Congressman Howard “Buck” McKeon stopped by the Santa Clarita Chamber of Commerce with an old-fashioned, tough-minded approach to troubles facing this country.

“We need lift ourselves up by our bootstraps and put people back to work,” said McKeon.

Describing the tumbling of stocks on Monday as creating fear that was “palpable”, McKeon said job creation is the answer to the debt crisis.

“We cannot cut enough to work our way out of this.  It just is not possible.” McKeon said.

With at least 14 million Americans out of work, he waxed nostalgic for the Reagan era.

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“If we could get them back to work. Then what you do is you broaden your base and that’s where you get increased revenue. That’s what happened in the Reagan expansion. You get people back to work. They start paying taxes and you grow your way out,” said McKeon.

Uncertainty, McKeon said, was the biggest problem right now with creating jobs. Business owners, he believes, are concerned with the medical costs of hiring new employees and what taxes may be coming their way.

“They have no idea what’s coming down the pike. So everyone is just kind of hunkering down, holding on to what they have, hoping they’ll just make it through,” McKeon said.

McKeon says the country has to crack through that uncertainty.

“I’m confident we will. We are America. We are America. We’ve had tougher fights,” said McKeon.