Cuts perilous; let’s talk jobs
My business builds things, and I have been building things for as long as I can remember. Whether you’re building a new apartment building or renovating a historical landmark, you always want to start with a strong foundation.
It’s the same for our economy. In order to rebuild a stronger economy that works for everyone – shared prosperity with a strong middle class – then education, health care, public safety and essential services are the strong foundation.
But, right now, the political class’s obsession with slashing state and federal budgets threatens to crumble the very foundation of our economy.
If we hope to rebuild, our tools must include closing tax loopholes, raising revenue, and making Wall Street banks and big special interests pay their fair share.
A strong economy relies on a quality public education system that prepares our students to enter business – or start their own businesses – with the skills of tomorrow. A strong economy is supported by a basic health care system that focuses on prevention, so that people aren’t dependent on more expensive emergency room care. Hospitals, courts and cops provide good jobs and keep our streets clean and safe. Roads, rails, bridges and buses move our goods and get our employees to work on time.
In Spokane, our community is driven by the health care industry – which includes nursing schools, training programs and hospitals – all of which create good jobs and all of which have seen their funding slashed by the federal and state governments. When a nurse gets laid off or a student can’t afford tuition because of budget cuts, then they are no longer a customer at the coffee shop, the lunch stop, the gas station, my apartment building, or hundreds of other small businesses. The effects reach far and wide.
Essential public services connect our communities and make small businesses stronger. When those services are cut, our economy suffers, our customers suffer, and we suffer, too.
If reckless budget cuts continue to devastate our customer base, small businesses simply won’t be able to grow and create more jobs. The foundation of our economy will continue to crumble.
It’s time to refocus our political debate on jobs, not cuts. Every step of the way, Wells & Co. creates good jobs for our community. But we need lawmakers to understand that we can’t do it alone.
Whether we’re talking about the federal supercommittee chaired by our own Sen. Patty Murray, or the upcoming special session of the state Legislature, the policy choices that lawmakers make now will determine the fate of businesses like mine for years to come.
If elected leaders are serious about supporting small businesses and getting our economy back on track, abandon the failed policies of job-killing budget cuts. Pay for investments in our communities by closing tax loopholes, and expect Wall Street banks and big corporations to once again pay their fair share.
Now more than ever, we need the kind of investments that will support a strong economy and help create good jobs. A highly skilled work force is the result of investments in lifelong education, from preschool through college. Safe and healthy communities are the result of policies that emphasize prevention. A prosperous future where we all have a better quality of life is the direct result of the choices we make right now.
Close tax loopholes. Raise revenue. Require the top 1 percent pay their fair share.
Investments in health care, education and infrastructure now, not budget cuts, are the foundation to support small business, create jobs and rebuild our economy.