SUNBURY — Supporting and encouraging small businesses is what U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey said needs to be done to create jobs in today’s economy.
“A strong, growing economy is great for all communities if we get back economic growth and job creation,” he said Monday during a meet-and-greet in Sunbury.
The Republican is vying for the Senate seat held by Arlen Specter, a Democrat.
In addition to Sunbury, he stopped at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove and in Danville before heading up to Williamsport.
About 25 people came out to the brief meeting in the city’s Edison Hotel, where Toomey gave an introduction, highlighting his main campaign focuses — including jobs, the economy and health care — before holding a question-and-answer session.
“I recognize the only sustainable jobs are private sector,” he told the group. “We need to help launch entrepreneurs.”
A small-businessman himself — he owns a restaurant — Toomey is upset with federal spending that he said is sucking the capital out of the economy, leaving nothing. Businesses can’t start up if there is no access to capital, he said.
The biggest worry he’s hearing from voters is out-of-control spending in Washington.
“The big thing is how to grow the economy, create jobs and just get back on track,” he said.
Aside from supporting small-business owners, Toomey said he has a huge appreciation for Marcellus shale, calling the natural gas resource a “game changer” and the biggest economic opportunity in 100 years.
Because it’s right under the state, the shale would create jobs for Pennsylvanians and create a new gas supply, which could lower the cost for consumers, he said. The shale also could help diminish dependency on foreign supplies.
“It’s the biggest new discovery underneath our area soil,” he said. “We’re very, very fortunate to have it.”
“I think the (tea party) movement ensures the Republican Party what it ought to be. It holds our feet to the fire,” he said in Danville, while speaking about supporters who want a restored limited government, fiscal discipline and free enterprise.
Another major focus of Toomey’s speech and his campaign is health care reform, which he referred to as a huge mistake. He wants the national bill repealed and replaced with common-sense reforms, including providing a tax deduction for individually purchased health insurance that employers have; allowing individuals to buy health insurance across state lines; passing a reasonable tort reform; allowing small businesses and organizations to band together and form associations that would be able to purchase insurance under federal regulation on behalf of their members; and making costs more transparent.
“The government is not what America is all about. It is being transformed like a European-style welfare state,” he said.
Though Toomey admits it’s unlikely President Obama would repeal the bill, there is more that can be done than most think, he said.
“I think Republicans can take control of one or both of the houses, and then we would take over the appropriations committee,” he said. “Nothing can be implemented if it’s not funded. ... As disastrous as it is, the other side hasn’t taken effect yet.”
John and Dolores Patton, of Northumberland, attended Toomey’s Sunbury event because they’re interested in getting conservatives into office.
“His speech was very good,” Dolores Patton said. “I’m encouraged.”
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Toomey pushes for job creation, strong economy
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