Rep. Kevin McCarthy: Focus on capping spending, incenting savings and helping small businesses

A weekly update from Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, in his own words:

"For the last two weeks, I was back home in the district working and now am back in Washington as Congress will be in session for the next five weeks, but as usual I will be heading back to Bakersfield each weekend.

"While back in Bakersfield I held a Small Business Roundtable with local small business owners to listen to their concerns and hear their ideas on how we can get the economy back on track. America’s small businesses account for 70 percent of our nation’s jobs and are the engine driving our local economy. I don’t believe the solutions to help fix our economy are in Washington, but in our communities and with our small businesses. We need to focus on helping produce a climate that allows for small businesses to grow and thrive to create and preserve local jobs.

"On the House floor this week we continued debate on the $3.6 trillion Democratic budget. Congressional budgets, by their nature, are blueprints for future government spending and priorities, where we must take the time to make the decisions we think necessary. Similarly, during these challenging economic times, hard-working families also go through the process of making tough decisions on the household budget and what they will do to make ends meet. Instead of cuts, the Democratic budget increased spending. With this budget we face a $1.8 trillion deficit in 2009 and in 10 years a deficit equaling $9.3 trillion. This budget will also spend so much, that it will double the national debt in 5 years and triple it in 10 years, equaling $17.3 trillion by 2019. I could not support the spending levels of this budget and the debt it would put our generation in and our children’s and grand children’s generations. We offered a responsible alternative that would bring the deficit down and focus on job creation. Specifically, my colleagues and I proposed a budget with a simpler, fairer tax code that lowers the marginal rate many small businesses pay and also decreases the Capital Gains tax to give all small businesses more opportunities to create jobs.

"From a historical perspective, I wanted to let you know that a statue of Ronald Reagan, our 40th President, will soon be placed in the United States Capitol. I was happy to speak on the floor as a proud Californian to welcome this statue to this historical chamber. You see, each state is allowed to place two statues in the Capitol, and our two statues will be President Reagan and Father Junípero Serra, who, as you know helped establish missions all along the California coast in the late 1700s. If you visit Washington D.C., you can see these statues for yourself by taking a Capitol tour. Please make sure you contact my D.C. office about other tour opportunities that may be available while you are here.

"Also this week, my colleagues and I introduced the American Savings Act. I know Americans are struggling to plan for their future and their children’s future during these challenging economic times. Americans’ savings and retirements have taken major hits but now is the time to act and make sure we create the environment necessary to help American families wisely and responsibly plan for their future. We can continue to encourage savings by making the Savings Recovery Act law. It would effectively raise the contribution and catch-up limits on retirement accounts such as IRAs or 401(k)s, and allow Americans to build up college and retirement savings at a quicker rate than current law allows. We can also strengthen our fiscal future by taking steps to get rid of wasteful government spending, lowering taxes for small businesses, and decreasing the burden of our national debt on our children to make their future more stable and secure and move our country forward.

"Thanks for reading and have a good weekend!