Business group begins running ads calling for less regs

A business coalition has begun a TV ad campaign in North Carolina pushing for a better business environment through less regulation and lower taxes.

The group, called Job Creators Alliance, began running an ad in the Raleigh-Durham market on Wednesday featuring Martin Marietta executive Steve Zelnak.

“Right now, excessive regulations are costing us jobs,” Zelnak said. “We need reforms that reduce taxes, produce real jobs, and reward success. That's how we create jobs and put Americans back to work.”

The ad buy is expected to run five weeks across North Carolina. It is part of a national campaign that is expected to air commercials in key battleground states.

It 501-C group started last June by a number of business leaders around the country including Bernie Marcus, co-founder of The Home Depot Inc., Brad Anderson, former CEO of Best Buy Co.,  and John Mackey, co-CEO of Whole Foods, John Allison, former chairman of BB&T, Fred Eshelman, founder of PPD, Inc. of Wilmington, Art Pope, CEO of Variety Wholesalers. Other North Carolinians involved include real estate executives Jim Anthony and Jim Kane.

According to the alliance's webpage, the group wants to replace the new healthcare law with “consumer-oriented reforms,” increase the emphasis on science and math education, limit the national debt to 60 percent of GDP, reduce entitlement programs including limiting benefits for those with higher incomes, allow more highly skilled foreign workers and doctoral students into the country, approve more free trade agreements, include expiration date with new regulations, and reduce the corporate tax rate to 25 percent.