Economic Prosperity and Educational Excellence
We will create jobs that stay in America and restore opportunity for all Americans, starting with raising the minimum wage, expanding Pell grants and making college tuition tax deductible. We also believe in budget discipline that reduces our deficit.
Democrats believe that the most effective way to increase opportunity for our families is a high quality, good paying job. The Democratic Party supports fair trade agreements that raise standards for all workers here and abroad, while making American businesses more competitive, and we don’t believe in tax giveaways that reward companies for moving American jobs overseas.
We also believe in balanced budgets and paying down our national debt, while Republicans continue to put huge burdens on future generations by borrowing hundreds of billions of dollars from foreign nations. We want to restore the budget discipline of the 1990s that helped eliminate deficits and spur record economic growth.
Democrats know that the key to expanding opportunity is to provide every child with a strong foundation of education. We will also help expand educational opportunities for college by making college tuition tax deductible, expanding Pell Grants, and cut student loan interest rates.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement after the Labor Department announced America lost another 62,000 non-farm jobs last month--the sixth month in a row to lose jobs--bringing the total to nearly 500,000 this year.
Whether it's the economy or foreign policy, John McCain has shown time and again he is out of touch with the challenges America is facing. Today marks the sixth consecutive month of job losses this year totaling almost 500,000 jobs, but rather than spend time this week talking to the American workers who have lost their jobs as a result of the failed Bush economic policies McCain supports, John McCain spent time in Colombia and Mexico arguing for more trade deals and ensuring that American jobs don't come back to America. But after saying those jobs are not coming back it is no surprise that McCain doesn't seem concerned about American job losses. As he said in 2002, "[i]t has never been my ambition for any child to grow up to work in a textile factory." Not only has McCain not been willing to fight for American jobs, he has not supported investing in the very high tech jobs of the future and education assistance he claims to support.
On a conference call today, DNC Vice Chair Linda Chavez-Thompson, the first woman appointed as an executive vice president of the AFL-CIO, and Mark Levinson, Chief Economist for UNITE HERE, discussed John McCain's trip to Colombia and Mexico, his insistence on continuing George Bush's failed economic policies and his reliance on shady lobbyist advisers like Charlie Black.
Earlier today on Good Morning America, John McCain denied ever saying he did not know economics. To refresh memory of the McCain campaign, we released a new web video highlighting a number of occasions where John McCain openly admitted he...
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain has a plan to create jobs in Ohio.
In the same week John McCain admitted that his new plan to end the moratorium on offshore oil drilling would have nothing more than a "psychological impact" on energy prices, McCain is bringing his out of touch campaign agenda to Nevada. While recent polls show that three quarters of Nevadans oppose construction of a nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain, Senator McCain has repeatedly voted to approve it and now proposes the construction of at least 45 new nuclear power plants. Presumably, Senator McCain's energy plan would require shipping the waste from those new plants to Nevada.
The Democratic National Committee today launched a new website that highlights the dismal records and misleading rhetoric of John McCain's top three economic advisors. With Senator McCain admitting that "economics is something that I've really never understood as well as I should," the question of who is shaping his economic agenda is important to determining what direction he intends to lead the country. The new site , "McCain's Economic Advisors: With Advisors Like These..." highlights the failed, flawed and out of touch policies championed by advisors like Phil Gramm, Carly Fiorina, and Doug Holtz-Eakin.
After years of saying he opposed drilling in our coastal waters, Senator McCain changed his position and has embraced President Bush's vision for offshore drilling. On CBS's Face the Nation, McCain advisor Carly Fiorina tried to defend John McCain's decision to cave in to Big Oil. First, she said Senator McCain changed his mind because he wants to confront rising gas prices. Even the Bush Administration and a former McCain advisor admit that drilling in coastal waters will do nothing to reduce the price for decades. But industry experts, the Bush Administration and even former McCain advisors admit that drilling in coastal waters will do nothing to reduce the price of gas for decades. Fiorina claimed Senator McCain is "approaching the subject of off-shore drilling in a sensible way." But just yesterday one McCain surrogate cited Fidel Castro's beachfront oil rigs to defend McCain's reversal.
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain will help American workers.
John McCain has spent months defending himself from charges that he weighed in on behalf of his lobbyist friends to steer a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract toward a European defense contractor. Despite the fact that seven of his top strategists and fundraisers lobbied for the company, Senator McCain insisted that he "had nothing to do with the contract, except to insist in writing, on several occasions, as this process went forward, that it be fair and open and transparent." In reality, Senator McCain intervened at key steps in the process, echoing the arguments of the EADS/Airbus consortium each time.
The slumping economy has hit the Latino community disproportionately harder with unemployment nearly two percent higher than non-Hispanics according to research conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center. Due mainly to a slump in the construction industry, the unemployment rate for...
In addition to the flip-flop on the offshore drilling moratorium, John McCain added two other flip-flops on energy and the environment. McCain made a major shift in his global warming agenda on cap and trade and redefining the word "mandatory."...
Today's McCain Myth: As president, John McCain would protect American jobs.
Jeff Alberici, an eight-grade teacher in New York, husband and father of three, delivers this week's Democratic Radio Address. Alberici discusses Democratic plans to tackle high energy and gas prices and the Republican efforts to block them without any solutions of their own.
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain has been honest about his economic plan.
Senator Barack Obama kicked-off a two week tour called "Change That Works for You" today in Raleigh, North Carolina to highlight his economic policies and plan to get the country back on track.I’ll take a different approach. I will reform...
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain will provide tax relief for middle class families.
Today, new economic indicators revealed the jobless claims reached a 22 year high, and that the American economy has lost jobs every month this year. It was the latest in a string of reports showing that too many Americans are losing their jobs, paying more for basic goods and services, earning less and struggling to keep their homes. Yet, in the face of months of worsening economic indicators, John McCain continues to echo President Bush's claim that the fundamentals of the American economy are strong in just about every public event. As recently as April, McCain even claimed that the American people are better off than they were eight years ago.
Today, we celebrate the glorious Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and reaffirm our commitment to the betterment of our schools and the advancement of equality for all.
John McCain said in April that "a lot of our [economic] problems are, as you know, psychological." Ohioans, who are among the worst hit by Bush/McCain style economic policies, disagree. John McCain: he's no economist, nor a psychologist, either....
John McCain's crystal ball must be cloudy. In a speech and new ad today, McCain outlined a list of promises he intends to keep by 2013 if elected. The problem? On all the challenges he outlines, John McCain has either ignored the problem altogether, has no plan, has promised prescriptions that will only make matters worse, or has demonstrated rank hypocrisy.
During his remarks in Ohio this morning, Senator John McCain outlined a fictional account of what he expects the American people to believe he will do as president. In reality, on each of the issues he addresses, Senator McCain has either failed to outline any plans or has actually promised outdated ideas that would make the problem worse.
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain has a plan to balance the budget.
In the latest ABC News/Washington Post opinion poll, 82 percent of Americans say the country is on the wrong track as President Bush hit an all-time low in the poll. The poll findings are bad news for the McCain campaign, which is running on a simple platform of four more years of failed Bush policies.
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain will spend tax-payer dollars wisely.
John McCain is taking a ferry ride down the East River from New York City to Highland, New Jersey. Sounds like a great photo op, no? Turns out, McCain's tour will pass a series of landmarks he opposed funding for or even voted voted against.
From CNBC
Today's McCain Myth: As president John McCain would work for job security in America.
John McCain is touring through areas with a history of economic and social justice problems (which Republicans traditionally ignore) to portray the presumptive GOP nominee as "not that kind of Republican." He will visit places Republicans actively vote against the...
On the same day President Bush spoke at an economic summit in New Orleans and stated the "we are not in a recession," Pennsylvania exit polls showed nine in ten voters believed the U.S. was in a recession.
After casting himself as a "Maverick" in 2000, the new John McCain is walking in lockstep with President Bush, pandering to the right wing of the Republican Party, and embracing the ideology he once denounced. On the campaign trail McCain has callously abandoned many of his previously held positions, even contradicted himself, in a blatant attempt to remake himself into a candidate Republicans can accept in 2008.
In Youngstown, Ohio today, John McCain, "standing before a nearly shuttered factory pocked with broken windows," tried to sell his failed Bush economic ideas but failed miserably, showing just how out of touch he is with the issues facing America's families. McCain, the ninth richest member of Congress, even went as far as comparing his presidential primary campaign to the struggles of workers hit hardest by the Bush economy in Rust Belt cities such as Youngstown where jobs have left and people are struggling to find work.
Our friends at the RNC on the latest McCain Makeover Tour under the title, "The Forgotten Places of America." His stops in Selma, Thomasville, and Gee's Bend were the first of many unconventional campaign visits where the Senator will spend...
Today, John McCain gave a speech in Youngstown, Ohio where he touched on some of the economic pain that Americans have been feeling. In order to show his audience that he could connect to average voters hurt by the Bush/McCain economy he reminisced about being counted out of the race for the Republican nomination last summer when he had so little money that he had to fly coach and carry his own baggage.
Today Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and DNC Political Director David Boundy announced the rollout of a new field effort to register voters and talk to them about why McCain is the wrong choice for America's future. The rollout coincides with the launch of the DNC's ad, "Better Off," which will be used at organizing events across the country.
Washington, DC - John McCain says that if he became president he would be "changing the way we do business in Washington" and put us "on a path to a balanced budget." But in reality, a McCain presidency would give us four more years of the same fiscal recklessness we got with the Bush Administration. In fact, just this week McCain said that the economy is going pretty well, despite the massive job losses, soaring inflation, and skyrocketing gas prices we've experienced since President Bush took over. But instead of offering a break with President Bush's disastrous economic policies that have hurt America, as the New York Times editorialized McCain "would dig a much deeper hole than even President Bush, exactly what the country does not need." [ABC's This Week, 4/20/08; Time.com's The Page, 4/21/08; New York Times, Editorial, 4/20/08]
Though he has admitted he doesn't understand economics, John McCain tried his hand at an economic proposal for our country this week. Now the reviews are in, and they're not very good. News accounts and expert analyses show McCain's proposals lack details, his numbers just don't add up, and he's the wrong choice for America's future. While the economy continues to slide, McCain is out of touch and offers a third Bush term of recycled economic policies that got us here in the first place.
McCain's economic plan meets resistance on the Republican side as well, with Republicans in the House and Senate "split on some of the details, including a plan to stem the tide of foreclosures and another creating a summer gas-tax holiday."
That headline makes plenty of sense since John McCain doesn't know what he is talking about. John McCain admitted on national television that his economic plan is at odds with experts. But rest assured, he's not winging it. McCain's got experts of his own, and Alan Greenspan's book, too!
Today's Myth: John McCain says he "will not leave office without balancing the federal budget" and at times has said he would even balance the budget by the end of his first term.
McCain pledges to offer help for average Americans, but most of his proposals are aimed at the wealthy and corporations:
Despite the evidence to the contrary, John McCain toed the George Bush line on the economy with a rosy outlook for the future. John McCain's self-professed lack of economic understanding prove to be disastrous for the country.
Adam Blickstein, blogging at Democracy Arsenal for the National Security Network, commented on the President's speech about defense spending this morning. Bush just stated in his speech that spending on defense as a percentage of the U.S. economy was around...
Republicans are struggling to find candidates at the Congressional level this cycle and, in particular, coming up empty-handed in New York. From the New York Times this morning: Heading into this election cycle, Republican leaders in Washington identified dozens of...
Today, the Democratic National Committee announced the second in a series of McCain vs. McCain debates to be broadcast today on www.mccaindebates.com. The debates, which show Senator McCain debating himself, make it clear that even John McCain doesn't agree with John McCain on the vital issues confronting the American people.
The failed economic policies of George W. Bush in action: New U.S. factory orders declined for the second straight month in February, and fell more than twice as much as economists expected, the Commerce Department reported today. New factory orders...
With the economy continuing to slide and John McCain himself admitting he doesn't understand the economy, the role of his economic advisers becomes particularly significant in his campaign. The Washington Post today details the questionable economic records of two of John McCain's key economic advisers and raises questions about what a McCain presidency would mean for America's working families.
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain has a record in Congress working to help families have access to housing.
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain can be trusted to stand up for American jobs.
John McCain is in France today, appropriate since he's been sending them potential American jobs.
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain will fight to keep American jobs in America.
The Democratic National Committee today called on McCain to stand up for American workers when he meets with French President Nicolas Sarkozy tomorrow.
As the economy continues to slide and jobless claims register higher than expected, the Washington Times reports today that on economic issues John McCain is out of sync with American voters.
First, the necessary backstory, via TPM Muckraker:
A recent CNN/Opinion Research poll finds that more than seven in ten Americans believe spending on the Iraq War is, at least partly, responsible for the current economic situation. Also, the poll finds that less than one in three Americans support the war, with opposition at 66 percent.
A recent USA Today/Gallup poll found that three in four Americans believe the economy has tipped into a recession. As the Federal Reserve expanded credit to securities dealers and President Bush said his administration had taken "strong and decisive action,"...
The failing economy spells bad news for McCain and GOP in November:
Despite John McCain's claims that the lobbyists don't have any influence on him, the Associated Press today reports that the lobbyists running McCain's campaign lobbied on behalf of a European company that won a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract.
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain would fight for American jobs as president.
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain will put an end to the reckless Bush budgeting and deficit spending.
It's about time for John McCain to get with the economic program:
America's working families are struggling with skyrocketing health care, energy, and college costs, stagnant wages, and a foreclosure crisis that has many Americans struggling to pay their mortgages. But John McCain just doesn't understand the challenges working families face and is offering nothing more than a third Bush term on the economy that will leave America worse off.
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain can be trusted to balance the budget.
John McCain has tried to portray himself as a fiscally responsible deficit hawk who can be trusted to balance the budget.
...of McCain's economic proposals:
Today on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, John McCain ducked questions about whether he has sacrificed his principles to pander to the right wing of his party and showed once again that in an attempt to get elected, he is offering nothing more than a third Bush term on everything from the war in Iraq to the failed economy, not the change Americans are looking for.
Yesterday Republicans blocked the economic stimulus package in the Senate, which would have extended unemployment benefits and sends helped out wounded and disabled veterans. It also would have helped 21.5 million senior citizens get stimulus checks.
Google Trends, specifically, which roughly tracks search volume
by keyword:
Today the Department of Labor issued a report stating that 17,000 non-farm jobs were lost in the month of January -- yet another indication that the economy has suffered under the leadership of Bush Republicans.
MSNBC commentator Joe Scarborough, a former Republican Congressman from Florida, paraphrased Senator John McCain's presidential platform to "less jobs, more wars."
"After eight years of failed Republican leadership, Americans are ready for change, not the third Bush term we'd get with any of the Republican presidential candidates," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. "President Bush's final State of the Union must be just that. America literally cannot afford another State of the Union address by a Republican who may have a new name, but most certainly will support the same policies that have kept us in a never ending war in Iraq and gave us an economy that's not working for all Americans."
It reminds me a lot of his failure to recognize the problems that we're facing over in Iraq. I'm sure the "next six months" will be vital to determining the future of the economy...
Nearly 1,000 employees at the General Electric refrigerator plant in Bloomington face losing their jobs when the company announced the plant's pending shutdown. General Electric could close its Bloomington refrigerator plant late in 2009, dealing another setback to an industrial...
Home construction in December fell to "its lowest point in 16 years." Just the stats, all via the Wall Street Journal:
South Carolina Republicans beware…. The Mitt Romney you see this week may bare little resemblance to the Romney you saw last year. After losing in Iowa and New Hampshire, smooth talking Mitt Romney retooled his message in order to reposition himself as a champion of working families. In reality, not only did Millionaire Mitt have to redefine the "middle class" before he could offer working families any relief, but Mitt's mismanagement left a major mess in Massachusetts. On his watch, Massachusetts saw unemployment rise, jobs leave, higher taxes and fees, and increased cost of living. Not only is he promising to bring that brand of change to Washington, he's flip-flopped and morphed himself into a Bush Republican on taxes, promising to extend the Bush tax cuts he once refused to support, and endorsing tax cuts he previously said were for "fat cats."
Democrats are offering "cost-effective ways" to boost the economy. Republicans, meanwhile, are offering more of the same.
Democrats are willing to work with the President to design a responsible strategy for stimulating our economy and reversing current policies that have us headed for recession.
Yesterday, a spokesman for President Bush announced, "I don't know of anyone predicting a recession."
President Bush reappointed Richard Stickler, the former industry executive-turned-Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) head that mishandled the response to the Crandall Canyon mine collapse last August. Meanwhile, the MSHA missed the deadline for finalizing new safety standards.
"This is a major warning shot that the economy is in trouble," said economist Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors.
A recent study examined wage gaps between whites and non-whites in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington state. The results are staggering, especially for Latinos.
Earlier I wrote about how your family owes $16,500.00 for the war in Iraq through 2008. Amazing, then, that President Bush decided that he wants to veto a health and education bill because he claims to be concerned about spending.
Republicans' mishandling of the economy will "pose serious obstacles for their party's presidential candidates" in 2008, the Los Angeles Times reported today.
One day after trying to smooth talk his way through yesterday's Republican presidential candidate debate, Mitt Romney is back in Colorado for a fundraiser today.
Once again Rudy Giuliani resorted to exaggerating his own fiscal record as mayor of New York City in order to score political points.
More of the Same was the resounding message from the Republican presidential candidates tonight as they tripped over one another to stand with the Bush Administration's failed economic policies.
After his much delayed entry into the GOP presidential contest, lobbyist turned Senator turned actor Fred Thompson finally made his debate debut tonight and it's unlikely he impressed any of his many critics.
The leading Republican presidential candidates have skipped most debates that address issues important to people of color. We've responded with a new web video on the American Dream.
The Republican Party is in danger of losing key constituencies:
Don’t ask him about student loans!
The Democratic Congress yesterday sent landmark legislation to the President that reduces college costs for millions of young people. The Democratic National Committee and College Democrats of America praised Congressional Democrats and highlighted the bills benefits for Asian American and Pacific Islander families and students:
Rudy Giuliani had a rocky relationship with the New York public school system.
There was a huge spike in home foreclosures in July, but the White House thinks it's " not a very interesting" story.
Fred Thompson conveniently omits fourteen years of lobbying experience from his official bio.
Fred Thompson's facts on the economy are all wrong--but does he care?
Political observers and experts expect Republicans to continue their downward slide in 2008.
Obstructionist Republicans wouldn't allow it to come to a vote under the last Congress, but the Democrats made sure they made it a priority when they took office earlier this year.
After John McCain was deserted by three top aides today, he turned to veteran Republican lobbyist Rick Davis. But Davis may be just another reminder of McCain's insider politics.
According to a new report released this week, the world's richest people are getting even richer. Their combined wealth surged last year to $37.2 trillion dollars--at the same time that Republicans were trying to block a minimum wage increase of $2.10 an hour for the lowest-paid workers in the U.S.
Both the Senate and House education committees have approved legislation that would cut federal subsidies to lending companies by as much as $19 billion. The savings would be channeled to student aid, lower interest rates on student loans, and make it easier for students to repay their loans after graduation.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and the head of the DNC’s Faith in Action initiative, Rev. Leah Daughtry, issued the following statement praising the announcement of the One Vote '08 Campaign, which will use the 2008 Presidential election...
