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.
If the United States fails to pay the bills it has incurred, it ‘would be a financial disaster not only for our country, but for the world economy.’ Those are the words of Speaker Boehner in January...
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer will lay down his marker in the upcoming debt limit debate in a speech before the Bipartisan Policy Center on Monday.
Now that the U.S. has reached the debt limit today, it is past time for Republicans to get serious and work with Democrats to ensure our nation pays its bills while laying out a path to reduce the deficit. The longer we wait to take responsible action, the more damaging it is to our economy. I agree with Speaker Boehner’s statement yesterday that an agreement doesn’t ‘have to wait until the eleventh hour.’ Businesses – and the global economy – need certainty that the U.S. will continue to pay its bills. By choosing to hold the economy hostage by risking a default on our nation’s debt, Republicans are endangering our economic recovery. I hope now that we’ve reached the debt limit, and the Treasury has been forced to employ extraordinary measures, Republicans stop putting the economy at risk and work with us to meet our obligations and set forward a serious, balanced approached to deficit reduction.
Today’s Trustees Reports show that the Social Security and Medicare programs have the resources to meet their obligations well into the next decade, but have taken a hit due to economic conditions. The programs will be solvent into the next decade, due in part to the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, which strengthened Medicare by taking significant steps to constrain cost growth through innovative delivery system and payment reforms that will increase efficiency, improve quality, and generate long-term savings for both beneficiaries and the government. According to the Trustees, Medicare’s financial outlook was substantially improved by this critical law.
After more than four months in the majority, Republicans have made their priorities clear – and it is not the middle class. They have not produced a jobs agenda to get more Americans back to work, they’ve proposed ending Medicare as we know it, they are fighting to protect taxpayer subsidies for oil companies and now they are moving forward on a bill that could take away extended unemployment benefits for over four million Americans. This would harm families as well as our economic recovery.
After four months, its clear Republicans don’t share the American people’s priorities by failing to focus on jobs and making the wrong choices on the deficit.
Today’s report on March employment levels brought encouraging news for our economy. Our economy added a net total of 244,000 jobs, while our private sector grew by 268,000 jobs. That number marks the 16th straight month of private-sector job growth under President Obama—as well as the strongest month for private-sector jobs since February 2006, before the Bush recession. Nevertheless, the unemployment rate increased by .2 percentage points to 9.0%; and while that increase represents more Americans entering the job market as the economy recovers, the fact remains that millions are still out of work, at a time when high gas prices are putting a strain on every American family.
Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters Tuesday that Democrats will roll out a host of legislative proposals Wednesday as part of their “Make It in America” agenda. Some of the items have already been introduced by Democratic Members, Hoyer said, and all will be focused on boosting exports and lowering the unemployment rate.
Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Geithner informed Congress that, unless Congress takes action to increase the debt limit, our country will approach the debt ceiling in two weeks. But rather than working together to meet our responsibilities, Republicans continue to hold the economy hostage to their divisive agenda by threatening to default on our debt, even though it was their policies that created most of our debt.
Today, Treasury Secretary Geithner informed Congress that, unless we act to ensure that America pays the bills that it has incurred, our country will approach its debt ceiling by May 16. Extraordinary efforts by the Treasury Department may allow for a reprieve through about August 2. In any case, the responsibility of Congress is the same. Reaching the debt ceiling is still imminent—and the consequences of failing to act, and defaulting on our debts, would still be catastrophic for the American and world economies. We must take what Speaker Boehner has called the ‘adult’ course of action and pay our bills.