By Rebecca Shabad
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is flipping the script on the GOP with a seven-step plan to address national "deficits" through increases in spending.
Sanders, the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, said lawmakers must address deficits in jobs, income equality, infrastructure, trade, retirement security and education in their next budget blueprint.
“These deficits must be immediately address by the Budget Committee,” he said in an eight-page report. (link here)
Sanders, a self-described socialist who caucuses with Democrats and is eyeing a White House run in 2016, has a high-profile role as the leading counterweight to Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee.
While Republicans are aiming to cut deficits and trim deficit spending, Sanders is pushing for new spending on social programs as the recipe for growing the economy.
Here is the Introduction:
Introduction
The Congressional Budget Office’s report on the budget and economic outlook, to be released Monday, is an important document that will help guide the Senate Budget Committee and others during the course of the year. However, this report only tells part of the story of our economy. It will give us valuable information about projections regarding GDP, the federal deficit, the national debt, unemployment levels, and revenue.
It will not, however, tell us about the suffering of tens of millions of Americans who are part of the disappearing middle class, and who worry about the kind of economy we will be leaving their kids.
The good news is that during the last reported quarter we saw very strong economic growth of 5.0 percent, and last month the economy created another 252,000 jobs. Further, the federal deficit has been reduced by more than two-thirds since 2008, and federal deficits over the next decade are estimated to be about $4.7 trillion lower compared to what the Congressional Budget Office projected in 2010. That’s more than what the Simpson-Bowles fiscal commission called for just four years ago. All of that is very impressive, but it doesn’t tell the full story of what is happening in our economy and what is happening to the lives of tens of millions of working families.
While we must continue to focus on the federal deficit, we must also be aware that there are other deficits in our society that have been causing horrendous pain for the vast majority of the American people. These are deficits in jobs, deficits in infrastructure, deficits in income, deficits in equality, deficits in retirement security, deficits in education, and deficits in trade. These deficits must be immediately addressed by the Budget Committee.
The federal budget is a reflection of our national priorities.
At a time when this country has an obscene level of income and wealth inequality, we need a budget that ends the outrageous loopholes that exist and asks the wealthiest people and largest corporations to start paying their fair share of taxes.
At a time when real unemployment remains much too high, we need a budget that creates millions of decent paying jobs.
At a time when our infrastructure is collapsing, we need a budget that rebuilds our crumbling roads, bridges, dams, levees, water systems, waste water plants, airports, and rail systems.
At a time when real median family income has declined by nearly $5,000 since 1999, and millions of Americans are working longer hours for lower wages, we need a budget that substantially increases wages for low and middle-income workers.
At a time when the United States is engaged in an extremely competitive global economy, we need the best educated workforce in the world and a budget that makes certain that every American can get a higher education without incurring debt.
At a time when we have the highest rate of childhood poverty in the industrialized world and when millions of seniors and disabled people are struggling to put food on the table, we need to strengthen Social Security and the safety net – not cut programs for the most vulnerable people in our country.
At a time when our trade deficit is much too high, we need a budget that demands that corporate America creates jobs in this country, and not in China and other low-wage countries.
In this report, I’ve laid out some of the major priorities on which the Budget Committee must focus.
Sanders, the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, said lawmakers must address deficits in jobs, income equality, infrastructure, trade, retirement security and education in their next budget blueprint.
“These deficits must be immediately address by the Budget Committee,” he said in an eight-page report. (link here)
Sanders, a self-described socialist who caucuses with Democrats and is eyeing a White House run in 2016, has a high-profile role as the leading counterweight to Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee.
While Republicans are aiming to cut deficits and trim deficit spending, Sanders is pushing for new spending on social programs as the recipe for growing the economy.
Here is the Introduction:
Introduction
The Congressional Budget Office’s report on the budget and economic outlook, to be released Monday, is an important document that will help guide the Senate Budget Committee and others during the course of the year. However, this report only tells part of the story of our economy. It will give us valuable information about projections regarding GDP, the federal deficit, the national debt, unemployment levels, and revenue.
It will not, however, tell us about the suffering of tens of millions of Americans who are part of the disappearing middle class, and who worry about the kind of economy we will be leaving their kids.
The good news is that during the last reported quarter we saw very strong economic growth of 5.0 percent, and last month the economy created another 252,000 jobs. Further, the federal deficit has been reduced by more than two-thirds since 2008, and federal deficits over the next decade are estimated to be about $4.7 trillion lower compared to what the Congressional Budget Office projected in 2010. That’s more than what the Simpson-Bowles fiscal commission called for just four years ago. All of that is very impressive, but it doesn’t tell the full story of what is happening in our economy and what is happening to the lives of tens of millions of working families.
While we must continue to focus on the federal deficit, we must also be aware that there are other deficits in our society that have been causing horrendous pain for the vast majority of the American people. These are deficits in jobs, deficits in infrastructure, deficits in income, deficits in equality, deficits in retirement security, deficits in education, and deficits in trade. These deficits must be immediately addressed by the Budget Committee.
The federal budget is a reflection of our national priorities.
At a time when this country has an obscene level of income and wealth inequality, we need a budget that ends the outrageous loopholes that exist and asks the wealthiest people and largest corporations to start paying their fair share of taxes.
At a time when real unemployment remains much too high, we need a budget that creates millions of decent paying jobs.
At a time when our infrastructure is collapsing, we need a budget that rebuilds our crumbling roads, bridges, dams, levees, water systems, waste water plants, airports, and rail systems.
At a time when real median family income has declined by nearly $5,000 since 1999, and millions of Americans are working longer hours for lower wages, we need a budget that substantially increases wages for low and middle-income workers.
At a time when the United States is engaged in an extremely competitive global economy, we need the best educated workforce in the world and a budget that makes certain that every American can get a higher education without incurring debt.
At a time when we have the highest rate of childhood poverty in the industrialized world and when millions of seniors and disabled people are struggling to put food on the table, we need to strengthen Social Security and the safety net – not cut programs for the most vulnerable people in our country.
At a time when our trade deficit is much too high, we need a budget that demands that corporate America creates jobs in this country, and not in China and other low-wage countries.
In this report, I’ve laid out some of the major priorities on which the Budget Committee must focus.
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