Washington Office
233 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Office (202) 225-2305
Fax (202) 225-7018
District Office
510 East Foothill Boulevard
Suite 201
San Dimas, CA 91773
Office (909) 575-6226
Toll Free (888) 906-2626
Fax (909) 575-6266
Getting our Economy Back on Track
Our economic challenges remain at the forefront of our discussions, including on our telephone townhall meetings. Many are uncertain about the future and want to know what is being done to get the economy moving in the right direction again. I am fighting for policies that will provide relief to working families and the small businesses that employ them. We cannot depend on government alone to bring us out of this economic slowdown. It will be the efforts of working Americans, the best, most enterprising workforce in the world, that will get our economy back on its feet.
Unfortunately, I believe the recent stimulus debate in Congress focused far too much on government spending and not enough on helping working families get through these challenging times. I co-authored a pro-growth alternative that would have reduced the bottom two income tax rates to allow working families to keep more of their hard earned money and given a substantial tax credit to responsible home buyers who make a down payment of at least five percent. It also would have allowed small businesses (those employing fewer than 500 people) to deduct up to 20 percent of their business expenses, giving them the opportunity to hire more workers. Although these proposals were not part of the final package approved by Congress, I will continue fighting for them as the debate moves forward.
Getting our housing market going again is absolutely essential to our economic recovery. Southern California has been hit especially hard by the housing crisis, and I believe more needs to be done both to assist responsible home owners who are struggling and to encourage responsible home buyers. I firmly believe that we must enact policies that help those who have played by the rules keep their homes. These responsible homeowners have paid their mortgages on time every month, only to see their investments threatened by the downturn in home values, neighborhood blight, irresponsible speculators and predatory lenders. This isn’t right. We must also encourage responsible home buyers to get back into the market with incentives that will help get some of the excess housing inventory off the market. Efforts are underway to help people struggling to keep their homes. I look forward to supporting a package that targets help toward those who are playing by the rules; that doesn’t reward lenders that irresponsibly loan to unqualified applicants; and, that doesn’t reward speculators in the marketplace who knowingly falsified information to secure loans.
Whether it’s providing tax incentives to encourage responsible home purchases, or helping responsible home owners stay in their homes, stabilizing the housing market will go a long way toward getting our economy back on solid footing. The stimulus debate may be behind us, but we have a great deal of work to do. I am committed to working in a bipartisan way to achieve the solutions for American families.