BY CHARLES DJOU – Hawaii was ranked 48th in a CNBC survey on “America’s Top States for Business.” This report confirms what so many families and businesses in Hawaii have known for years. The cost of living, the cost of doing business, the cost of transporting goods are among the highest in the nation, and have resulted in one of the least business-friendly states in our Union. As someone who served in both the Hawaii State House and the Honolulu City Council, I consistently noted that these high costs could not be sustained and still provide for a prosperous Hawaii.
But the anti-business policies I fought in state and local government are dwarfed by the tax-and-spend agenda I am battling in the United States Congress. It seems for every problem facing our nation, the Majority’s answer is: spend, spend, and spend some more. The policies of the last two years have failed, and our nation’s economic woes persist unabated.
What’s most troubling about this diagnosis is that the solution is no mystery. A fiscally responsible government coupled with across-the-board tax relief is the real stimulus that every working family and small business needs and deserves. If our nation continues down this fiscally reckless path, what is happening in Hawaii will be writ large, and that is an outcome that we simply cannot afford.
In the 1o years that I have been in public office, I has never voted for a tax increase and have consistently and vocally advocated for a transparent and fiscally responsible government that let working families and small businesses keep more of their hard-earned money.
Since being elected to Congress and as a Member of the House Budget Committee, I also called for the majority in the House to actually pass a budget, noting that the fiscal path we are on is unsustainable.
Congressman Charles K. Djou (HI-01) issued this report