Blog Post

This week, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report showing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has boosted real GDP by up to 4.5 percent in the second quarter of 2010, and increased the number of American jobs by as many as 3.3 million.

In addition to creating and saving American jobs and getting our economy moving again, the Recovery Act is aggressively moving our country forward – transforming it for long-term economic growth and stability. From TIME:

On Women's Equality day, we honor the brave suffragettes who altered the course of history and ushered in a new age of progress for all Americans. These pioneers marched and organized, struggled and sacrificed, for the cause of equality – and in the name of a better life for generations of women and girls yet to come.

On this day 90 years ago, their dream was realized.

On Tuesday, House Republican Leader John Boehner said "all this stimulus spending has gotten us nowhere." At a roundtable for reporters sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Analytics and former adviser to Sen. John McCain in 2008, said Mr. Boehner is "just wrong" about the impact the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has had on the economy.

According to a new report released today by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act boosted the country's real GDP by up to 4.5% in the second quarter of 2010, and increased the number of American jobs by as much as 3.3 million.

These gains would not have been possible under Congressional Republican leadership.

This morning, House Republican Leader John Boehner outlined his 'economic plan' at the City Club of Cleveland--which would return us to the same failed policies of the Bush Administration. Mr. Boehner endorsed proposals to privatize and cut Social Security, cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans, protect corporations that ship American jobs overseas, and dismissed regulations that protect consumers and workers. Speaker Pelosi on the address:

In 2008, credit card issuers imposed $19 billion in penalty fees on families with credit cards--exploiting loopholes in the law to make profits at the expense of responsible credit cardholders with minimal oversight. Last year, credit card companies broke all records for late fees, over-limit charges, and other penalties. Credit card debt also reached a record high of nearly $1 trillion at the end of 2008--with around half of American families carrying an unpaid balance in 2009.

Small businesses are the engine of our economy, creating two-thirds of the new jobs over the last 15 years. Small businesses continue to face a lack of credit and tight lending standards, with 45% of small businesses seeking loans unable to get their credit needs met in 2009 and lenders reporting three years of tightening loan standards for small firms through this winter.

Democrats in Congress continue working to offer small businesses the tools and resources to endure our current economy and thrive in the future, placing a down payment on our long-term economic growth.

For more than seven years, America's brave men and women in uniform have done everything asked of them in the war in Iraq. Many have been lost on the battlefield, and Americans mourn their loss; all have performed with courage and valor, and we honor their sacrifice. Today, our nation begins a new chapter in this effort, bringing our final brigade combat team out of harm's way, ending combat operations, and beginning the transition to a civilian-led mission in Iraq.