Jobs & the Economy
Throughout the 117th Congress, House Democrats have partnered with President Biden to enact policies that expand economic opportunity for businesses, workers, and communities across America. Under President Biden and Congressional Democrats, the unemployment rate is at its lowest in more than 50 years with more than 10 million jobs created, helping more of our people get ahead in today’s economy and Make It In America.
Democrats pursue an economic agenda that helps American businesses create good-paying jobs and ensure that workers have the tools not only to get by but to get ahead in our global economy. From raising the minimum wage to providing skills training and apprenticeship opportunities to ensuring equal pay for equal work, from making childcare more affordable to making it easier to save for retirement, Democrats’ economic policies are aimed at helping workers and their families attain real economic security at every stage of life.
Democrats have also delivered historic legislation investing in infrastructure and greater access to high-speed internet, taking the lead in the clean-energy economy, and supporting innovation and entrepreneurship. The generational Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has already begun to expand economic opportunity for Americans in communities across the country and takes action to repair our nation’s roads, bridges, ports, and other infrastructure while creating nearly 1.5 million jobs annually over the next decade. It contains the first major American investment in climate resilience to help communities upgrade their critical infrastructure and mitigate the impact of climate change-driven extreme weather. Likewise, the Inflation Reduction Act also advances America’s clean energy goals, turbocharging clean energy research and transmission while promoting electric vehicle domestic manufacturing to reduce American dependence on gasoline while revitalizing our auto industry.
The CHIPS and Science Act includes bipartisan measures to revitalize the domestic semiconductor industry and spur research. By strengthening domestic supply chains, this law acts directly to accelerate American innovation in the long-term while acting immediately to address inflation and create good paying jobs. House Democrats will continue to champion skills training and education at every level – from early childhood learning through higher education – to prepare our people for success and advancement in a changing economy. In all of these efforts, Democrats will continue to look for ways to make access to opportunities more equitable and to combat the lingering effects of legalized discrimination that continue to make it harder for minorities to access credit for loans, seek investment capital for startups, and build wealth to pass on to the next generation.
With historic job creation under President Biden, House Democrats will continue to advance policies that expand economic opportunity for working families, support small businesses, and create better-paying jobs.
This morning, Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist made a big splash by saying that allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire in 2012 would not violate his organization’s pledge against tax increases.
One year ago today, President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. This legislation was a much-needed response to the financial crisis that cost millions of Americans their jobs—a crisis whose effects we are still feeling. It is evident that the Bush Administration’s failure to conduct proper oversight of our financial industry did severe damage to the jobs, savings, and futures of families across our country. In response, Dodd-Frank took important steps to put the financial referees back on the field.
This legislation puts the special interests ahead of the public interest by weakening the entity that shields responsible consumers from financial abuses. Last year, Congress passed an important Wall Street reform bill in order to prevent a job-destroying financial crisis from happening again. And one of the most crucial parts of that bill was the creation of a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a watchdog that would look out for the interests of ordinary Americans who want to sign mortgages, apply for student loans, and start businesses on honest and fair terms. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is empowered to ensure that lenders provide clear, plain-language explanations of loan terms—and to stop the kind of abusive and deceptive loan practices that helped drive our economy off a cliff. If such protections had been in place in the last decade, the odds of a crisis would have been significantly less.
Key Point: “Not continuing a tax cut is not technically a tax increase,” Mr. Norquist told us. So it doesn’t violate the pledge? “We wouldn’t hold it that way,” he said.
Out from under the anti-tax pledge
Washington Post Editorial, Published: July 20
Wanted to make sure you all saw this article in the New York Times outlining the damage to our fragile economy that default would do. So far, House Republicans have refused to heed the warnings and have refused to work with Democrats on a big, grand bargain approach to deficit reduction that includes revenues.
In this very important debate, do we need to bring down spending? We do; but one of the interesting facets of every report that's been issued in a bipartisan way—the so-called Gang of Six, the Simpson-Bowles Commission, the Domenici-Rivlin Commission—is the premise that we must not take action that undermines the most vulnerable among us. I know my friends on the Republican side of the aisle, who pride themselves on being the party of Lincoln, understand Lincoln's message of healing, of bringing us together, of making sure that we lifted up our fellow citizens and cared for the sick and for the homeless, for the young, and yes, for the old. So I thank Chairwoman Lee, such an extraordinarily courageous and powerful voice on behalf of those who sometimes have no voice. I am pleased to join my voice to hers and hopefully to all 435 of us who have been given the privilege of serving in this body—to raise our voices on this day on behalf of a nation that has been perceived around the world as being a nation of hope, of opportunity, of heart, and of soul. Let us reflect that in whatever way we go forward in ensuring the fiscal health of our nation, the health of our people—physically, mentally, financially—is equally important.
Republicans may be in denial about the catastrophic consequences of failing to ensure we pay America’s bills, but it’s clear that states will pay the price if Congress doesn’t come together on a balanced agreement to ensure we pay our bills. In case Republicans need a visual to understand the impact, CAP has put together an interactive map showing how states would be affected, with each losing hundreds of millions of dollars if we fail to ensure we pay our nation’s bills.
From the Democratic Whip Press Shop:
We know that Republican debt limit antics have reached the point of absurdity when The Onion hits the nail on the head describing the Republicans’ position that’s putting our economy at risk. Republicans may be pushing our country toward default, but at least they’re pushing the bounds of satire at the same time:
Wanted to make sure you all saw this post in the Washington Post’s Plum Line blog about how House Republicans are so dug in on the deficit issue, they are not even willing to listen to Ronald Reagan.
With less than two weeks to go before America defaults on its debts, House Republican Freshman are still trying to score political points and push their extreme agenda, even if it means America not paying its bills for the first time. Or even if it means turning on their own party leaders.
As Politico reports: