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ECONOMY Republicans are crowing about the economy, while millions of American
families are living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to make ends meet,
and going deeper in debt. The Bush economy is moving in the wrong direction; health care,
energy and college costs have risen since President Bush took office, even
as the purchasing power of American paychecks has dropped. Ø
Gas prices have doubled topping $3.00 a gallon, with
the price of oil topping a record in July. [Energy
Information Administration, 7/06] Ø
This year, families are paying $3,200 more than in
2001 due to rising energy costs. [Government
Reform, 5/21/06] Ø
In
2005, the typical family was
paying $1,200 more a year for health insurance – increasing 55 percent
in real terms. [KFF,
2005] Ø
In 2006, health care premiums for a family of four
will climb nearly another 10 percent, with families paying about $2,810
for premiums and an average of $2,210 in out-of-pocket expenses for
treatments. [Millman
Inc., Bloomberg, 7/6/06] Ø
College tuition
has gone up about 40 percent in real terms. [College
Board, 2005] Ø
Median family income has dropped every year of the
Bush Administration, and Americans’ paychecks have been flat or declined
in more than half of the 65 months of the Bush Administration. [Census,
BLS, 8/2005;
Labor Department, 6/06; Bloomberg, 6/20/06] Ø
For
the first time in 30 years, people with college degrees are seeing their
incomes stagnate. Employees
with four-year degrees saw their wages fall 5.2% from 2000 to 2004 when
adjusted for inflation. [ Young
families face huge challenges – college debt, jobs without good
benefits, and rising interest rates. Ø
The
typical student graduates from college with $17,500 in debt. [College
Board, 2005] Ø
Federal
Reserve interest rate has climbed to the highest level in five years –
pinching the pocketbooks of families with credit card debt, car loans, and
adjustable rate mortgages. Ø
About
3.7 million employees have lost employer-provided health insurance since
2000 and the percentage of those with employer-sponsored retirement plans
dropped from 2001 to 2004. [CRS,
5/06; CPS, 8/05] Republicans’
record budget deficits are out of control
and driving our country deeper into debt to foreign investors and
governments. Ø
Republicans have turned President Clinton’s
projected 10-year $5.6 billion surplus into a nearly $3 trillion deficit. Ø
Ø
Interest
payments are growing faster than all other items in the Bush
Administration budget. Ø
Republicans’
misplaced priorities give more tax cuts for the wealthy, more giveaways to
the big oil companies, and more record deficits. Ø
Republicans voted to
protect more than $5 billion in oil industry giveaways. Ø
In most recent Republican
tax bill, most middle-class families will receive less than $30, while the average
tax cut for millionaires is about $65,000. Democrats have a New Direction for p
Democrats
will begin by fighting for a pay raise through a minimum wage increase. o
Nearly
15 million Americans will likely benefit from an increase to $7.25 an hour
-- 6.6 million directly and 8.3 million
indirectly. o
Almost
60% of these workers are women, and
40% are people of color p
Democrats
are fighting for fiscal responsibility, through pay-as-you-go budgets, so
that our children and grandchildren are not saddled with mountains of
debt.
p
Democrats
have an Innovation Agenda to create good-paying jobs and keep ó
Building
a skilled workforce in science, engineering, and information technology, ó
Spurring
federal research and development, ó
Guaranteeing
access to broadband technology, and ó
Achieving
energy independence by 2020 through emerging technologies. p
Democrats
are fighting to end tax breaks that promote shipping jobs overseas. p
Democrats
have proposed legislation to make health care, energy and education more
affordable. Democrats will: o
Prosecute
energy companies that cheat consumers; o
Permit
reimportation of quality pharmaceuticals and use the government’s mass
purchasing power to bring down drug prices for seniors; and o
Cut
interest rates on college loans. Democratic
Leadership puts priorities of working families first. Under
President Clinton, all families prospered;
they saw their income grow, opportunities for good-paying jobs
increase, and a better standard of living.
ó
Nearly 23 million new jobs were created
(or 237,000 per month). 6
Only 41,000 jobs per month have been created and 2.9
million manufacturing jobs lost under the Bush Administration. ó
6
The income for middle-class families has dropped
$1,669 or nearly 4 percent under the Bush Administration. [CPS,
8/05]
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