Hilda L. Solis: “I ask, Are we better off now than we were 4 years ago? Unfortunately, for people that I represent in the 32nd…”

“I ask, Are we better off now than we were 4 years ago? Unfortunately, for people that I represent in the 32nd Congressional District, including the San Gabriel Valley in East Los Angeles, it is a resounding ``no.'' Nearly 20,000 people have lost jobs in my district. Unemployment has hovered from 9 to 10 percent for 3 chronic years. Thirty-three percent of the people I represent have no health insurance, and a good number of those people are young children under the age of six. Yet the House Republican leadership continues to push for wealthy families' tax breaks. This week, the House will vote on a bill that would provide new tax breaks to rich families earning over $309,000 a year. Most of the people in my district do not make that much. They actually make anywhere around 20 and $10,000 a year. People making $10,000 a year would get nothing in this tax break, $150 at the most, compared to those at the very wealthy end who will get more money. We need to do better, and our folks are not better off now. Four years ago they were.”