TUESDAY | Aug. 26, 2008

With the closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the American people are turning their attention to the Democratic and Republican conventions and the final leg of one of the longest presidential elections in American history.

Much has happened since the first candidate announced two years ago. At that time, the war in Iraq was the leading issue and the cost of housing was still escalating. Since then, the housing market went from boom to bust; the stock market rose and fell in massive swings; gas prices jumped by $2 per gallon; the unemployment rate is up by two percentage points; Iraq began to stabilize; our nation’s infrastructure deteriorated even further; and 80 percent of the American electorate believes the nation is on the wrong track.

The economy as described by job losses, high gas prices, home foreclosures and the loss of long-term equity in housing and the stock market are the issues that the American public is most concerned about today. The same is true for business.

Today, every business is looking for ways to innovate and streamline.  Government must do the same by considering policies outside of their partisan comfort zone and reaching across the aisle for real solutions. It will be impossible to turn the economy around without business growth. Here are some of the platforms that business hopes it will hear from both presidential nominees as they articulate their visions for America: 

Energy Independence: Reducing our dependence on foreign oil and combating climate change will benefit our economy over the long term. We should push forward on an Apollo program for energy independence that includes the world’s most innovative, creative approach to developing alternative energy sources and greater domestic oil production.

Transportation Infrastructure: The nation’s outdated goods movement and transit corridors mean traffic congestion, higher priced consumer goods and lost productivity. The next president and congress should commit to a national infrastructure program reminiscent of the 1950s and 1960s. 

Workforce Development:  Education and workforce training is the key to creating good paying jobs in a global economy. The federal government should support reform efforts that encourage smaller schools, career academies, multiple pathways and higher levels of accountability for teachers and administrators.

Immigration Reform:  Our immigration policies should be balanced by securing our borders, providing a clear path to citizenship for law-abiding immigrants integral to our workforce and increasing the number of visas for highly skilled foreign workers.

Health Care Reform: In order to be competitive in a global marketplace, our businesses and our employees cannot continue to spend a higher share of their revenue and salaries on health care each year.

Entitlement Reform:  If left unaddressed, Social Security and Medicare obligations will consume the entire federal budget within the next couple of decades. Leaving these “third rails” untouched is no longer economically feasible.

For more than 200 years, each generation of Americans has passed on to its children a nation that offers increased opportunities for employment and family. It all starts with a job and most jobs are created by the private sector. Both candidates should pledge to work with business and labor toward that end.

And that’s The Business Perspective. 

Gary L. Toebben
President & CEO
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce

The Business Perspective is a weekly opinion piece by Gary Toebben, President & CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, produced with the input of Samuel Garrison, Vice President of Public Policy.

by Gary Toebben, President & CEO, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce

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