Job Creation and the American Dream

Floor Speech

Mr. TONKO. My pleasure, Representative SUTTON, and thank you for bringing us together into a format of thoughtful discussion on the House floor.

You're very right. It's about the American Dream, pursuit of the American Dream. And I believe what many people across America are espousing right now is take a look at the problem from its broadest perspective in order to propose the solution. And if we are just going to do an instant snapshot and not really deal with the facts at hand, it will get us in trouble. It will be wasted energy. We'll be spinning our wheels.

What they've suggested is looking back at how we came to the problem. We borrowed totally for a millionaire-billionaire tax cut. We borrowed from China and Saudi Arabia to give everyone in that category a tax break. Now, borrowing has happened throughout the course of government and there are oftentimes societal needs that get met. So I would ask: What was the good that was bought here? And it translates into a loss of 8.2 million jobs. So we borrowed from millionaire-billionaire tax cuts and from foreign economies in order to get a result of 8.2 million jobs lost. That's the starting point.

And this Presidency, the Obama Presidency, has been about growing jobs, providing the reforms that are essential. And so today, people are speaking out. They're speaking out about the fundamental unfairness that exists out there, and they want that transformed into fairness.

They know, they acknowledge, and we agree that people struggle to find a job. They are struggling, as we speak, to find a job. They struggle to keep a job. They struggle to make ends meet. This is the fight. This is the concern. It's about empowering the middle class and empowering the purchasing power of the middle class, which serves all income strata tremendously well.

If we have a robust middle class, if we have a purchasing power that is enhanced, people then begin to invest. They begin to share that with the regional economy, State economy, and national economy. It's as plain as that.

People are now connecting the dots. They saw where we went with the policy of the past, they saw the deep hole that drove us into, and now they're saying, we want reform, fundamental reform. It's about providing justice to the middle class.

I am so happy that you're here encouraging this discussion. The dialogue must be carried forth in order to share with the general public exactly what happened and what needs to occur now as we go forward.

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