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.
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer is taking on the mantle of deal-maker in the Democratic Caucus, a role that will be highlighted in the upcoming debt limit fight.
While this marks the seventh straight quarter of economic growth, it is clear that more must be done to spur the economy and create jobs. To both keep the economy growing and speed up that growth, we cannot do anything that subjects the economy to unnecessary uncertainty. Yet Republicans continue to hold the economy hostage to their partisan and divisive agenda by threatening to default on our nations’ debts – despite the fact that much of the debt that’s been run up was as a result of their policies. I hope today’s news will prompt Republicans to stop putting our economy at risk. I also hope it will remind Republicans that we need to take action on job creation. It’s disappointing that after four months in the majority Republicans have failed to bring a single jobs bill to the Floor, despite their promises that it was their top priority.
But there's a paradox to Boehner's success. The speaker hasn't achieved these goals solely because of the 87 GOP freshmen elected last fall. He's pulled it off because in each case, he got help from the Democrats.
Democrats aren’t the only ones telling House Republicans they cannot hold the debt limit hostage for a partisan, divisive agenda. Wall Street executives and the business community, economists, and Republicans and conservative commentators agree that failing to raise the debt ceiling and defaulting on our debt, or even coming close to defaulting on our debt, would put our economic recovery at great risk.
If you're feeling overwhelmed this Tax Day, you're not alone. The complexity of our tax code isn't just a nuisance for families and businesses -- it's a drag on our entire economy. Each year, Americans spend billions of dollars and more than 225 million collective hours doing their taxes. And each year, there's talk of making our tax code far simpler, talk that rarely goes anywhere. This year, however, there is a real chance that we can turn our overwhelming tax code into a simpler one that unleashes productivity, saves families time and money, helps us create jobs, and reduces the deficit.
House Democrats launched a surprise procedural offensive on a budget plan Friday in an effort to put conservative Republicans on the spot – and fell just nine votes of succeeding.
House Democrats engaged in a little guerrilla warfare on the floor Friday, forcing Republicans to switch their votes at the last minute to avoid passing the Republican Study Committee’s budget.
When House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) heard Republicans were going to hold a vote on the extremely conservative Republican Study Committee budget, a lightbulb turned on in his head.
Budgets are about values and priorities – and the Republican budget makes the wrong choices, financing tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans on the backs of seniors and the disabled.
"In recent days, we have seen starkly contrasting budget plans. The plans put forward by President Obama and House Democrats are balanced approaches to getting our country out of debt while protecting investments in job creation and the future of our economy. But the Republican plan has a higher priority than balancing the budget or investing in our future or looking out for working families—its highest priority is cutting taxes even further for the wealthiest Americans...