Poor Jobs Report Reflects on Administration (Rep. Phil Hare)

This jobs report is another indictment of an Administration that has done immeasurable harm to America’s working families, despite its claims that the economy is doing well.

This report is nothing new. America has lost 3 million manufacturing jobs during the last 6 years. In fact, the Bush Administration has presided over the slowest job growth in over 70 years.

To make matters worse, President Bush is pursuing an unfair trade agenda that will ship even more American jobs overseas.

One Congressional Republican leader recently said that the economy is ‘devastatingly good.’

To see real devastation, one must go no further than Galesburg—where NAFTA drove 1600 good paying Maytag jobs from Illinois to Sonora, Mexico.

Despite Republicans’ overheated rhetoric about the economy, their trickle-down polices are hurting average Americans.

Household incomes are down, the cost of living is rising, and too many Republicans remain more committed to tax cuts for millionaires than investing in the American people.

In our first eight months, Democrats have passed legislation raising the minimum wage, providing health care to additional children, and making college more affordable. We will continue to pursue an economic agenda that benefits all Americans, not just the wealthy few.