Jobs & the Economy
America became the most powerful, most innovative economy in the world through a unique partnership between public sector investment and private sector ingenuity. To fully recover from the Great Recession, we need to recognize that while we never want more government than we need, our economy can’t expand if government isn’t providing a foundation for growth.
Federal discretionary spending on education, infrastructure, and science comprise only five percent of the federal budget. It’s no wonder, then, why student performance is falling behind the rest of the world, our roads and bridges are falling down and failing around us, and many of our best and brightest aren't pursuing degrees in Science. In order to fully restart our economy, the federal government needs to dramatically increase funding for these three critical areas. Funding for local schools and college aid will make sure that our workforce is ready for the jobs the private sector will create. Money for infrastructure assures that endless traffic jams and failed rail lines don’t clog the arteries of our economy. And smart investments in science make sure that American keeps its most important historic competitive edge: our innovation advantage.
But smart investment is only part of the solution for long term economic growth. Mounting government debt and governance by manufactured crisis hamper our economy. We can expand the paltry percentage of federal spending dedicated to education, infrastructure, and science, while smartly trimming spending in other, larger parts of the budget, like defense, Medicare, and Medicaid. And it's time to admit that we simply can’t run a proper government with historically low tax rates. As baby boomers demand more from entitlement programs, tax rates need to go up in order for us to both pay for these coming expenses and reduce the deficit. This combination of spending cuts and revenue increases won’t be easy, but by putting our nation on a path to a balanced budget we send a signal to domestic and international investment markets that the U.S. will remain the safest bet for investment in the increasingly competitive global marketplace.
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