Hilda L. Solis: “as Americans head to the polls in 4 weeks, we should ask ourselves, Are we better off now than we were 4 years ago? The…”

“as Americans head to the polls in 4 weeks, we should ask ourselves, Are we better off now than we were 4 years ago? The answer lies in the facts, and the facts do not lie. Eight million people are looking for work and 1.4 million people lost their health insurance last year; 4.3 million people have slipped into poverty since President Bush took office, and a projected 10-year $5.6 trillion budget surplus has turned into a $422 billion annual deficit. Families in my district are all too aware of the sad state of our economy. Unemployment they say is at its lowest at 5.4 percent; but unemployment in my district, in East Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County, is well above the norm. Just look at the schedule here. East Los Angeles, South El Monte, 9.8 percent, double-digit unemployment and it has been that way for the last 3 rac{1}{2} years. We know in my district that it is time for a change in leadership. We want jobs here. We want investments in America. We want to lift those boats.”