Fiscal Responsibility
Over the years, Democrats have shown our commitment to restoring fiscal responsibility by taking actions that have reduced our national deficit while investing in the American people’s priorities. During the 117th Congress, House Democrats delivered the landmark Inflation Reduction Act, which will reduce the deficit by over $300 billion while lowering health care and energy costs and taking action on climate change. In sharp contrast, Republicans jammed their 2017 Trump Tax Scam through Congress without a single hearing, gifting trillions of dollars in unpaid-for tax handouts to the wealthiest Americans and large corporations while leaving our nation with ballooning deficits. They have repeatedly held our economy hostage to benefit their irresponsible ideological agenda, whether creating artificial “fiscal cliffs,” shutting down the government, or bringing our nation to the brink of defaulting on its obligations. With other landmark legislation delivered during the 117th Congress, including the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the CHIPS and Science Act, Democrats have worked to invest in economic recovery, job creation, all while cutting the deficit in half last year. Democrats are committed to continuing our work to restore sound, long-term fiscal management so future generations can afford to invest in opportunities, secure the American Dream, and ensure workers have the tools to Make It In America.
I thought it was a good speech. I thought it was a very pointed speech. And I thought it was a speech that offered alternatives, as that the President pointed out, both parties have supported over the years. Republicans talk about putting money in people's pockets. The President’s [plan], clearly, most of it is tax cuts to put money not only in people's pockets but in the pockets of small business so they can grow businesses and hire people.
Tonight the President laid out his plan to create jobs and grow the economy through the American Jobs Act. He reminded us that everyone should have the chance to 'make it in America' through hard work, and how many fear those days are gone.
House Republicans have been on recess for 246 days – with no jobs plan and little action taken to help put more Americans back to work. And unfortunately, the schedule they have outlined for the Fall still doesn’t lay out any meaningful action on jobs. Democrats, on the other hand, are committed to taking action on Americans’ top priorities.
Today’s release of OMB’s Mid-Session Review serves as yet another reminder that we must take a balanced approach to reducing our deficit, one that includes both spending cuts and revenues. While many challenges remain to get our fiscal house in order, the Mid-Session Review shows that if we find the right balance of spending cuts and tax reform, we will be able to achieve the $4 trillion in deficit reduction necessary to stabilize our debt and continue to grow our economy.
Today, Christopher Shays and Mark Thibault, co-chairs of the bipartisan Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, previewed their commission’s findings in a Washington Post op-ed. Among their most sobering conclusions: ‘At least one in every six dollars of U.S. spending for contracts and grants in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade, or more than $30 billion, has been wasted.’ This alarming finding is just one more reason our nation needs stronger oversight of defense spending—so that taxpayer dollars can be spent efficiently on keeping our country safe and fulfilling our military’s missions. As the bipartisan select committee on deficit reduction begins its work, it is essential that the committee’s members focus on all of the contributors to our deficit, on both the revenue and spending sides. The findings detailed today remind us that all of our nation’s spending, including defense spending, deserve to be closely scrutinized.
"I believe that Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke was correct today when he observed that partisan brinksmanship over the debt limit damaged financial markets and the American economy. Now that both parties have named the members of the bipartisan joint committee on the deficit, it is time to address our nation's serious budget challenges with less concern for partisan advantage, and more concern for the common good and our shared fiscal future...
"The Congressional Budget Office's updated Budget and Economic Outlook released today reflects the seriousness of our nation's deficit problem, as well as our continuing need to create jobs...
Wanted to make sure you saw the op-ed by Whip Hoyer in Politico calling for a balanced solution to reducing our deficit which includes action on both spending and revenue. To read the op-ed, click here or see below...
It’s been another rough week for Republicans back home in their districts as they try defending tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans while putting the burden of deficit reduction on the middle class and seniors.
Wanted to be sure you saw this Washington Post article today highlighting the Republicans’ agenda since taking the House majority eight months ago. You’ll notice the article says little about action they’ve taken to support job creation.