Jobs a priority in Senate race

With the state and national economy in the tank, creating jobs is a cornerstone of just about every candidate's campaign this election.

The Democrat and Republican vying for U.S. Senate are no different.

But how to rebuild the economy and how much government funding and oversight should be involved in that task is where Alexi Giannoulias and Mark Kirk split, in some cases along party lines, and in others, in terms of creative vantage points.

Neither candidate possesses all the answers, if measured by the priorities set by members of a leading business association.

“We're hearing our members say, in a broad sense, that the priority for this election is to reduce the tremendous uncertainty out there and to build trust," said Nancy Warren, vice president for MRA-The Management Association's Northern Illinois division, based in Palatine.

Asked what its members' concerns were about the Senate race, the organization gathered 20 members in a closed-door meeting and then released a list of priorities based on that discussion.

Those priorities include a stabilization of the economy with improved trust between government, business and constituents; a focus on job creation and growth, with greater access to capital; and a business-friendly tax environment.

Breaking from his party, Giannoulias, a Chicago Democrat and current Illinois treasurer, says he thinks President Barack Obama's administration “should have (had) from day one a laserlike focus on creating jobs in this country. That needed to be a priority. We had time to pass health care."

Giannoulias' multi-page “Plan for the Future" suggests creating a tax credit for small businesses with less than 50 employees to serve as an incentive for job creation.

Kirk calls Illinois “the best place in North America to build employment because of its rivers, roads rail and aviation links." That growth, he says, has been hampered by the state's corruption, high sales taxes, and the ease to bring forth lawsuits.

His jobs plan calls for Congress to approve “regulations that make sense, a more stable taxing environment, and lawsuit reforms.

Giannoulias says he believes in government investing in green energy what he calls the “next generation of jobs."

“The recession has changed our economy forever," Giannoulias said. “Manufacturing jobs lost are not coming back."

He promotes investing in solar and geothermal technology, and infrastructure.

“Our roads, our highways are crumbling. It's going to cost us more money if we don't fix these things now," he said.

Giannoulias' proposed National Infrastructure Fund, which would be headed by a team of nonpartisan experts and funded by eliminating tax breaks to big oil, is projected to generate an estimated $45 billion over the next decade. He says that team would fund projects based on priority, not political pull.

Like Giannoulias, Kirk also promotes the expansion of green energy jobs advocating for tax credits for energy efficient businesses.

The candidates clash over the Small Business Jobs Act, recently signed into law by Obama last month.

Giannoulias supports the legislation, which creates a $30 billion fund aimed at encouraging community banks to lend to small businesses. It also creates eight different tax cuts for small businesses totaling $12 billion.

Kirk voted against the legislation, calling it a “classic example of poor-quality lending that cannot be repaid.

While Kirk says the legislation could cost taxpayers $6 billion, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin and U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean, in Schaumburg last week to promote the legislation, called the legislation “deficit neutral."

Following his vote against the small business legislation, Kirk arranged a conference call with the National Federation, which endorses him and yet supports the jobs legislation.

Vice President Brad Close identified tax breaks for business as the biggest issue in the election.

Kirk's 10-point “Small Business Bill of Rights," introduced to Congress last spring, would establish tax cuts for business and reduce health care costs through lawsuit reforms. It would also protect the right to a secret ballot in union elections, establish clean energy tax credits for businesses, and make immigration laws easier to comply with.

“A small-business owner can't afford a Washington lobbyist to get stimulus funds," Kirk said. “They depend on regulation that makes sense, an environment where taxes are not going up."

Kirk and Giannoulias are locked in an extremely close race for Obama's old Senate seat. The election is three weeks away.