A tradition of hosting Republican or Democrat candidates on the campaign trail continued last month at Cemen Tech Inc., Indianola, Iowa. Flanked by stationary and truck-mounted Mobile Concrete Dispensers in the company’s volumetric and continuous mixer assembly area, 2012 GOP presidential primary candidate Michele Bachmann told management and staff, “It’s not government that creates lasting jobs, it’s small businesses, like [yours], that are the job creation engine of America. We have to do everything we can to strengthen small business.”
Employee-owned Cemen Tech hosted the campaign’s first stop on a post-July 4 bus tour of the presidential primary battleground. The visit followed release of employment figures indicating June’s 9.2 percent jobless rate. “The reason small businesses can’t create jobs or won’t put capital they are accumulating into creating jobs is because they are scared to invest in new jobs because of economic uncertainty,” said Congresswoman Bachmann (R-Minn.). “They are staring down an increase in taxes as part of a compromise to raise the debt ceiling, an increasingly difficult government regulatory environment and Obamacare, where they will end up paying large fines and still not be able to provide health care for their employees.”
After a plant tour, she outlined her solutions to turn the economy around and spur job creation: “I will work to reduce the corporate tax rate, decrease overregulation and repeal Obamacare.” Explaining a planned ‘no’ vote on raising the federal debt ceiling, she added, “We need a fundamental restructuring of how we spend taxpayer dollars that put us on the path to balance.” — Don Marsh