2nd District Republican: Jobs will trump other issues

By James Q. Lynch 

The Gazette

CEDAR RAPIDS – Steve Rathje believes the 2010 election will be decided by working people, people who are looking for someone with a plan to put them back to work.

“They want their jobs back,” he said about voters in the 2

^nd

District where unemployment is as high as 11 percent in some counties. “They want their money back and they want their country back.”

Rathje, a Cedar Rapids Republican, is seeking his party's nomination to challenge Rep. Dave Loebsack, a Mount Vernon Democrat.

Rathje, 54, believes the life experience he has accumulated on his journey from janitor to business owner allows him to offer a sharp contrast to the incumbent as well as the others seeking the GOP nomination.

Rathje, who owns International Procurement Services, Inc., and Genesis Group, will face-off against Ottumwa ophthalmologist Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Marion business owner Christopher Reed in a June 8 primary election.

Although there's speculation he and Reed will split the votes of social conservatives and allow Miller-Meeks a rematch with Loebsack, Rathje is confident GOP primary owners will like his plans to create jobs and the turn around the economy.

“Look, I'm a businessman and a realist. If I didn't think this was a workable deal and I couldn't be successful, I wouldn't be involved,” he said.

Rathje is all about jobs. International Procurement Services seeks out and utilizes American companies to make manufactured components cheaper, faster and better than overseas competitors, he said. Using American manufacturers, he eliminates custom duty fees, tariffs, ocean freight and the waste he said is common when working with overseas suppliers. Rathje said he can come within 3 percent of Chinese suppliers, match Mexican firms, and beat Canadian by as much as 10 percent and the Europeans by as much as 70 percent.

To create jobs and stimulate the economy, Rathje calls for a 60-day income tax holiday, followed by a reduction of average income tax rates from 31 percent to 25 percent and a decrease in corporate income taxes from 35 percent to 15 percent.

His plan, Rathje said, would create of up to 3.5 million new jobs average $50,000 a year in wages. Every million jobs yields about $15 billion a year in taxes. His plan would create as many jobs as President Obama's $778 billion stimulus plan at a fraction of the cost, Rathje said.

He also wants to give college graduates a three-year tax holiday so they can repay their loans and give new businesses a two-year tax holiday to allow them to become viable before paying taxes.

It's an ambitious plan, Rathje said, but he believes “the ability to put together a clear and concise economic plan will resonate with voters.”

He'll also match his conservative credentials – social or fiscal – any opponent. A born-again Christian, pro-life and rejects same-sex marriage.

“But those are not the things people are discussing around their kitchen tables right now,” Rathje said. “It would be great if that's what it was because it would mean everything else was A-OK. It's not.

“People want their jobs back,” Rathje said. “That is going to be the big issue. I think it is going to outweigh all the other things we talk about.”

For more, visit: www.steverathje.com.