Marine PFC Jake Suter

We are deeply saddened by the news that Marine Private Jake Suter, an 18-year-old Stevenson Ranch resident, was killed this week while bravely serving in Afghanistan.

The Santa Clarita Signal reports Suter played for West Ranch High School’s football team from his freshman through junior years. He was also in the Boy Scouts and reached the rank of Life Scout, which is just below Eagle Scout.

Suter died May 29 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment of the III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. The incident is under investigation.

A candlelight vigil will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday on Bates Place in Stevenson Ranch. Everyone is encouraged to attend and bring U.S. flags. Mourners are asked to park on Kavenaugh Lane.

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The following article is authored by my colleague, Sen. Tom Harman, of Huntington Beach.

Still Missing in Action - California Jobs
By Tom Harman

California continues to bleed jobs despite reports telling us the nation’s economy is beginning to rebound. What gives? A liberal legislature that refuses to grasp the importance of bringing hard working Californians the jobs they need; an economy that can no longer sustain years of over-regulation and pie-in-the-sky, feel good policies that crush business; and a legal climate so friendly to frivolous, nuisance lawsuits that our businesses are forced to settle rather than fight lengthy and expensive legal battles. This is no way to run a state and it has to stop.

Lawmakers of both political parties stood before you in January pledging to bring jobs to California, yet only Republicans have actually proposed anything that will bring immediate relief to our business community. The Democrat solution was to offer expanded government and more public sector jobs – both of which will ultimately mean more taxes for the rest of us. Their recently released budget solution is an additional $4.9 billion in new taxes and fees.

More than two million Californians are looking for work. All the government jobs in the world won’t bring back our economy. Additional taxes and fees only add to the problem and make it just that much harder to have a healthy bottom line. I have proposed The Jobs Protection Act to force the legislature to take a realistic look at the damaging impact policies have on our businesses.

The Jobs Protection Act would require the legislature to conduct an economic impact analysis for any bill deemed to impact California’s business community. Any legislation that costs business certain threshold amounts would be sidelined and considered at a later date with other bills that impact business.

Until the legislature gets serious about the negative impact of over-regulation and taxation on business, California’s jobs will remain missing in action.

Click on this map to view the Small Business Survival Index 2009. This index compares the policy environment for entrepreneurship across the nation. California ranks 49th among in the United States.