“Clearly, we are facing historic challenges right now, but those do not minimize the looming crisis we face in Social Security, health care costs and the nation’s debt.  I applaud the President for recognizing these issues and prodding Congress to act before critical services must be cut or we incur unprecedented levels of debt.

“I am worried about the early rumors of substantial tax increases on investment and small businesses and the result those will have on job creation.  Families are hurting and far too many are looking for work.  We need a pro-growth, pro-family and pro-small business tax code.

“Hopefully, this summit was a starting point, not an ending point.  Hopefully, the President will insist Speaker Pelosi and Leader Reid move forward in a truly bipartisan manner.  If they are willing to listen to us and work with us on the tax provisions, we might enjoy real success on the policy front and on behalf of American families.  However, if this goes the way of the stimulus package – and railroading is preferred to compromising – then I have my doubts about the viability of any reform, let alone reforms large enough to tackle health care costs, Social Security, taxes and the federal debt.”