Economy
Sequester
Sequester refers to ten years of automatic, across-the-board cuts to the federal government’s budget. The Budget Control Act of 2011 required Congress to achieve $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction through 2021 or face a sequester. Because no agreement was reached between Congress and the Administration, the across-the-board sequester was automatically triggered.
Job Creation
In households and neighborhoods throughout our area, we know that we have a long way to go before we make up the nearly nine million jobs destroyed in our country by the financial crisis and recession. Even with the creation of more than 5.2 million private sector jobs since the recovery began, and the resurgence in the auto industry that added 250,000 new jobs, the recovery is too important for government to sit on the sidelines. We simply must do more to accelerate economic growth and job creation.
The Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act
As Ranking Member of the House Ways & Means Committee I have proposed a number of additional ideas to boost job creation as part of a Make It in America Agenda, including proposals to encourage investment in advanced energy manufacturing and to end currency manipulation.
Debt Limit and Deficit Reduction
Unfortunately, the ongoing debate over the debt limit and how to address the budget deficit has largely ignored the fact that we still have millions of workers who cannot find a job. We need to set a balanced framework to reduce the deficit now and over the long term, that includes both spending cuts and increased revenues, but we also have to preserve our ability to make the needed investments in infrastructure, education and research that are the key to our future competitiveness and prosperity. The Budget Control Act, which was enacted in the wake of last summer’s brinksmanship by Republicans over the debt limit, set forth limits on discretionary spending and put in place a mechanism called “sequestration” that would result in automatic cuts to defense spending and entitlement programs if Congress does not act to reduce the deficit. So far, this has not happened, but I believe Congress should replace sequestration with a balanced approach to deficit reduction.
Unemployment Insurance
As we work to revitalize Michigan’s economy, it’s critical that we do everything we can to help Michigan’s workers and families weather the current economic storm. Michigan is currently experiencing one of the most severe economic crises our state has seen with an unemployment rate of 8.8% and a deficit of 411,000 jobs. I hear from people in Michigan every day about the importance of unemployment insurance in helping them bridge this economic crisis.
Unemployment insurance ensures that workers who are jobless through no fault of their own will have support while they look for work. Unemployment insurance lifts families out of poverty - it is a lifeline for these families that keeps food on the table and a roof over their heads.
Congress has recently passed legislation that would extend Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) through the end of 2013. EUC is essential for those who have exhausted their state benefits but cannot yet find work in this tough economic climate. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office concluded that the extension of EUC will create 300,000 jobs this year.
Auto Industry
After months of difficult restructuring, our auto industry is firmly on the road to recovery. While the last four years have been painful for our families and communities in the wake of plant closings and jobs losses, all three domestic auto companies have returned to profitability and are expanding again.
The positive news is that after months in 2009 of countering the arguments of those who felt the companies should just be allowed to fail, the federal government made an unprecedented commitment to the domestic auto industry, including $80 billion in direct support to GM and Chrysler. This assistance has worked. Both companies have exited bankruptcy and have returned to profitability through a renewed focus on building the best cars and trucks in the world. General Motors has repaid its loans to the federal government, and is again a public company following a successful IPO in which the federal government reduced its ownership stake in GM to 32 percent. Likewise, Chrysler has repaid its federal loans, and Fiat has purchased the federal government’s stake in the company.
Manufacturing
I also believe it is critical that the federal government do everything it can to support the manufacturing base of our economy. Our industrial sector has traditionally been a source of well paid jobs that helped create the middle class. Manufacturing is also at the heart of our economic competitiveness and national security though the creation of advanced technology. Manufacturing companies do about 70% of the private sector R&D in the United States. That’s why I am a strong supporter of funding for programs to support America’s manufacturers. I also believe it is critical that the federal government do everything it can to support the manufacturing base of our economy. Our industrial sector has traditionally been a source of well paid jobs that helped create the middle class. Manufacturing is also at the heart of our economic competitiveness and national security though the creation of advanced technology.
Financial Crisis
Congressional action was needed in 2008 to stabilize credit markets that were thrown into turmoil by the global financial crisis. What might have started as a Wall Street problem quickly became a full scale problem on Main Street -- for families, state and local governments, the auto industry and many types of small businesses. While some progress has been made I will continue to press for additional steps to ensure that Michigan families and business are able to access credit on reasonable terms. Today, neraly 93% of TARP funding has been repaid, and the Treasury Department projects that the final cost of the program will be less than $38 billion.
Housing
I have talked with families who have lost their homes to foreclosure and seen the consequences first hand in our communities. Addressing the foreclosure crisis that is devastating our neighborhoods goes hand-in-hand with restoring stability to the financial system and jumpstarting our economy.
(Updated January 4, 2013)
