UPPER DARBY — Pat Meehan, the Republican candidate for the 7th Congressional District, discussed his plans to create jobs and improve the economy during a speech before the Upper Darby-Lansdowne Rotary Club Wednesday.

“The opportunity to put people back to work is through small business,” said Meehan.

Meehan said his job-creation plan includes a tax incentive to any small business that hires a first and second employee. He said there is a need to provide incentives to angel investors, such as a capital-gains tax break, so they will commit money to a business in its early startup stages.

Meehan said many people told him they are concerned about making investments because of the uncertainty Congress has created on tax policy, treatment of capital gains and new government regulations.

“People are talking about investments in equipment, but we’re not seeing the investment in people,” he said.

Meehan also criticized President Barack Obama and his administration.

“This administration lost its mark — it should have been laser-like since day one,” he said. “They lost their touch. (Speaker of the House) Nancy Pelosi lost touch.”

Meehan criticized Obama for giving too much power to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Pelosi in the early stages of his term. “They took off like ideological wildcats,” Meehan said.

Meehan, a former U.S. attorney and Delco district attorney, is running against state Rep. Bryan Lentz, D-161, of Swarthmore, and third-party candidate Jim Schneller.

Lentz met with the Upper Darby-Lansdowne Rotary Club last week. Through meetings with business owners, Lentz said he has heard about the need for tax credits for research and development and capital for research and development.

Lentz said he’d also support House Resolution 5297, also known as the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act, which would establish a fund for community banks to boost lending to small businesses. Lentz said this legislation includes tax cuts for startup businesses and makes capital available for those businesses.

“It’s an actual bill — not a theoretical bill,” said Lentz. “The difference between me and Pat Meehan is that I’m willing to support actual legislation that will help small businesses.”

Meehan said he does not support the bill because it’s another “big-government program designed to allow the government to pick the winners and losers.”

Asked whether he believed the Obama administration has failed, Lentz said, “Everyone in Washington — Republicans and Democrats — gets a bad grade on job creation.”

Schneller could not be reached for comment.