My Thoughts: Doing 'right thing' requires giving thought to some things

The unemployment rate for the Memphis metropolitan area is hovering around 10 percent. In Tipton County, where I own a small business, the rate already has topped 12 percent. You have to go back more than two decades to find a more challenging economic environment.Having served on the Memphis City Council and as its chairman, I have a pretty good idea about what elected officials now hear from their constituents: "Do something." When times are tough, government is one of the places people look for help. Unfortunately, "do something" isn't a policy prescription, and it can run counter to the medical principle of "first do no harm."

The message officials should be hearing is "do something that works" or, to quote Spike Lee, "do the right thing." The challenge is to determine what is the right thing.

One thing is certain: The "right thing" isn't trying to spend our way into prosperity or tax our way into a balanced budget. Unfortunately, those are the policy prescriptions Washington is writing.

Just look at the "stimulus bill" signed into law earlier this year. We were told this was needed to keep the national unemployment rate under 8 percent. Unfortunately, unemployment now seems about to top 10 percent nationwide, with some pockets of 25 percent or more.

It appears the only thing being stimulated right now is the federal budget deficit, which already is four times larger than the biggest deficit under President George W. Bush. Clearly, we need to rethink this approach. I have a few suggestions:

First, let the "cap and trade" bill that passed in the House of Representatives die in the Senate. There's a general consensus that this bill will increase energy costs, especially in states like Tennessee that depend on coal-fired power plants for much of their electricity needs. Supporters point to the "green jobs" that this bill will create. We know from Spain's experience with cap and trade that it does create green jobs. Unfortunately, for every green job created, 2.2 other jobs are lost.

Second, defeat President Barack Obama's proposed job-killing tax increases on U.S. businesses with international operations. Presently, U.S. companies may defer paying taxes on overseas earnings until the funds are returned to the United States. Since U.S. companies pay the second-highest corporate tax rates among major nations, this deferral helps make them more competitive. The president also would make it more difficult for U.S. companies to receive credit for taxes paid to foreign governments, and eliminate the provision that gives U.S. companies flexibility in the way they structure their overseas operations.

This proposed tax hike would hit the Memphis-area economy especially hard. Companies with headquarters or major operations in Memphis, such as International Paper, Buckeye Technologies, Schering-Plough, Cargill, DuPont, Valero and of course FedEx, must be internationally competitive if they are to grow and prosper locally.

Third, get government out of business. We don't need a "car czar" beholden only to the president calling the shots at GM and Chrysler. Sen. Lamar Alexander's proposal to turn the government's ownership share of these companies over to American taxpayers is a good one. And we certainly don't need a "banking czar" deciding who should get loans and what interest they should pay. After all, it was the government-backed home loans to unqualified buyers that triggered this recession.

And finally, "just say slow" with health care reform. This is not the time to rush headlong into increasing federal spending by $1 trillion. Let's address a few critical issues such as making health insurance affordable for individuals with pre-existing conditions or allowing small businesses to join together to form larger groups to spread risk and lower average costs. Government needs to demonstrate it can get it right taking small steps before we make wholesale changes that affect almost 20 percent of our nation's economy.


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