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.
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.
I opposed the Republicans’ Energy and Water Appropriations bill, as it undermines our nation’s ability to keep our lakes, rivers and streams clean. The bill restricts the Corps of Engineers' ability to work with the EPA to protect our waterways under the Clean Water Act. This bill also makes shortsighted cuts to our energy efficiency and renewable energy programs – programs that will pay for themselves in the long run by supporting the development of groundbreaking clean energy technologies that will save consumers money on their energy bills and create the jobs that will help more families Make It In America.
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:
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.