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  • Congressman Tim Walz talked to the Region 9 Economic Development Professionals Quarterly Forum in St. Peter Friday, focusing on job creation and the federal government’s role in spurring economic growth. Pat Christman

    Walz

August 13, 2010

Walz bemoans uncertainty in 'slow recovery'

By Mark Fischenich The Free Press

ST PETER — Candidates who will face the voters on Nov. 2 have been pretty much unanimous that job creation is the top issue in Minnesota and in America this election year.

And employment and the economy were at the heart of Congressman Tim Walz’s meeting in St. Peter Friday, one of many stops the second-term Democrat will be making during the month-long August congressional recess.

“I’m out talking to a lot of businesses and listening to them,” Walz told a meeting of economic development officials from counties, cities, banks and state and federal government agencies.

The message he’s been getting is varied, but it revolves around a sense of uncertainty that’s making businesses hesitant to make big investments or add to their payroll.

“There’s a soft job market and a slow recovery,” Walz said. “... What’s missing in this economy is a sense of optimism.”

The federal government can take some responsibility for that, he said.

The health care reform bill is going to help businesses in the long run by controlling the rate of increase in medical insurance costs, but the complexity of the bill leaves businesses owners without clarity about how it will affect them, according to Walz.

“That’s caused a lot of angst in our business community,” he said.

The Wall Street reform bill was necessary to prevent a repeat of the reckless lending practices of big banks, but it’s also hampered the ability of responsible banks to lend, he said.

The inability of Congress to pass a comprehensive energy bill also leaves uncertainty about the future energy costs businesses will face.

“What our businesses want is some stability,” Walz said.

But even as political leaders recognize their failings, people also need to recognize that government action is needed to help the economy thrive, he said. Ongoing arguments about big government versus small government are a distraction.

“The issue is effective government,” he said.

That means making sure that schools and colleges have the funding they need to educate the future workforce, that investments are made in roads and other infrastructure, that America moves away from foreign oil and toward domestically produced energy, and that the private and public sector work together to spur economic growth, according to Walz.

Other countries are making those investments, and America needs to do the same to compete in a global economy.

China, for instance, is planning to spend more on developing renewable energy over the next five years than it’s spending on its military. It’s spending 9 percent of its gross domestic product on transportation infrastructure while the United States spends less than 1 percent.

“While China builds, we patch,” Walz said.

He said another economic stimulus bill isn’t going to happen, but a massive transportation bill can and should be approved by Congress next year. And he said political leaders should be willing to pay for the construction — rather than borrowing the money — even if a higher gas tax needs to be considered.

“Let’s have the courage to do that,” he said, “and have the courage to talk about how we’re going to pay for that.”

 

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