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.
Today, Republicans are wasting time on their “Cut, Cap and End Medicare” bill, bringing it to the House Floor for a symbolic vote, despite the fact that it is expected to fail in the Senate and the President will veto it. While Democrats are calling on Republicans to act quickly to enact a large agreement to reduce the deficit and ensure America pays its bills, Republicans are pressing forward with an extreme proposal that increases our chances of default and is the Republican budget all over again: it ends Medicare and drastically cuts Medicaid, while preserving tax breaks for the wealthy.
I welcome President Obama’s nomination of Richard Cordray as the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. As Attorney General of Ohio and the head of the Bureau’s enforcement arm, Richard Cordray has built a strong record of standing up for the middle class. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created to bring fairness to the financial services on which millions of Americans rely, and to prevent a recurrence of a financial crisis caused by Wall Street recklessness and lax regulation.
This afternoon, Fitch Ratings announced it will place the U.S. credit rating in “ratings watch negative,” which could lead to a credit rating downgrade if America fails to pay its bills.
We here in the Democratic Whip Press shop will give Republicans credit for their transparency. They are not even trying to hide the fact that their “Cut, Cap and End Medicare” bill would end the program’s guarantee.
Republicans concerned about reducing the deficit should take note of this article in Roll Call today that explains how failure to pay our nation’s bills would actually increase the deficit and “push the economy back into recession.” Though Republicans claim that deficit reduction is one of their top priorities and argue that it is critical to boosting
Wanted to be sure you saw this article in Politico today on the consequences of failing to pay our nation’s bills. Republicans need to take these warnings from financial experts seriously and work with us on a big, balanced agreement to ensure we pay our bills, reduce the deficit and avoid these catastrophic consequences of default.
Wanted to make sure you all saw this article in Politico this morning on the GOP’s increasingly out-of-touch demands on the deficit negotiations, even as we risk America not paying its bills.
As Republicans continue to walk away from an opportunity to seriously address the deficit and give businesses certainty, Democrats are calling on the GOP to take responsibility for the debt they helped create and work with us on a big, comprehensive agreement to ensure America pays its bills and restore America’s fiscal health. Democrats believe we must reduce the deficit with a balanced, comprehensive package that includes both revenues and spending cuts.
I want to make it very clear. We are not for asking people who are trying to make it in America, we are not for asking those who are struggling in America, we are not asking for those who rely on Social Security, we are not asking for those who rely on their Medicare benefits to pay the burden of the spending that we have been involved in over the last decade, which took us from $5.6 trillion of debt to over $10 trillion of debt. We are not asking for those struggling Americans which the gentleman raises as the specter of those we think ought to pay their fair share. Oh, no. We are asking for those who have done extraordinarily well over the last decade, who have made millions per year over the last decade, some billions of dollars over the last decade, oil companies who are now making the biggest profits they ever made and others to pay a little more so that we can stabilize the finances of America. So, don't represent that it's Democrats who are asking those struggling small business people. We are not doing that. Or those struggling working people in America who, by the way, have been stuck in the mud under the economic policies that were pursued consistent with the 2001 and 2003 economic programs, which has seen a growing disparate between working people and the wealthiest people in America.
Wednesday, Moody’s Investors put the U.S. under review for a credit rating downgrade: