Report From Congress (Wicker Says Nation's Economy Remains Strong)
REPORT FROM CONGRESS
By Congressman Roger F. Wicker
WICKER SAYS NATION'S ECONOMY REMAINS STRONG
While it may not be getting headlines in the national media, there is good news on the economic front. The record shows 57 consecutive months of sustained growth, substantial job creation, and historically low levels of unemployment. By almost any objective measure, the U.S. economy is strong.
The overall economic picture is bright, but some parts of the country are not experiencing the full benefits of this surge in activity. Many Americans are still facing challenges as they work to manage the household budget. This Congress has been mindful of those challenges and continues to pursue policies designed to improve the bottom line for hard-working taxpayers and American families.
More than 5.7 million jobs have been added to the nation's workforce over the past three years, an average of 140,000 per month. The overall economy is projected to expand by 3.5 percent in 2006, and it grew at a rate of 3.2 percent last year. That is faster than any other major industrialized country in the world. The stock market continues a surge that has put it at an all-time high level. The current unemployment rate is near its five-year low of 4.6 percent, and it is below the average jobless rate of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
TAX RELIEF IMPORTANT
This boost in economic activity has been fueled in large part by Congressional action to cut taxes and provide incentives for businesses to invest in new equipment and facilities. Enactment of tax relief to reduce rates across-the-board, increase the child credit, and ease the marriage tax penalty has put more money into the pocketbooks of American families. Household net worth has reached a historic high and has increased by seven percent in the past year alone.
This strategy of promoting economic growth, coupled with a strong push to control spending, is also shrinking the federal budget deficit. Critics of tax relief said cutting taxes would deny the government needed funds and force the deficit to increase. Those naysayers were wrong.
BIG CUT IN DEFICIT
The strong economy has led to a dramatic increase in revenues for the U.S. Treasury, and the result has been a deficit reduction of more than $100 billion just since January. Revenue collections are running 11.6 percent ahead of last year, and the trend is expected to continue. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office projects the goal of cutting the deficit in half by 2009 will be met at least a year in advance.
This Congress has also made great progress in controlling discretionary spending. For the past two years, non-security appropriations have been held to a near freeze. Spending has risen less than 0.7 percent over the past two years, and growth in the previous two years was less than five percent. For the first time in a decade, Congress also took steps to reform mandatory, or entitlement expenditures, which make up the largest portion of the federal budget. That action will produce a savings of more than $40 billion over the next five years.
MAINTAINING THE MOMENTUM
Solid progress has been made in our efforts to help keep America prosperous and enable families to keep more of the money they earn. We also enacted the most comprehensive pension reform in 30 years to safeguard retirement benefits and give employees new incentives to save and invest. It is important to sustain the momentum that has produced such dramatic results. That includes making permanent the tax relief provisions that are set to expire soon and continuing the pro-growth policies that have created more opportunities for business investment and job creation.
http://www.house.gov/wicker/strongecon.htm