Tim James Speaks at Gadsden Kiwanis Club

(Gadsden, AL - January 13, 2009) The Gadsden Kiwanis Club continues its series of meetings featuring state-wide candidates Wednesday with a visit from gubernatorial candidate Tim James.

During James' 30-plus minute speech and question and answer session, James says "the day has come to return to a simpler time." He explains that we've spent too much time on the unnecessary and lost our focus on what should be important to Alabamians. "We are still hardworking, honest with a keen understanding of family values and a strong belief in God, that's a great blessing for our state," he explains.

James says there are three major areas that need work in our state which he will focus on if he is elected Governor of Alabama: Economy, Ethics and Education.

ECONOMY
James says Alabama now has more and more families who are struggling to make it week-to-week because of the recession, "unlike anything we've seen since the Great Depression of the 1920's," describes James. He described the recession as a "deflationary recession" meaning the values of homes, farms and other goods and services continue to go down and money is harder to come by making a recession harder to come out of.

"The truth of it is," James tells the Gadsden Kiwanis audience, "government can't fix it, government is part of the problem. But, there are some things that we ought to do to put ourselves in the position to help those people in need." James says the government can become part of the solution if they focus on four things.

LOW TAXES
"You're gonna hear more and more calls for more taxes," he says. "That is the last thing you need to do in times of deflationary recession."

RELAX REGULATIONS
James says business regulations needs to be relaxed to help businesses survive in this recessionary period. "Especially federal regulations," James explains. He says government should help businesses reduce costs by reducing paperwork and dealing with business regulations.

"As I've traveled across Alabama and a picture is continuing to reveal itself that is very concerning to me, and that's towns are beginning to take on a ghost-town look, and that bothers me," James says. Part of that is because businesses are closing due to continued high costs of dealing with local, state and federal regulations.

INCENTIVES
The state of Alabama should learn a lesson from Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue, James says. He suggests the state should provide the same incentives for local small businesses that are currently given to global companies. "If a company in Gadsden, or Anniston, or Birmingham, or Scottsboro, or Mobile and you want to expand your company and your'e gonna spend capital, you ought to get the same benefits, on a linear basis, that we give Thyssen-Krup, Hyundai and the rest of them," James says.

According to Tim James, 75% of all jobs in Alabama are provided by small businesses. "Its time we ought to focus on that sector."

James referred to Purdue's efforts half a decade ago to focus on small businesses in the peach state. "If you take Atlanta out of Georgia, you're looking at Alabama. And they've seen tremendous impact from small business incentives across the entire state," James explains.

UTILIZE RESOURCES
James says the state should use the resources available as strengths to win in competitive times.

He described a project to convert bio-mass into diesel fuel and ethanol. "We are on the cutting edge" of seeing that become a reality, he says. The city of Hoover, according to James, manufactures all of the fuel used in their city-owned vehicles. Fuel that costs the city a dollar a gallon to produce.

"Can you imagine the impact this to the timber industry in Alabama when this is done on a major commercial level?" James asked.

Tomorrow, GadsdenMetro.com will cover James' comments on Ethics. Friday, an article will follow on James' comments regarding education in the state of Alabama.