Mike Levin: “I cannot support this fiscally irresponsible and unfair tax cut package. Our economy is struggling right now.…”

“I cannot support this fiscally irresponsible and unfair tax cut package. Our economy is struggling right now. Eight-and-a-half million Americans are out of work, and we now have about 2.7 million fewer private sector jobs than were in existence at the beginning of this administration. No President since the Great Depression has ended a term with fewer jobs than when his term began. Michigan has an unemployment rate of 6.7 percent, among the highest in the Nation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Michigan lost 17,700 jobs just last month, the most of any State in the country. That brings the total number of Michigan jobs lost since the Bush administration took office to over 178,000, and the total number of unemployed in Michigan to 344,000. We are also back into a deep deficit ditch. As recently as January 2001, the Office of Management and Budget projected a 10-year surplus of $5.6 trillion. Now, under the recently passed budget resolution, we face an estimated deficit of $1.95 trillion over the same time period, including record deficits of over $300 billion for this year and the next. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan recently reiterated that the bigger the deficits, the higher the long-term interest rates, which means higher home, car, college and credit card payments for us all. Our economy needs a lift now. It needs real jobs and real growth now, not a rehash of the same policies that were tried and failed in the recent past.”