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.
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.
“Today, Republicans mark 100 days in the House majority. During that time, they have pursued divisive social issues, passed bills that have no chance of becoming law, introduced a budget that would end Medicare as we know it and threatened Americans with a government shutdown. But there is one thing that Republicans have failed to do: they have failed to even consider a single bill to create jobs...
We had a good meeting in the White House yesterday. I think a good, frank discussion. I think the President’s speech laid out essentially what the Commission that he appointed, which was headed by former Chief of Staff Bowles and former Senator Alan Simpson, which said yes, we need to bring spending down. I think that’s generally agreed upon. We’ve got to rein in deficit and debt, it’s dangerous to our economy, our people and our competitiveness internationally. What the President indicated yesterday was yes, we’ve got it bring it down. We’re going to cut spending by about two-thirds of that $4 trillion he wants to cut over the next 12 years and rely on revenues, that is paying for what we buy, for the other third, which is essentially the formula that the Commission set forward. David Stockman in referring to the alternative Ryan budget made it very clear that he thought that was not a reasonable alternative. And that in fact, we had to rely to a much greater degree than the Republicans, who say absolutely no, on revenues.
Budgets are a reflection of values and priorities, and the Democratic budget introduced today shows that we are focused on strengthening the economy and bringing down the deficit. This budget lays out an alternate vision of how we can reduce the deficit while protecting investments in job creation and the future of our economy. It reduces the deficit in a balanced way, unlike the Republican budget which makes working families and seniors bear the burden while cutting taxes for the wealthy and special interests. I want to commend Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen for his work on putting together this budget.
Well, I thought the President's speech was an excellent speech and what he essentially outlined was the vision that he sees going forward. First of all, he recognized that the deficit is a critical problem we must confront but we must confront it according to the President, and I agree with him, within the framework of the values that we hold dear in this country. And that is, as your previous discussion indicated, making sure that we take care of one another. He did contrast his vision with that of the Republican budget offered by Mr. Ryan, the Budget Chairman in the House, a vision which gets to the same objective of cutting $4 trillion in spending and getting toward balanced budgets but also indicated it should not be in the context of doing away with Medicare as we know it, substantially putting those on Medicaid at great risk by eliminating its guarantees, by cutting such programs as Head Start and other early education and investment in the education of our children so we will be competitive internationally; and at the same time, giving $1 trillion worth of tax cuts to the wealthiest in Americaa.
Today, President Obama outlined a fiscally-responsible plan that would reduce our deficit by $4 trillion over the next 12 years. It subjects our entire budget, including defense spending, to the scrutiny we need to find savings. And it calls for a fairer, simpler tax code that would mean lower rates for businesses and families.
Today, President Obama is speaking on a plan to confront our nation’s unsustainable deficits. I believe it will stand in stark contrast to the Republican budget: a budget of disastrous priorities that concentrates its pain on middle- and working-class Americans, while creating yet another windfall for the wealthy—at a time when income inequality is at a height we haven’t seen since the 1920s.
On the CR, I'm still looking at it and our members are still looking at it, but clearly we want to keep the government running. Clearly we needed to reach compromise, and I think the President and Mr. Reid tried to reach the best compromise that was possible.
On Equal Pay Day we recognize the extra amount of time a woman must work – from January 1, 2010 to April 12, 2011 – for her wages to equal what a man could earn during 2010 alone. Today, women earn just 75% of what men earn, and the wage gap is even greater for minority women and older women. With women making a growing share of family income, this inequity is felt by families throughout the country. It is past time for this injustice to come to an end.
This week, the House will consider the Republican budget proposal for fiscal year 2012. Budgets are about choices, and the Republican budget makes the wrong ones. Democrats believe we can reduce the deficit while also protecting investments that grow the economy and create jobs. It’s not a question of whether we should reduce the deficit, but how we reduce it. The Republican budget proposes we balance the budget on the backs of the working families and seniors by cutting important investments in our future, ending Medicare as we know it and dismantling Medicaid.