Senatorial Race | Considering Startups
GA's senatorial race is heating up. As you prepare to vote take a look at how Michelle Nunn (D) and David Purdue (R) plan to support entrepreneurs.
Q: What ways do you feel our government and, you specifically, can encourage entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial spirit in America? President Obama stated “We should be making it easier and faster to turn new ideas into new jobs and new businesses. And we should knock down any barriers that stand in the way. Because if we’re going to create jobs now and in the future, we’re going to have to out-build and out-educate and out-innovate every other country on Earth.” After reading this statement, what reactions do you have to his ideas on assisting entrepreneurs?
Michelle Nunn's response:
Beginning shortly after I left college, I joined with a small team of dedicated individuals and grew our organization into the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service – employing more than one hundred workers, overseeing a $30 million budget and mobilizing millions of volunteers each year.
So I know first-hand the challenges start-ups face, and I know there is a lot Washington can do to help businesses grow and create jobs. Some of the measures I would support include:
• End the uncertainty caused by Washington’s failure to agree on a budget that is hurting our economy and preventing businesses from planning ahead. We need to pass yearly budgets and stop budgeting from crisis to crisis;
• Lower the tax burden businesses face by lowering the corporate tax rate, currently the highest in the world, and simplifying our tax code;
• Support advances in new technology that will create new jobs and industries in Georgia by extending the Research & Development tax credit;
• Prepare tomorrow’s workforce by building on the successful example of technical colleges across Georgia that partner with local businesses to train new workers and leverage federal aid to encourage colleges to do more to keep tuition costs down for families;
• Increase access to capital for small businesses by exploring innovative sources of funding and supporting small business incubators.
• Passing comprehensive immigration reform that secures our borders and provides an accountable pathway to citizenship that requires those currently living here go to the back of the line, pass a background check, learn English and pay back taxes.
David Perdue's response:
I would suggest the President heed his own advice. Right now his Administration and the Democrat-controlled Senate are doing everything they can to hinder entrepreneurs and job creators. As the former CEO of the Reebok athletic brand and Dollar General stores as well as a current small business owner myself, I actually know what it is like to compete in the private sector. We must get rid of the overreaching government policies and regulations that burden job creators. Also, we need comprehensive tax reform along with the full repeal of Dodd-Frank in order to free up capital investment.
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