The health of the American economy is too often evaluated by metrics that mean absolutely nothing to a family trying to stay afloat. Stock market highs and aggregate growth figures might satisfy financial commentators on television, but they don’t pay the mortgage or guarantee long-term career security.
The real economic health of our country is measured by the stability of our local workspaces, the purchasing power of an average salary, and the confidence workers feel when looking at their savings. Comprehensive data from the Gallup Most Important Problem Report continuously show that localized job quality and daily cost-of-living worries matter far more to citizens than abstract national employment data.
To truly secure the American worker, we must shift away from the top-down, big-government mandates that strangle growth and instead unleash the power of the entrepreneur. The market innovates and generates prosperity far more efficiently than a centralized bureaucracy ever could. True bottom-up prosperity happens when you lift the regulatory and tax weight from our local employers, giving small businesses the predictability they need to invest, expand, and create durable opportunities.
This requires actionable policy, not just rhetoric. We must solidify pro-growth frameworks by making the tax relief from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent, protecting families and small businesses from looming tax hikes. Furthermore, we must dismantle the overreach of unelected federal agencies. House Republicans have consistently advanced critical financial deregulation and agency overhauls — such as the targeted legislative efforts moving through the House Financial Services Committee to rein in the overreach of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other regulatory bodies.
EVEN SEASHELLS WOULD MAKE A BETTER NATIONAL RESERVE THAN BITCOIN
Restricting these agencies ensures that local community banks and businesses can lend and operate without fear of shifting bureaucratic whims.
As a businessman and physician who has operated in the private sector for decades, I know that economic confidence requires common sense, not ideological swings. We cannot afford to oscillate between opposite tax and regulatory regimes every four years. We need a steady, pro-growth strategy that respects the dignity of hard work, rewards local innovation, protects the financial foundations of our homes, and stops Washington from spending money it does not have.
Eric Wargotz is a physician, businessman, former U.S. Senate nominee, and the former elected president of the Queen Anne’s County Board of County Commissioners who utilizes decades of private sector experience to champion common-sense economic growth and local job creation. Views are his own.