U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH) highlighted the importance of getting the government out of the way of free-market solutions to grow businesses during a recent Joint Economic Committee hearing.
Tiberi, the vice chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, said that the Investing in Opportunity Act, H.R. 5082, would make it easier to make investments where they are most needed.
“America was once considered by far the best place for someone venturing out on their own,” Tiberi said. “It was a place for taking a risk to build something new, to improve the lives of all Americans. And in many places across the country, that’s still the case, as you’ll hear from our witnesses (at the hearing).”
The economic recovery has been relatively slow and geographically uneven, Tiberi said, and there has been a decline in the number of startup companies.
“It is our role as federal policymakers to foster a free-market economy in which Americans enjoy ample opportunities for employment, and we must not forget that the private sector is the true driver of economic growth,” Tiberi said. “Government can’t tax and regulate its way to American prosperity.”
Entrepreneurs who base their headquarters in the Untied States, Tiberi added, face the highest corporate tax rate in the world and a complicated tax code.
“As if taking a risk on the success of an idea were not challenging enough, today’s entrepreneurs also face a series of government-imposed market barriers,” Tiberi said. “These include banking regulations that make it harder to get financing and harder for community banks to operate and make loans, archaic licensing and permitting rules, and complex labor and health care requirements.”