Rob Andrews: “I think this resolution is very meaningful because it shows that the majority in the face of real economic stress and…”

“I think this resolution is very meaningful because it shows that the majority in the face of real economic stress and pain in our country is more interested in positioning for the election that is coming in 6 weeks than it is in solving the country's problems. Since the beginning of 2001, 2 million people have gone on the unemployment rolls. In the last 12 months, 1 million people have exhausted their economic unemployment benefits, have seen them run out. Since the beginning of 2001, the stock markets have seen $4.5 trillion of wealth evaporate, much of that wealth in the pension funds of American workers, American retirees. We have seen the equity markets themselves lose 40 percent of their value. We have seen the spread between short- and long-term interest rates, a key indicator of future happenings in our economy, grow wider than it has in recent history. We have seen a Federal Government that was bringing in $108 for every $100 that we spent at the beginning of 2001, now bringing in $90 for every $100 that we spend, and covering the difference by borrowing from the Social Security trust fund, running the government on Social Security money that should be there for the future.”