Jacob Turk, Candidate for MO’s 5th Congressional District discusses issues with Michael and Robin Renaeu of Grandview.

Lee’s Summit, September 30, 2010 – In this part of the interview we talked about the economy and what his priorities would be should he be elected.

Our conversation led to Kansas City which at 8.8 percent unemployment is doing better than the country as a whole and much better than some cities like Detroit.  The hot topic right now is Prop A.
  • Require local sunset votes on the existing earnings tax in St. Louis and Kansas City every five years, starting in 2011. These future local votes will let voters in Kansas City and St. Louis decide for themselves if they want to continue the earnings tax in their city or phase it out gradually over a period of 10 years; and
  • Prohibit any new local earnings taxes from being imposed on working people and businesses in Missouri.
Missouri clearly is sending a consistent message to politicians across the country: Enough with the Tax and Spend mentality.  Limited Government is in our constitution, limited by the powers explicitly enumerated in the Constitution and it is in the countries best interest.  The era of progressivism and reallocation of wealth through taxing is getting a severe challenge.
“…There are people on both sides of the issue who want Kansas City as a city to succeed.  Right now Kansas City is not succeeding its lost tremendous amounts of population south of the river, people have left in droves, companies have left in droves, and in my opinion the earnings tax is part of what drives people across the State line”
“…its tremendous drain of people and with people goes the ideas.  Kansas City has to think long and hard about how to become more attractive [to businesses and entrepreneurs].”
“…I settled here right after getting out of the Marines in December of 1977, and I’ve watched the outflow of people, companies and money from Kansas City to the surrounding communities to get out of the city limits and avoid the earnings Tax.”
Every commercial, every talk show in Kansas City is talking about city services and how they would suffer if the earning’s tax is taken away.
“…City leaders need to figure out a different way to do the funding of the cities legitimate functions… how do we shrink this budget so we can live within our means… and find a different revenue stream…find a way to have companies locating in Kansas City, within the urban core.”
Then we got to one of the core values expressed in his card: Opportunity.
“…we have pockets of unemployment, particularly among the African American males in Kansas City of 40% in some areas; well you need companies there to provide jobs… close to where people live.”
“…we have to find ways to bring jobs closer to home, where people live, and bring jobs to the communities that are affected.”
Jacob Turk feels right at home in the business community.  He listens not only with a representatives’ ear, but with the experience of having been there.
“…in doing the small business round tables, and we’ve done many and continue to do them, Small Business owners tell us they don’t trust this congress, three months ago they thought the economy had picked up and we may be able to hire one or two people, but with this health care bill we know there are 30,000 to 50,000 pages of legislation and we don’t know what its going to do to our bottom line.  And if these tax cuts are not extended, how will we afford to hire anybody?”
“…the prevailing feeling is that we have a congress that is not there to help us (the Small Business owners), they are actually hurting us.  They don’t understand what it takes to run a business…  They, small business owners, see my 12 years of experience running a small business, so they see hope in seeing me as their representative”
It was clear from our discussion about the Small Business Round Tables that owners are worried about the uncertainty they face “they are like deer in the headlights, unable to make a decision” so they are taking a “wait and see approach till the election is over and they see whether conservatives take over or not.  If they don’t they feel this resection will continue and 10% unemployment will become the new normal.”
Confidence and predictability (within the normal uncertainty of business cycles and consumer’s likes and dislikes for products and services) is a must for any business.  A business owner, whether a large corporation or a mom and pop shop, all need to know certain things:  What are the total costs of labor, what are the taxes, and what money will they have left over to live on and grown their business.  With all the uncertainty of taxes, health care, carbon cap and trade and its effect on operating costs, small businesses cannot in all good conscience hire people they know they may have to let go because they no longer can afford them.
“…if the Republicans take over, I believe there will be a psychological uplift and people will take more chances in the marketplace and it will create the jobs and drive the economy up.  They’ll think things are changing and they will feel that at least in one house of congress they will be heard.”
As we concluded our interview I asked Jacob Turk what his priorities would be if he were to get elected.  He did not hesitate one moment in answering my question in his typical straight forward manner.
“…to make sure Health Care is not funded, so we can repeal and replace it.”
“…repeal is going to be difficult…”
Commenting on Obamacare he brought it home to me.
“…it will destroy the best medical delivery system in the world.  That’s people’s lives we’re talking about, and to take chances with that is unconscionable to me.”
Then he moved on to the economy tying it all together.
“…making the tax cuts permanent to give businesses and individual the confidence to move forward and open up their pocketbooks and start creating job; because we have to create the jobs…”
“…top priority is to create and environment where jobs are created quickly; not by the government but by the private sector.”
Each of us has a responsibility.  We must do our homework.  We must understand exactly what each candidate offers and we must chose wisely.
The worst thing we can do on November 2nd is to not vote.  The second worst thing we can do is to allow our families and our friends to sit on the sidelines.  The future of our country is truly at stake.  Do we want another two years of Obama, Pelosi and Reid’s style of unrepresentative democracy where money is spent as if we actually had it, or do we want to return this country to a constitutionally limited government and restore some fiscal sanity in Washington.
It is not about Republicans.  It is not about Democrats.  It is not even about Independents, Libertarians, or Tea Parties.  It is about AMERICA, it is about Freedom, it is about reality based limited government providing the opportunities for excellence.
Respectfully Submitted,
The Lee’s Summit Conservative