I wonder how long House Republicans are going to continue playing ideological games with the economy. Moody's Investors Service announced yesterday that it might begin a review to downgrade our government's credit rating. This follows a failed House vote on raising the debt ceiling with not one Republican voting in favor of the increase.
Leading economists from across the political spectrum agree that downgrading our credit rating would increase our borrowing costs and actually increase the deficit. Dilly-dallying with the debt ceiling is clearly the wrong direction for our country.
I voted to increase the debt ceiling because it's time to focus on job creation and deficit reduction in a serious way. Our country is slowly pulling itself out of the Great Recession, but we're still leaving millions of unemployed Americans behind.
Instead of forcing drastic cuts on the middle class that will increase the ranks of the unemployed, I urge my colleagues to support the People's Budget developed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Unlike the Republican budget, the People's Budget balances the budget by 2021, creates jobs, and strengthens Medicare.
Republicans profess to be against deficits, but they are experts at creating and exacerbating deficits. The Bush administration's two wars, reckless tax cuts for billionaires, and pharmaceutical giveaway left us with record deficits and an economy on the brink of collapse. Not exactly a sterling track record. Now they're doubling down on this bad track record by playing a game of chicken over the debt ceiling.
It's time for House Republicans to increase the debt ceiling, get serious about governing, and focus on creating jobs.
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Richard Attias: Enough Talk: It's Time for Action on Jobs
There really does need to be a discussion about why most of the national tax burden is owned by the middle and lower classes (both in terms of dollars and lives lost via foreign useless wars). Being wealthy should not be an excuse to not pay taxes (thanks in large part to the IRS code), it really is time to revise it. As we have seen, lower taxes for the wealthy and corporations has done nothing to help anyone but themselves.
Every time I hear the far-right say that the wealthy will take their money and leave the country, I have to laugh, what repressive country are they going to invade, I mean relocate?
Thanks for posting this Congressman Ellison.
It's ironic that the progressive plan of 2012 is pretty much the Eisenhower plan of the 50's - a plan which not only balanced the budget, paid down a massive debt, but added entitlements, cut spending (particularly defense), and built the modern middle class and American prosperity for generations.
Timid Democrats will once again regret the day they pandered to the Republican propaganda, and ignored both fiscal responsibility and the nation.
Read the analysis: http://epi.3cdn.net/55d8ba5873e5bd097e_avm6b8rb1.pdf
Keith, the People's Budget is not a budget . . . it's closer to a website. It hasn't been introduced, it hasn't been scored and it has few details.
I'd love to see it scored so we can see if any of the bullet points are true.
For more than two years, Democrats had a super-majority that could have passed any thing it wanted . . . including workable jobs bills . . . and yet the focus was not on jobs, but transforming how America operates from the inside out. Now that that's in disarray, everyone's trying to figure out how to employ the unemployable who have been without work for so long they've lost valuable skill sets essential for critical positions.
To say that we've "waited too long to focus on jobs" is to say that it was never was a priority to begin with.
If we're going to get serious about putting people back to work, we need affordable energy and we need it now. We have plenty of exploitable resources, yet that's not going to happen while the EPA and other environmental groups challenge every attempt to do so.
Moreover, our basic infrastructure is quickly falling apart from bridges and roads, to water ways and supply lines, to buildings, subways, railways, to our electrical grid which is seriously outmoded and dangerously flawed.
Yet, there's no money to put toward any of that because it was squandered on Wall St., Unions, and Banks, providing their solvency while saddling the American tax payer, (the source of all money) with double debt, i.e, the loans they currently carry and the public debt that was so sadly wasted.
The most viable solution is also the worst, yet no one wants to face it. Americans must necessarily be paid less to compete with the overall worlds reduced daily wage in producing goods and services, Washington must cut its boated size and it's spending habits (drastically), we must invest in all forms of energy while relaxing regulations and restrictions that prevent doing so, and we've got to start working on our own country instead of pouring billions if not trillions in other nations that hold little hope of salvation.
Until we get serious about facing our problems and the causes for each of them, things are only going to get worse. I see a lot of finger pointing, hand sitting, and wrangling on about how dire everything is but darn little action to fix any of it.
Why is it that every attempt to control spending (by cutbacks) is met with flaming outrage, protests, and bottle tossing, when everyone knows it the right thing to do? And why is it that weak kneed politicians refuse to explain to the public how it really is in our best interest to do so until we get things going again?
Now, roll up your sleeves and get to doing the work of the public for the public's sake and not Bankers, Wall St, or deep pocketed buddies.
It is well past time....however they are too busy trying to make Obama look bad.
With the reckless congressional bailouts, Fed purchases and stimulus, the largest single sovereign debt issue is now square on the shoulders of the producers and working people in this nation.
We cannot police the world, we cannot be the savior for every person or country in trouble. The debt of the nation has increased for the last 54 years straight. Ironically, we were a strong fiscal growing nation with savings and investment before that. Without the tremendous economic destruction of the war machine, we might still be strong.
The dollar is at an all time low vs. New Zealand, Switzerland and close to an all time low in a dozen other countries. Going farther in to debt never gives you extended purchasing power, only short term gains.
You can argue all you want about what program should be funded, the bottom line is, it is not good policy to inflate the dollar and create wars.
We do need to cut wasteful spending, but leaving people to die in the streets is NOT the way to go. The hundreds of billions we let businesses skim off the top of taxes each year and force individuals to make up for, or worse, borrow against future generations has to stop.
I wish YOU were the congressperson from Minnesota with presidential aspirations.