation back in the hands of WE THE PEOPLE. Let’s not be lulled to sleep by a great speech, but compare the words to the actions and the actions have fallen far short.

As the Florida Legislature debates the future of Florida’s high speed rail development, often referred to as SunRail, one has to wonder why Rep. Corrine Brown is assuring the State of Florida that funding from the Federal government will be available. I have to ask, is this going to be another Amtrak in the making? or another Florida rail system, Tri-Rail in south Florida, currently being subsidized by taxpayers?

Last year, 2008, Amtrak routes running in Florida lost over $145 per passenger for the Silver Star, and the Auto Train, $69 per passenger. Both of these trains combined routes serve the Tampa-Orlando and the Orlando/Sanford-Miami corridors, yet both have constantly lost money. Ridership is at a near all-time low and dropping monthly.

Tri-Rail, the South Florida commuter rail service, is in need today of between $13 and $15 MILLION in subsidies just to keep running. Their ridership currently is around 13,000 per day and even at that level of ridership, has lost money since it’s inception. The Sunrail project is going to be another annual commitment for Florida taxpayers to fund.

What is at issue is the $2.6 billion in Federal Stimulus funding of the Sun Rail project for the Tampa to Orlando route for initial construction. In 2004, once Florida voters understood the real costs of building a high speed rail system, it was flatly rejected. With the Obama administration once again providing the funding with the Stimulus Bill, it seems that everyone is clamoring once again for another slice of that taxpayer funded pie. Again, no one seems to be asking the tough questions about the continual need to subsidize these rail services once built and operational. Because these systems are running on tracks currently owned by private railways, the funding is also going to subsidize their freight services with special tax considerations for those subsidies. CSX stands to gain millions in property acquisition and roadbed leasing costs alone.

It is these types of projects that are proving to do nothing but continue to add to the Federal Deficits each and every year and subsequently add to the already $12 Trillion in debt that is continually rising. It is a burden on taxpayers that will continue in perpetuity unless it is ended once and for all. Keep the profitable routes and end the rest. No amount of funding is going to change the fact that an Amtrak trip from Jacksonville to Washington, D.C. is going to take 14 hours and cost upwards of $120 one way. The drive by automobile is less time and for far less money and a 4 hour airline flight isn’t going to cost that much more either.

No doubt, these projects are going to be infused with further Federal funding through additional earmarks from Rep. Corrine Brown. Her latest press release already indicates her desire to fund this losing proposition and no doubt through the earmark process for future budget items brought before Congress.

Mike believes it is time to stop this fiscal irresponsibility  and call an end to Federal funding of the abject failure in the high speed rail model. The private railroads ended passenger service in the late 1950′s for a reason- they could no longer continue to break even or generate a single cent of profit on an annual basis. No amount of nostalgic appeal, “wishing” for a successful venture in rail transportation, or “built it and they will ride” mentality is going to change the facts- the taxpayers must subsidize these ventures just to keep them running.

You can help Mike bring about an end to this type of government waste and fiscal irresponsibility. Volunteer, tell others, and donate to his campaign today.