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.
Tonight's meeting at the White House was productive. The President made clear his preference remains reaching a big compromise that reduces the deficit in a balanced way and ensures we pay our bills, and I agree. I believe we should take action quickly to send a clear signal to businesses and world markets that we are going to both pay our bills and address our deficit crisis in a meaningful way, while protecting seniors and the middle class.
Do Republicans really want to stop America from paying its bills? Conservative economics writer Megan McArdle explains just how ugly the consequences will get if the debt ceiling isn’t raised:
The American people know we have to pay our bills, that’s why 74% of Republicans and 77% of independents believe that a deficit agreement should include a mix of revenues and spending cuts, according to a recent Gallup Poll.
Republicans may want to check out a poll released by Quinnipiac University today showing that Americans trust President Obama more than congressional Republicans on the economy and agree with the President that deficit reduction must be done in a balanced way – not on the backs of seniors and the middle class.
Wanted to be sure you saw this editorial in the Washington Post today on debt limit negotiations. It highlights the opportunity that would be lost if we do not work together on a comprehensive package to seriously address America’s fiscal challenges, which is what Democrats continue to fight for as negotiations proceed.
Today, two business leaders, US Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Donohue and Financial Services Forum President and CEO Robert Nichols, warned of the consequences of a default in a USA Today op-ed, putting pressure on Republicans to avoid the catastrophic consequences that would occur.
According to Donohue and Nicols, failing to ensure we pay America’s bills would mean:
The jobs report released last week disappointed a lot of Americans, and I’m one of them. Our private sector added 57,000 jobs in June, but with public-sector layoffs across the country, the total number of jobs created added up to just 18,000. To be sure, that’s far better than the situation our country faced as President Obama took office, when we were losing nearly three-quarters of a million jobs per month. Since then, our economy has been steadily adding jobs, and our private sector has grown for 16 straight months. But that’s hardly any consolation to the millions of Americans who are still out of work, still suffering the effects of 2008’s financial crisis. What can we do to make their future brighter?
Today’s White House meeting was constructive and progress was made. The announcement from Moody’s earlier today makes the case that these debt negotiations need to produce a meaningful outcome that will bring down the deficit in a balanced way and ensure we pay our bills, rather than producing just a simple political solution. That is the President’s clear priority in these meetings and I share that view.
A sprawling coalition of Wall Street and Main Street business leaders sent an unmistakable message to lawmakers Tuesday: Enough squabbling. Get the debt ceiling raised.
I strongly oppose Republicans’ proposed balanced budget amendment, and I will be whipping against it. By enshrining Republican policy priorities in the Constitution—and by making it historically difficult to raise revenue or raise the debt ceiling in order to pay our bills—the Republican amendment would impose severe hardship on millions of Americans. More than even the radical, Medicare-ending budget passed earlier this year, it would require drastic and harmful cuts to programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, programs that form the heart of America’s social compact. Unlike previous balanced budget amendments, this amendment would mean great pain for ordinary Americans, even as it shielded the most privileged from any comparable sacrifice. It is not a solution to our nation’s pressing fiscal challenges.