It takes a lot of nerve to take credit for something you didn’t do. It takes a politician to take credit for something that hasn’t even happened.

My opponent, U. S. Rep. Phil Hare, is currently touting his alleged jobs record, patting himself on the back for how many jobs he’s created.

Unfortunately, Mr. Hare is mistaken.

There are no new jobs.

In fact, the 17th congressional district is suffering from unemployment rates higher than the national average.

Instead of declaring his jobs record a success, Phil Hare should be apologizing to the district for watching the unemployment rate nearly double under his watch.

While the national unemployment rate is currently 9.9 percent, unemployment in Rock Island is 10.2 percent, up from 5.5 percent in November of 2008; 12.5 percent in Sterling, up from 7 percent; and at a staggering 13.8 percent in Decatur, up from 7 percent.

The problem doesn’t seem to be Hare’s effort towards creating jobs, but more so his understanding of how to create jobs.

You can work really hard at fixing up a car, but if you keep putting milk in the oil pan, water in the gas tank and pizza sauce in the transmission, your car isn’t going to get very far.

As someone who owns a small business and has worked his entire life in the private sector, I understand what it takes to create jobs and to fix this economy.

In order to grow our economy and get jobs back, we need to start running our government like a business.

In fact, that is the basis of my economic plan: slash wasteful spending in Washington, attract new employers with tax cuts and employment incentives, and stop all tax increases.

My opponent believes that bigger government is the answer to the job deficit. I believe responsible government and free enterprise is the solution.

I believe that raising taxes and adding more bureaucratic red tape makes it harder for employers to start businesses and harder to expand and create more jobs. My opponent believes that wasteful government spending and higher taxes will somehow fix the already terrible job climate.

While my opponent has touted temporary jobs, such as census takers, it isn’t a permanent solution.

We can create permanent jobs by cutting taxes to let Americans spend and invest their hard-earned money. If you have more money in your pocket, you can buy more goods and services, which will stimulate the economy and infuse jobs into our economy. Employers will inevitably start to hire more workers, and

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