A message from the small businessman who wants to expand his business, make a greater profit and hire more people:  Decrease my cost of doing business!  Lower the cost of success!  Allow my business to make more money, which invariably gets invested in more equipment, more square footage and more people.  People who create capital, people who buy capital and people who do not need government assistance to live.  In short, get out of the way!

A message from the healthcare executive confronting expanding demand with decreased margins:  Decrease my cost of doing business!  Dramatically reduce the 125,000+ pages of federal regulation currently burdening the healthcare industry.  Regulation that attempts to control costs dramatically reduces efficiency and my ability to competitively bid.  Allow for fair but controlled settlements in medical malpractice lawsuits.  Insurance companies must be able to predict exposure, with the current ‘lotto’ amounts of punitive damages, they are unable to do that.  Dramatically reduce the amount of state level minimum mandates on insurers.  These mandates drive up the cost to insure despite not being applicable to a vast majority of insured.  This will allow me to buy more capital, make more money and inevitably, hire more people.  Get out of the way!

A message from the venture capitalist looking to fund new businesses:  Decrease my cost of doing business!  The regulatory environment is stifling the ability of my industry to fund, grow and exit from businesses with a profit.  A high degree of failure is a part of my business and I recognize that I must fail in order to succeed.  For this high failure rate, I get a high return on those businesses that succeed.  My industry has been the engine behind the technological revolution of the past thirty years, yet now we are stagnating.  The future of American job growth will be driven by small innovative businesses that venture capital is expert in finding, growing and helping to succeed.  This job growth will not happen with current financial regulations growing and subsequently burdening our industry with higher hurdles.  Competition and winning are in our blood—we will buy more capital, make more money and increase jobs providing that the government can GET OUT OF THE WAY.

A message from the American citizen:  Reduce the control that you are attempting to exert on my life, my liberty and my pursuit of happiness.  As I stand in line at the post office with three people in line and ten people behind the counter, I wonder how you are going to drive cost out of the healthcare industry by increasing government control.  As I stand in line at the DMV with twenty people and thirty people are behind the counter, I wonder how you are going to drive cost out of the healthcare industry by increasing government control.  As I look back at our nation’s history, I am still searching for the industry that was formed, or grown or improved by a dramatic increase in government control.  I do not need the government to take more of my money and then tell me, with increased frequency, how to spend the money that I have left.  What I need is more of my own money.  More of my own money to invest in my business.  More of my own money to invest in my own home.  More of my own money to fund my kids education.  More of my own money to buy the things that I need, that I want and that will make my life better.  With more of my own money, I will save more money, invest more money and live the life that I choose.

Get out of the way!