Can America Compete? Yes!

by Tom Donohue

Summer was once anticipated to be a slow season in Washington D.C. otherwise they wouldn’t have built it in a swamp.  Though sadly not run like one, government is a big business now and business doesn’t stop for heat or humidity.  At the Chamber we are engaged in hundreds of issues which grow in complexity every day…and we love it.

It is a big year politically. As always, the full House is up for election, 35 Senate seats will be decided, and there is the Presidential race of course, which is getting a little coverage.  Change is the mantra - we need change on health care, we need change on energy, we need change on trade, we need change on education, we need change on the environment, we need change on…select the issue of your choice.  The candidates aren’t stupid, they can hear the drumbeat, and the messages on the campaign trail are promising a revolution.

The fact is that there are many things that do need to change, but they need to change in the right way.  Quite frankly change is going to happen no matter who is elected and whether we want it to or not; the question is how you deal with it.  Health care is one example. We need change there - badly. But the kind of change some are talking about on the campaign trail - sweeping government mandates or even a government takeover - is the wrong kind of change!

In fact we need the right kind of change across the board - in education, energy, transportation, and trade, among others - to ensure that American workers and businesses can compete globally in a very tough worldwide economy. That’s how we create jobs, boost incomes, and increase opportunities for all Americans.

The Chamber has established principles for addressing many of the challenges facing our nation. We have laid out these principles in the past and we are going to talk about them more this week.  We are not afraid to compete in the war of ideas, we are not going to cry in our soup and lament that the public doesn’t get the importance of trade or the importance of strong capital markets to workers on Main Street.  We are not shy about expressing and explaining our positions.

People carp all the time about the government; I do too - it’s one of the pleasures of the First Amendment. One thing I do find funny is that much of the ranting you hear about the failures of the government are from people who want to expand it. But government in and of itself isn’t the problem, it does some good things, some bad things; we all work hard to get more of the former.  We get the government we want, and if we want to be treated like dependents, we will become dependents. If we don’t choose to compete and create the jobs, industries, and wealth of the future, no government program can make us prosperous.

It is time to remember who we are and who we must be --- the most competitive, successful, optimistic country on earth.  This is our game, we made the rules, and we can win; if we remain engaged, confident, and level-headed.  Alexis de Tocqueville wrote that, "The health of a democratic society may be measured by the quality of functions performed by private citizens."  Engaged and competitive private citizens are the answer, not just more government. A more competitive America – now that’s the kind of change we can all take to the bank!