I recently received this reply from my congressman in response to the simple question: “What can you do that can put as many or more people to work as President Obama’s job plan?” I’m not impressed. Discuss if you wish.

Restoring our economy and allowing job creation to happen should be our first priority in this Congress. Too many citizens throughout America have lost their job through no fault of their own. In times like these, leaders should be able to put politics aside and not just give speeches, but be willing to take action.

The House has been focused on creating an environment where American businesses and job creators can succeed. We have sent legislation to the Senate that would introduce certainty into the economy by ensuring stable fiscal, regulatory, and tax policies. We passed a responsible budget, a task the Senate has not even attempted in more than two years. We voted to stop regulations that would impose a massive energy tax. We passed a measure to stop the National Labor Relations Board from telling American companies where they can invest and create jobs in this country. Instead of unnecessarily restricting domestic energy production, we have passed four separate bills to allow the energy we use to be made right here in America by American workers. We have signed into law a repeal of unfair tax requirements that were included in the healthcare reform bill and have begun the process of enacting comprehensive, permanent, revenue-neutral tax reform. These are just some of the clear examples of our commitment to doing what it takes to allow our economy to recover.

President Obama recently submitted his $450 billion “American Jobs Act,” the second major stimulus bill of his presidency. While it seems that unfortunately the majority of this bill is just more of the same economic policies that have failed before, several of the President’s proposals merit consideration. You can be sure that I will support those measures that will actually allow for job creation.

We know what does not help: wasteful government “stimulus” spending, crushing government regulations issued by unelected bureaucrats, and burdensome government taxes on job creators. More government is not the solution; too much government intervention in the economy has been part of the problem. Instead, the government’s responsibility is to create the atmosphere in which the engines of our economy can thrive and succeed. Small businesses are our best innovators and job creators and we should be doing more to help them, not make their efforts more difficult.

Excessive government spending does not stimulate the economy; it only crowds out investment and stifles real growth. If government spending created jobs, we would be doing just fine now. We have tried that path, and it does not work, as our unemployment rates of over eight percent since President Obama’s first stimulus spending bill have shown. Since 2007, annual government spending has jumped by more than a trillion dollars, forcing us to borrow more than 40 cents for each dollar we spend. Getting government out of the way will put this money to better use, allowing the economy to recover and create jobs here at home.

Currently, the federal government has more than 4,250 new regulations in the pipeline, all written by unelected bureaucrats. At least 219 of these will have an impact on the economy of more than $100 million per year. At a time when we should be making it easier for small businesses, these regulations are driving up costs and holding back private-sector job creation. That is why I am a cosponsor of H.R. 10, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2011, which would require Congress to sign off on any major regulation that could be overly burdensome on job creators. This important measure will be under consideration by the House in the weeks ahead, as will reviews of several specific regulations that have been identified as harming job creation.