Republicans Quotes

Why should any of us strive to make that extra dollar of income when the government is going to lay claim to an increasing share of it?

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Reagan Treasury Secretary Donald Regan’s Address to the Business Council, 1984.
326201/01/1984 | Full Details | Law(s): Tax: Income

[In 1981] we, as a nation, finally recognized that it is patently unfair to take more and more from a worker simply because he or she works harder, or longer, or takes more risk, or displays more innovation.

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Reagan Treasury Secretary Donald Regan’s Address to the Business Council, 1984.
326301/01/1984 | Full Details | Law(s): Tax: Income

For years now we have moved inexorably toward a larger and larger share of resources being absorbed by government. This has translated into a greatly expanded role for government in business, society in general, and in our personal lives. Obviously, this involvement has carried a price tag—which has translated into fewer resources available for more productive use in the private sector.

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Reagan Treasury Secretary Donald Regan’s Address to the Business Council, 1984.
326001/01/1984 | Full Details | Law(s): Tax: Income

We cannot go on adding regulations on the backs of industries in this state.

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Borden R. Putnam, Economic Development Commissioner for Governor Tom Kean’s (R) administration.

The minimum wage has caused more misery and unemployment than anything since the Great Depression.

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Candidate Ronald Reagan. Time Magazine.
314001/29/1980 | Full Details | Law(s): Minimum Wage

Vague statutory requirements and misguided management over the years have given OSHA one of the worst track records in the history of federal agencies. As a result of OSHA operations, the costs of doing business have increased substantially among affected industries. In addition, many employers, both business and farming, have complained of harassment, lack of adequate technical advice, and total disregard for local operations or the realities of doing business….For years, I have introduced and co-sponsored bills to eliminate small businesses from coverage of OSHA….I can think of few other issues which have so consistently irritated my constituents…I shall certainly continue my efforts to eliminate the costly and counterproductive practices of OSHA which lead to uncertainty, increased disillusionment with the federal government, and which show questionable benefits in terms of increased health and safety.

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Senator John Tower (R-TX) writes to A.L. Simmons, Safety Director, Whittacker Corporation.

The question of the minimum wage goes beyond the immediate problem. It strikes at a basic underpinning of our democratic system. It touches on the ability of individuals to enter freely into contract without coercion and without arbitrary restrictions for mutual profit. Have we so soon forgotten that the American Revolution was fought in part because of such restrictions? Have we forgotten that there is a correlation between a free market economy and the amount of personal freedom enjoyed by the inhabitants of a country? I certainly hope not. What we are accomplishing by setting a minimum wage is restricting the ability of persons to freely contract for their services and, in so doing, effectively limiting their opportunities to achieve economic well-being.

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Tom Hagedorn (R-MN), Congressional Record.
04/26/1977 | Full Details | Law(s): Minimum Wage

Under these inflationary pressures many of the industries and small businesses employing marginally trained or unskilled workers will be forced to cut back on the number of those employees or go out of business. The very worker that the Federal minimum wage was intended to aid will find himself out of work.

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Mickey Edwards (R-OK), Congressional Record.
04/26/1977 | Full Details | Law(s): Minimum Wage

I am vitally concerned about the thousands of teenagers and young adults who will either lose their jobs or be rendered unemployable in the unskilled labor markets as the result of increasing the minimum wage to $2.50 or more per hour.

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Eldon Rudd (R-AZ), Congressional Record.
04/26/1977 | Full Details | Law(s): Minimum Wage

In California, Mexican farm workers are no longer allowed to use the short-handled hoe they have used for generations; now they are required to use long-handled American type hoes. . . .This is not because the workers or the farmers want to change: but apparently because the city people, driving by, feel more comfortable watching the workers use the kind of hoes that look good through car windows.

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Gerald Ford’s Secretary of Agriculture, Earl Butz. The New York Times
03/18/1976 | Full Details | Law(s): Short-Handled Hoe Ban

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