For far too long people have been falsely led to believe that progressive values and policies that promote business growth are counterintuitive, my priority in the Senate will be putting people back to work, lowering the unemployment rate, and helping new businesses get off the ground. I see these as core tenants of any good progressive plan because providing good jobs are essential to allow all our citizens to succeed.
Small businesses are the unequivocal engine of the U.S. economy – they are our innovators, our creators, and our entrepreneurs, and they account for the vast majority of our new jobs. I intend on being a forceful voice in the United States Senate for investments in cutting-edge job training and providing tax credits for businesses that create new jobs that will benefit the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
About a week ago I read a post here about the benefits of jobs that a casino would create. http://bluemassgroup.com/diary…
By now many of you are well aware of my strong opposition to casino gaming in Massachusetts. My opposition is not just out of moral or social concern. It is rooted in a strong belief that we can and must do better for the citizens of our state. The jobs that casinos create are not skilled positions worthy of the tremendous talent of the people of Massachusetts.
I believe if we invest in job training and technology, and reward and incentivize job creation, we will be worthy of our status as the greatest state in the country. We were the leader in the effort to reform our health care system and just this week Congress has begun to follow our lead. I want to take the lead at the national level and bring the values and know how of our Commonwealth to create meaningful change in the Senate.
My six-point Jobs Plan:
1. Stimulate and reward job creation wit Job Creation Tax Credits:
Pass a temporary new job creation tax credit that will refund 15
15% of wage costs in 2010 and 10% of new wage costs in 2011 to employers creating new jobs or increasing the wages of existing employees.
A team of economists at the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute estimated that NJTC’s would create as many as 5.1 million new jobs over the next two years or between 50,000 and 100,000 jobs in Massachusetts.
2. Support entrepreneurs and small businesses:
Offer higher new job tax credits for small businesses.
Extend the recent temporary changes that doubled expense write-offs for small business investments up to $50,000 and allow accelerated depreciation of 50% for new plant and equipment over the first year.
Increase access to capital and small business support services.
Establish a Federal Commission to encourage and support women- and minority-owned businesses.
3. Pass clean energy legislation to create new clean energy and energy efficiency jobs:
The Markey-Waxman and Kerry-Boxer Climate bills will drive large scale investments in clean energy and energy efficiency.
Research by the University of California, University of Illinois and Yale University concluded that passing these bills would create between 22,000 and 40,000 jobs in Massachusetts.
4. Invest in clean energy, biotech and other research-intensive industries by supporting programs to accelerate the time from research to new job creation, including:
Create innovation funds to accelerate the commercialization of ideas from research and development universities, including grants and loans matched with investments from private funds.
Support the development of incubators to facilitate start-ups, pilots and demonstration projects.
Enable full scale commercialization of new “first of a kind” technologies by co-investing with private funds to finance the roll-out of new businesses with high fixed costs.
5. Support the growth and development of the social entrepreneur and nonprofit sector:
Increase investments to scale promising nonprofit models and measure the return on taxpayer investments in these to develop best practices that can be shared with other programs.
Fully fund the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which will provide up to 250,000 service jobs.
6. Invest in a 21st Century work force development:
Fund Alan’s Comprehensive Education Plan to provide every America with a quality education.
Develop programs to connect community colleges with local employers to ensure academic programs will fulfill business needs and students will have job opportunities after graduation.
Reauthorize the federal Workforce Investment Act to incentivize programs to partner with employers and reward successful job placement.
I thought Mr. Khazei was a “different” kind of politician. This sounds like more intellectual pap from the progressive pablum machine.
Why not?
Real small businesses around my own neck of the woods really would appreciate such incentive. I tried to vote early in my town clerk’s office yesterday. She informed that the ballots had not yet reached her office, but she encouraged me to come back tomorrow (Wednesday, which is Veterans’ Day, so I guess that Thursday or next week should be good.). Mike, Martha and Alan are great candidates.
A temporary tax credit of 15% is not much of an incentive to hire a new employee, with the costs of doing business today. That won’t even pay for a single year’s increase in health care premiums. It’s just not a realistic plan.
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p>What I object to is when politicians threw out “tax credits” or “five-point plans” to sound like they are doing something. Politicians don’t create jobs (except for their friends), business create jobs and we should get out of their way.
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p>And since most of the other ideas Mr. Khazei is tossing out will require more tax dollars and likely end up creating a higher tax burden, I think my previous comment was pretty fair. (Not that it will keep the Khazei crusaders from dinging my rep.)
CETA from the 70s? And how did that work out? Let’s move beyond Carter-era moves in this debate or we’re all nailed in the long run.
I agree with rupert115. The tax credit wouldn’t do me much good. What I need is access to capital and lines of credit. Right now, the First National Bank of Danno is the only one who won’t laugh me out of the building and we actually made a small profit this first year.
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p>Tax credits are things for more mature businesses…something along the lines of medium to large corporations.
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p>I would like to hear about how Khazei is going to close tax loopholes for large corporations so that they pay their fair share for the right to sell goods to American consumers. I assume that Khazei’s bullet point on opening up lines of credit refers to tight regulations on the too big to fail banks that aren’t loaning right now to small businesses.
Deal with it. Camelot died in 1968. How about employment for the physically disabled? I use a wheelchair, I’m not dead. I just graduated from college. Not all of us want to live like democrats sponging off the public dole.
…long fought for and finally convince a Republican President to pass the Disabilities Act. I am continually amazed at “conservatives” who currently enjoy with the protections or safety nets fought by progressives decades ago and then rail against the very forces that implemented these protections. Deal with it.
I posted about it a while back. Enactment is one thing. Enforcement is a whole ‘nother ballgame.
“For far too long people have been falsely led to believe that progressive values and policies that promote business growth are counterintuitive.”
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p>It’s been about 16 years since Bill Clinton began ushering in the greatest period of American post-war prosperity. This attack line is fading out as effective or even intuitive, so I’m not sure why you’re resurrecting it.
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p>Wouldn’t it be so much more productive to say something along the lines of “progressive values and policies, from Clinton through Obama, continue to promote business growth”?
Down here in the DC media market, TV ads paid for by special interests have pegged both health care and environmental legislation as job-killers. Bob McDonnell’s gubernatorial campaign was based on the premise that he would create jobs by keeping taxation and regulation to a minimum.
The phrasing changes the thought process. When reading your phrasing, the next immediate thought is, “how?” Then, instead of the reader focusing on what you are going to do, their mind shifts to wanting to know how they have done that. With the current phrasing, it allows him to pivot immediately into the tenants of “good progressive values”, which streamlines the “how” thought into how you will do it, not how it has been done. That being said, it would all fall flat if he didn’t eventually offer a concrete plan, which he does.
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p>Now, If someone who already believes in progressive values is reading this, it serves as a phrase of affirmation (“Yeah, that’s right!”) for those looking to find that. (Well, obviously not for everyone)
I see what you’re saying. My phrasing was thrown out there, and I realize you don’t want to spend too much time talking about the past when your intent is to talk about the future.
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p>However, I maintain repeating attacks on your side is not in your interest…
Wouldn’t it be safer to amend that statement by inserting the word “save” infront of create?
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p>Or will it be déjà vu all over again? Just sneak that word in there later!
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p>*****
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p>How about instead of a Tax Credit (sounds so good on the surface) you just Tax LESS in the first place? How about reducing income and sales taxes for both individuals and business? Savings passed on to consumers, more disposable income to spend on products, maybe even products from a small business!
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p>Sometimes a funny thing happens when you lower taxes you actually increase revenue. State reps won’t be so inclined to drive to New Hampshire to stock up on alcohol and local businesses (that employ people) are helped out.
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p>This proposed 10%-15% new wage tax credit for a small business that turns little to no profit is not even a serious incentive to expand.
Do people still actually adhere to that theory?
is aptly named. The marginal tax rates are nowhere near high enough to result in a net increase in revenue with a reduction in marginal rate.
Mr. Khazei:
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p>Funny that an incentive approach to “growing” business should be posted on this blog the same day the following arrived in my inbox:
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p>The “Maryland” approach refers to the type of positive incentives used by Massachusetts. To quote Commonwealth Unbound:
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p>I realize that your plan doesn’t fully correspond with existing State policy, but it still strikes me as more a top-down micromanaged model; and I see nothing in your precis for the revenue sources the plan would require.
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p>This being the case, and given the infantile venture capital culture in the Commonwealth, how would you a create the climate necessary for job creation, and how would you get such a program through Congress?
This is contrary to a healthy business. A good manager finds ways to do more with less. Instead you are encouraging unprofitable businesses to expand unproductive jobs with tax money you’re taking from profitable businesses.
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p>If you want to encourage overall job growth, you need to increase production by allowing capital to connect with labor. Where do you stand on the repeal of the Bush tax cuts, which cut taxes on capital and encouraged more business investment?