A Letter to the Next President

To: The 45th President of the United States
From: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Dear 45,

Welcome to the neighborhood! Well, not quite yet, but you’ll have to forgive us for being excited. A new administration represents a potential fresh start for America, and on behalf of the U.S. business community, we’re eager to work with you. After all, there’s a lot of important work ahead.

Dear 45 logo

Of course, we don’t yet know your name, nor do we know what party you represent. But that’s not what’s important. We’re interested in talking policy, not politics, and we hope you are, too. Because if we’ve learned anything over the past century, it’s that entrepreneurs and small business owners don’t think in terms of left and right, liberal and conservative; they’re too busy thinking about their next sale, their next client, their next hire – and they need policies that help them get there.With that in mind, we want to take the opportunity to introduce you to the issues that are most important to the employers, executives and entrepreneurs who will soon call you their president. So over the next year, as you traverse the campaign trail, we’ll be sending letters your way to get you up to speed on some of the most important issues, so that you’re ready to hit the ground running on Day One.

These ideas include bipartisan proposals for streamlining and improving our nation’s unruly regulatory system. This “fourth branch” of government has grown so massive and intrusive that it is driving jobs away, discouraging business investment and stifling small businesses. The good news is that there are ways we can cut through all that red tape without shortchanging the health and safety protections Americans need.

In addition, U.S. businesses will benefit from your leadership abroad. They need a president who is committed to building stronger ties with our partners overseas, paving the way for more exports of American goods around the world – including a portion of our vast energy resources. They also need a president who will stand up for their interests in foreign countries, helping to protect their investments andintellectual property.

On other important issues, you won’t be able to go it alone. You’ll have to work hand-in-hand with Congress, and, as we have seen in recent years, that can be easier said than done. That’s why it’s so important you arrive ready and willing to forge a cooperative relationship with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Only then can we break through the gridlock in Washington.

Working with Congress, it will be up to you to set an agenda that addresses our country’s most important unfinished business, including modernizing our immigration rules while protecting our borders, cementing a long-termtransportation and infrastructure plan, rewriting our tax code, and securing entitlement programs through reasonable, sustainable reforms. Business leaders also will be counting on you and lawmakers to address serious shortcomings in recent efforts to reform our health care and financial services sectors, as well as to promote changes to the U.S. education system that better prepare tomorrow’s workforce for tomorrow’s job market.

These are just a few of the many issues on which our nation’s businesses will look to you for leadership. It won’t be easy, but then, easy isn’t what you signed up for when you announced your candidacy. You signed up to lead the most free and most prosperous nation in the world – a country that celebrates risk, rewards hard work and embodies the spirit of free enterprise.

We may not always agree, but we’ll always be straightforward with our advice and we’ll always strive to work together.

But you’re not alone. We’ll be here to help, and we’re right across the street. We may not always agree, but we’ll always be straightforward with our advice and we’ll always strive to work together. No matter what problems our country may face, we hope you’ll remember that America’s businesses can be a big part of the solution.

So please keep an eye out for more correspondence from us. In the meantime, best of luck out there on the campaign trail. We’re ready to get to work, and we know you are, too.

Until next time,

U.S. Chamber of Commerce signature

 

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