Economy & Budget

We should keep tax rates low so that small businesses have incentives to create new jobs in the United States.  We also need to adopt federal lawsuit reform and we should reduce burdensome regulations in order to strengthen the American economy.

By AFL-CIO President John Sweeney

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the last time the minimum wage was increased. Since President Clinton signed the last wage increase in 1996, the real value of minimum wage has dropped to its lowest level in 51 years – leaving working families struggling to keep pace with skyrocketing gas prices, rising health care costs and inflation. Meanwhile, the Republicans in Congress have given themselves a total of nine pay raises since 1997 totaling more than $30,000 while rewarding their wealthy corporate sponsors with tax break after tax break.

If ever an issue clearly showed the skewed priorities of this Congress’ leadership, it’s the minimum wage. Two weeks ago the Senate rightly rejected a cynical ploy by Republican leadership to poison the current minimum wage increase with yet more massive tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. Millionaire Republican leaders like Bill Frist effectively killed the minimum wage increase before Congress by insisting that low-wage workers get in line behind Paris Hilton and the Wal-Mart heirs to receive a long-overdue wage increase.

While Republican leadership plays games with the minimum wage, real working families are struggling mightily to make ends meet. Ten years ago a gallon of gas cost working people $1.11. Today low-wage workers are faced with gas prices north of $3 per gallon. The majority of these workers are adults who significantly contribute to their family’s overall income. Every day that goes by that they must continue waiting for their hard-earned raise, their families suffer as a result. Read more...

'No!' is not an energy plan for America. For too many years now, liberal Members of Congress have supported legislation that consistently said 'No!' to an American energy policy.  It is mind boggling that the greatest nation in the world doesn't have a comprehensive energy plan.

With the DOER Act's (Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act) House and Senate conference on the horizon, we can finally hear the word 'Yes!' that has eluded us for so many years. I want the upcoming House and Senate conference on the DOER Act to be a victory for the American people. A victory that means:  'Yes!' to a domestic energy policy, 'Yes!' to responsible energy exploration, 'Yes!' to the DOER Act, and 'Yes!' to an America free from the vices of foreign energy dependence.

Once again, FEMA's incompetence has reared its ugly head.  Many of you probably read Rep. Henry Waxman's and my letter to acting Director of FEMA David Paulison regarding high levels of formaldehyde in FEMA travel trailers.  In short, it appears that FEMA carelessly overlooked potential hazards in the trailers before they were issued to thousands of hurricane victims.  Preliminary reports indicate that the high levels of formaldehyde mixed with the hot summer air have lead to respiratory problems for trailer residents.

Unfortunately, formaldehyde is not the only problem that FEMA faces right now.  Last week, a report was issued which said that another $1.5 billion was awarded for temporary housing contracts on top of the already $3.4 billion that has been awarded since the hurricanes.  This week, reports have shown that keys issued to FEMA trailer park residents can open as many as 60 trailers in the same park.

Billions of dollars would seemingly be enough to provide safe and adequate housing for hurricane victims, but there remain thousands of people who are still waiting for temporary housing.  In St. Bernard Parish, one of
the hardest hit areas by Hurricane Katrina, 1,600 households are still waiting for trailers or have trailers that are still waiting to be connected to utility lines.  Meanwhile families are forced to live in trailers packed with 10 people when they were designed for three or four. It is simply inexcusable that people are forced to live like this in America. Read more...

Today's CBO projection of another drop in the Federal budget deficit is further proof that the tax relief policies passed by this Republican Congress are fueling a real economic rebound.  This latest prediction puts the deficit at $36 billion lower than the mid-year economic report from the Office of Management and Budget in July. When Congress approves policies that let businesses invest in more jobs and let families put more into their family budgets, the American economy thrives.

When I’m out on the campaign trail, I find that working Iowans are unhappy about the way their tax dollars are being spent. I’ve talked with people that have to make tough decisions with their family budget and can’t understand why the federal budget doesn’t work the same way. As our deficit has ballooned it is becoming clear that our irresponsible spending will become a burden on our children and grandchildren. Pork barrel projects are the root of the problem. This year Congress approved over 15,000 earmarks, nearly four times as many as were in the budget ten years ago.

I have proposed a three-point plan for bringing spending reform to Washington. First, we need to give line-item veto authority to the president. We also need to bring more sunshine into the earmarking process. By that I mean, no more shepherding bills through Congress in the middle of the night and putting an end to the practice of adding earmarks to bills just before they come to the floor. Lastly, I support an amendment to the United States Constitution that requires Congress to balance the federal budget.

The budget process is broken and it’s time we enact some responsible spending reforms.

This Sunday, August 20th, will mark the 10-year anniversary of the last time that the Congress increased the minimum wage, an unconscionable fact that currently leaves millions of workers struggling simply to put food on their table.  Unfortunately, instead of addressing this issue, the Republican leadership is playing political games, as evident by their recent move to tie a vote on the minimum wage to yet another tax cut for the wealthiest 7,500 families in America.  This is absurd.

Over 6 million workers in America would directly benefit from a two-step raise in the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 per hour.  It's time that the Republican leadership stopped playing games with these workers and allowed for an up or down vote when the Congress returns from recess.

The Federal Reserve reported today that industrial production rose a solid 0.4 percent last month after soaring 0.8 percent in June.  While a red hot July caused utility output (to power our air conditioners) to surge 2 percent, manufacturing output rose a subdued 0.1 percent to a new all-time high!  Still that's not too bad considering the 0.8 percent rise in manufacturing production in June.

All told, manufacturing output has increased 5.8 percent over the past year, led by double digit growth in primary metals, computers and electronic products, aerospace, and electrical equipment.

Not too bad...not too bad at all.

I'd like to see us pass the permanent tax repeal package - whether it's a compromise between the House and Senate or not.  I don't know what they're going to hold until after the elections, but the agenda will change depending on what happens in the elections.

Our #1 priority is to make sure during the August recess that the many good candidates we have running aren't carpet-bombed by GOP attacks. We have a whole plate of business that Congress can be working on.  I'm not optimistic that in the month of September we will move forward on these important issues.  We haven't moved forward on the minimum wage, the energy package is weighted toward oil and gas companies.  I'd like to move forward but I don't have a whole lot of confidence that the Republican Congress would.