Op-Ed: Wanted: A Positive President Who Can Say America Is Once Again Open For Business
As a businessperson, I understand how important people’s attitudes are in running a successful organization.
People who enjoy their work perform far better than those who view their job as drudgery. A salesman that fully believes in the product or service he is selling, will sell more, and at a higher price.
These positive attitudes make a big difference to the individual “economy” of a business organization.
Positive attitudes are crucial in successfully driving a nation’s economy forward as well. Unfortunately, President Obama does not seem to understand that his hostile attitude toward business is undermining America’s entrepreneurial spirit, and as a result, economic growth and job creation.
Consumers and business owners/managers need to have confidence in what lies ahead before their economic activity becomes robust. Even in the best of circumstances, planning for the future is inherently fraught with risk and uncertainty.
Government policies should not add to that uncertainty. But that is exactly what is happening because of the dysfunction currently on display in Washington.
Are taxes going to dramatically increase in 2013? Will we ever get our debt and deficits under control? What is the cost and burden of new rules and regulations on job creators? How expensive will energy be in the future?
Until we have leadership in Washington that begins to answer these questions and brings more certainty to our economy, it will continue to stall.
Choose Optimism
In Wisconsin, our governor and legislature acknowledged our budget problem. They provided real leadership by making hard decisions, taking tough votes and bringing greater certainty to our state economy.
In addition, Gov. Walker announced very publicly, that “Wisconsin is open for business.” The result? State and local budgets are being balanced, property taxes have declined, and Wisconsin climbed significantly in a recent survey comparing states’ business climate.
That is a dramatically different approach than the one taken by President Obama and members of his administration.
Instead of providing leadership, they are attacking business, punishing success, greatly increasing regulatory burdens, limiting the use of America’s energy resources, and growing government and our nation’s debt and deficits. How can anyone believe rhetoric and policies like this will work?
We need to lift the spirits of America’s entrepreneurs, business managers and consumers — not dispirit them. High marginal tax rates discourage risk-taking, investment and job creation at a time when the need to encourage these activities has never been higher. Increasing layers of regulation are a disincentive to business expansion when we need to incentivize every business to realize its full economic potential.
Demonizing businesses and individuals will have the exact opposite effect. Yet that appears to be the favorite political tool employed by this administration.
Fortunately, we have a chance to set America on an entirely different path this November. The choice Americans will face in the upcoming election has rarely been this clear. It is a choice between optimism and pessimism, between a positive attitude and a negative one.
Defeatist President
One attribute that is apparent in Gov. Romney is his inherent optimism. Optimism is a quality that is common in individuals that build and manage successful enterprises. In most cases, the greater the success, the higher your level of optimism will be.
Mitt Romney has had that success. As a result, he believes in America and the American people. He will be an advocate for success.
By comparison, President Obama strikes me as a very pessimistic person. Instead of celebrating success and encouraging America’s entrepreneurial spirit, he generally attacks business and vilifies success. His pessimism and policies have produced less of both.
His campaign will try to convince Americans that somehow Gov. Romney’s success in the private sector is a disqualifying factor in becoming president. That is absurd. We need more successful people from the private sector in Washington, not less. Knowledge of, and respect for, our free enterprise system should be a table stakes qualification for president of the United States.
There is absolutely no need for our economy to be mired in the doldrums. The simple act of electing a president that conveys confidence and states that, “America is once again open for business,” would have a powerful effect.
It is estimated that trillions of dollars are just sitting on the sidelines waiting for that kind of positive signal. Now is the time to elect new leadership to send that signal. If we do, we can unleash the potential of America’s free enterprise system and rapidly get our economy moving to create long term, self-sustaining jobs in the private sector.
My guess is we will be pleasantly surprised just how quickly America’s economy will react to a positive attitude.
• Johnson is the junior U.S. senator from Wisconsin.
Published on Investor’s Business Daily website.
