The job market did not perform as expected and fewer jobs were created in March than forecasted.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7356113/
We've heard alot of talke about promoting a "Culture of Life" over the past weeks. One way to promote a "culture of life" is to help create jobs - and good paying jobs that pay a living wage.
How? Just check out what was going on in the 90s. Many currently hanging out in Washington must have missed the job creation due to all the coverage of WhiteWater, Travelgate, Monica, etc., because if they did notice the job creation you'd think they would want to emulate those successful policies.
FLASHBACK below the fold:
In 1993, President Clinton and Vice President Gore launched their economic strategy: (1) establishing fiscal discipline, eliminating the budget deficit, keeping interest rates low, and spurring private-sector investment; (2) investing in people through education, training, science, and research; and (3) opening foreign markets so American workers can compete abroad. After eight years, the results of President Clinton's economic leadership are clear. Record budget deficits have become record surpluses, 22 million new jobs have been created, unemployment and core inflation are at their lowest levels in more than 30 years, and America is in the midst of the longest economic expansion in our history.
President Clinton's Record on the Economy: In 1992, 10 million Americans were unemployed, the country faced record deficits, and poverty and welfare rolls were growing. Family incomes were losing ground to inflation and jobs were being created at the slowest rate since the Great Depression. Today, America enjoys what may be the strongest economy ever.
-- Strong Economic Growth: Since President Clinton and Vice President Gore took office, economic growth has averaged 4.0 percent per year, compared to average growth of 2.8 percent during the Reagan-Bush years. The economy has grown for 116 consecutive months, the most in history.
-- Most New Jobs Ever Created Under a Single Administration: The economy has created more than 22.5 million jobs in less than eight years -- the most jobs ever created under a single administration, and more than were created in the previous 12 years. Of the total new jobs, 20.7 million, or 92 percent, are in the private sector.
-- Median Family Income Up $6,000 since 1993: Economic gains have been made across the spectrum as family incomes increased for all Americans. Since 1993, real median family income has increased by $6,338, from $42,612 in 1993 to $48,950 in 1999 (in 1999 dollars).
-- Unemployment at Its Lowest Level in More than 30 Years: Overall unemployment has dropped to the lowest level in more than 30 years, down from 6.9 percent in 1993 to just 4.0 percent in November 2000. The unemployment rate has been below 5 percent for 40 consecutive months. Unemployment for African Americans has fallen from 14.2 percent in 1992 to 7.3 percent in October 2000, the lowest rate on record. Unemployment for Hispanics has fallen from 11.8 percent in October 1992 to 5.0 percent in October 2000, also the lowest rate on record.
-- Lowest Inflation since the 1960s: Inflation is at the lowest rate since the Kennedy Administration, averaging 2.5 percent, and it is down from 4.7 percent during the previous administration.
-- Highest Homeownership Rate on Record: The homeownership rate reached 67.7 percent for the third quarter of 2000, the highest rate on record. In contrast, the homeownership rate fell from 65.6 percent in the first quarter of 1981 to 63.7 percent in the first quarter of 1993.
-- 7 Million Fewer Americans Living in Poverty: The poverty rate has declined from 15.1 percent in 1993 to 11.8 percent last year, the largest six-year drop in poverty in nearly 30 years. There are now 7 million fewer people in poverty than there were in 1993.
Establishing Fiscal Discipline and Paying off the National Debt
President Clinton's Record on Fiscal Discipline: Between 1981 and 1992, the national debt held by the public quadrupled. The annual budget deficit grew to $290 billion in 1992, the largest ever, and was projected to grow to more than $455 billion by Fiscal Year (FY) 2000. As a result of the tough and sometimes unpopular choices made by President Clinton, and major deficit reduction legislation passed in 1993 and 1997, we have seen eight consecutive years of fiscal improvement for the first time in America's history.
-- Largest Surplus Ever: The surplus in FY 2000 is $237 billion -- the third consecutive surplus and the largest surplus ever.
-- Largest Three-Year Debt Pay-Down Ever: Between 1998-2000, the publicly held debt was reduced by $363 billion -- the largest three-year pay-down in American history. Under Presidents Reagan and Bush, the debt held by the public quadrupled. Under the Clinton-Gore budget, we are on track to pay off the entire publicly held debt on a net basis by 2009.
-- Lower Federal Government Spending: After increasing under the previous two administrations, federal government spending as a share of the economy has been cut from 22.2 percent in 1992 to 18 percent in 2000 -- the lowest level since 1966.
-- Reduced Interest Payments on the Debt: In 1993, the net interest payments on the debt held by the public were projected to grow to $348 billion in FY 2000. In 2000, interest payments on the debt were $125 billion lower than projected.
-- Americans Benefit from Reduced Debt: Because of fiscal discipline and deficit and debt reduction, it is estimated that a family with a home mortgage of $100,000 might expect to save roughly $2,000 per year in mortgage payments, like a large tax cut.
-- Double Digit Growth in Private Investment in Equipment and Software: Lower debt will help maintain strong economic growth and fuel private investments. With government no longer draining resources out of capital markets, private investment in equipment and software averaged 13.3 percent annual growth since 1993, compared to 4.7 percent during 1981 to 1992.
To Establish Fiscal Discipline, President Clinton:
-- Enacted the 1993 Deficit Reduction Plan without a Single Republican Vote. Prior to 1993, the debate over fiscal policy often revolved around a false choice between public investment and deficit reduction. The 1993 deficit reduction plan showed that deficit and debt reductions could be accomplished in a progressive way by slashing the deficit in half and making important investments in our future, including education, health care, and science and technology research. The plan included more than $500 billion in deficit reduction. It also cut taxes for 15 million of the hardest-pressed Americans by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit; created the Direct Student Loan Program; created the first nine Empowerment Zones and first 95 Enterprise Communities; and passed tax cuts for small businesses and research and development.
-- Negotiated the Balanced Budget Agreement of 1997. In his 1997 State of the Union address, President Clinton announced his plan to balance the budget for the first time in 27 years. Later that year, he signed the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, a major bipartisan agreement to eliminate the national budget deficit, create the conditions for economic growth, and invest in the education and health of our people. It provided middle-class tax relief with a $500 per child tax credit and the Hope Scholarship and Lifetime Learning tax credits for college. It also created the Children's Health Insurance Program to serve up to 5 million children and made landmark investments in education initiatives including educational technology, charter schools, Head Start, and Pell Grants. Finally, it added 20 more Empowerment Zones and 20 more rural Enterprise Communities, included the President's plan to revitalize the District of Columbia, and continued welfare reform though $3 billion in new resources to move welfare recipients to private-sector jobs.
-- Dedicated the Surplus to Save Social Security and Reduce the National Debt. In his 1998 and 1999 State of the Union addresses, President Clinton called on the nation to save the surplus until the solvency of Social Security is assured. He also repeatedly vetoed large Republican tax cut bills that would have jeopardized our nation's fiscal discipline. The President's actions led to a bipartisan consensus on saving the surplus and paying down the debt.
-- Extended Medicare Solvency from 1999 to 2025. When President Clinton took office, Medicare was expected to become insolvent in 1999, then only six years away. The 1993 deficit reduction act dedicated some of the taxes paid by Social Security beneficiaries to the Medicare Trust Fund and extended the life of Medicare by three years to 2002. Thanks to additional provisions to combat waste, fraud and abuse and bipartisan cooperation in the 1997 balanced budget agreement, Medicare's solvency was prolonged.
Rewarding Work and Empowering Communities
President Clinton's Record on Rewarding Work: In 1992, unemployment reached 7.5 percent, the highest level in eight years. Unemployment and poverty rates for African Americans and Hispanics were alarming: unemployment reached 14.2 percent for African Americans and 11.8 percent for Hispanics, and poverty rates for both groups were nearly 30 percent. But today:
-- Higher Incomes at All Levels: After years of stagnant income growth among average and lower-income families, all income brackets have experienced double-digit income growth since 1993. The bottom 20 percent saw the largest income growth at 16.3 percent.
-- Lowest Poverty Rate in 20 Years: Since Congress passed President Clinton's Economic Plan in 1993, the poverty rate declined from 15.1 percent to 11.8 percent last year, the largest six-year drop in poverty in nearly 30 years. There are now 7 million fewer people in poverty than there were in 1993. The child poverty rate has declined more than 25 percent, the poverty rate for single mothers is the lowest ever, the African American and elderly poverty rates dropped to their lowest level on record, and the Hispanic poverty rate dropped to its lowest level since 1979.
-- Lowest Poverty Rate for Single Mothers on Record: Under President Clinton, the poverty rate for families with single mothers has fallen from 46.1 percent in 1993 to 35.7 percent in 1999, the lowest level on record. Between 1980 and 1992, an additional 2.1 million households headed by single women were pushed into poverty.
To Help All Americans Benefit from Prosperity, President Clinton:
-- Ended Welfare as We Knew It. In 1996, President Clinton signed legislation requiring welfare recipients to work, limiting the time they can stay on welfare, and providing child care and health care to help them begin work. It also enacted tough new child support enforcement measures proposed by the President. In 1997, President Clinton won the welfare-to-work tax credit to encourage employers to hire long-term welfare recipients and $3 billion in additional resources to help communities move long-term welfare recipients into lasting, unsubsidized jobs.
-- Rewarded Work by Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit. In 1993, President Clinton succeeded in winning passage of an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), giving a tax cut to 15 million of the hardest-pressed American workers. In 1999, the EITC lifted 4.1 million people out of poverty, nearly double the number lifted out of poverty by the EITC in 1993.
-- Created Empowerment Zones. The 1993 Clinton-Gore economic plan created nine Empowerment Zones and 95 Enterprise Communities to spur local community planning and economic growth in distressed communities through tax incentives and federal investment. The President won expansions of the program in 1994, 1997, and again in 2000. To date, the 31 Empowerment Zones and 95 Enterprise Communities have leveraged over $10 billion in new private sector investment, creating thousands of new jobs for local residents.
-- Created Community Development Financial Institutions. In September 1994, the President signed legislation creating the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, a Clinton campaign proposal to support specialized financial institutions serving often-overlooked customers and communities. The Fund has certified over 400 CDFIs. It has provided over $427 million to match investments in CDFIs and to encourage traditional financial institutions to increase their lending, investment and services in under-served markets.
-- Strengthened the Community Reinvestment Act. In 1995, the Administration updated the Community Reinvestment Act regulations to focus on banks' actual service delivery, rather than on compliance efforts. From 1993 to 1998, lenders subject to the law increased mortgage lending to low- and moderate-income families by 80 percent -- more than twice the rate they increased mortgage lending to other income groups.
-- Encouraged Investment in America's New Markets. In 1999, the President went on two historic "New Markets" trips to highlight the continuing need to bring investment to impoverished inner cities, rural communities and Native American tribal lands. In 2000, the President and Congress worked together to pass this bipartisan initiative to stimulate new private capital investments in economically distressed communities and build network of private investment institutions to funnel credit, equity and technical assistance to businesses in America's new markets.
-- Raised the Minimum Wage. In 1996, President Clinton and Vice President Gore fought for and won a 90-cent per hour increase in the minimum wage, helping 10 million workers.
-- Helped People with Disabilities Work. In 1999, President Clinton insisted that Congress pass the Work Incentives Improvement Act as a condition of the budget agreement. This bipartisan law allows people with disabilities to maintain their Medicare or Medicaid coverage when they work.
To Provide Americans with More, Higher-Quality Education and Training, President Clinton:
-- Created the College Tax Credits, the Largest Single Investment in Higher Education since the G.I. Bill. A $1,500 tax credit for the first two years of college, the Hope Scholarship will pay for nearly all of a typical community college's tuition and fees. The $1,000 Lifetime Learning Tax Credit reimburses families for 20 percent of their tuition and fees (up to $5,000 per family) for college, graduate study, or job training. Starting in 2003, the credit will reimburse families for 20 percent of their costs up to $10,000, for a maximum value of $2,000. This year, 10 million American families will save over $7 billion through the college tax credits.
-- Doubled Student Financial Aid. Students will receive over $50 billion in federal grants, loans, and work-study aid this year, up from $25 billion in 1993. President Clinton has consistently supported budget increases for Pell Grants; this year, over 3.8 million needy students receive a Pell Grant scholarship of up to $3,300, a $1,000 larger maximum grant than in 1993. The President won another increase for Pell Grants in the FY 2001 budget, bringing the maximum grant to $3,750. The President also won increases in work-study funding to help one million students pay for college.
-- Created Direct Student Loans and Reduced Interest Rates. In the Student Loan Reform Act of 1993, President Clinton won the Direct Student Loan program to improve customer service and compete with guaranteed lenders. It has saved taxpayers over $4 billion so far by eliminating lender subsidies. President Clinton also fought to reduce interest rates and fees in the Student Loan Reform Act of 1993 and the Higher Education Amendments of 1998. As a result, students can expect to pay $1,300 less in interest and fees for the average $10,000 loan than they would have in 1992. The student loan default rate is now 6.9 percent, down from 22.4 percent eight years ago.
-- Created New Paths to College through GEAR UP, AmeriCorps, and TRIO. President Clinton won the new GEAR UP initiative in the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 which is already helping 700,000 low-income middle school students prepare for college. Over 150,000 Americans have earned money for college while serving their communities through President Clinton's AmeriCorps program, a campaign promise enacted in 1993. To help disadvantaged youth prepare for and succeed in college, the TRIO programs have grown by $342 million over the past eight years.
-- Strengthened Elementary and Secondary Education. In 1994, President Clinton reformed federal education initiatives in the Improving America's Schools Act and the Goals 2000 Act. The President's new approach was grounded in the principles that all of America's students should meet high academic standards and the federal government should make new investments to help them meet those standards. The President has also fought to hire 100,000 teachers, promote educational technology, support charter schools, build K-16 partnerships, and focus on early reading through America Reads.
-- Passed the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. In 1992, President Clinton and Vice President Gore proposed to streamline and bring greater accountability to our nation's job training system. In 1998, they won legislation to meet the needs of both America's workers and businesses by encouraging local control of training and employment programs; helping customers locate assistance through one-stop centers; and empower adults to receive the training they need.
Reducing Tax Burdens for Average and Hard-Pressed Working Families.
The Clinton Record on Reducing Taxes for Working Families:
-- Lowest Federal Income Tax Burden in 35 Years: Federal income taxes as a percentage of income for the typical American family have dropped to their lowest level in 35 years.
-- Higher Incomes even after Taxes and Inflation: Real after-tax incomes have grown for Americans at all income levels, much faster than they did prior to the Clinton-Gore Administration. Real after-tax incomes grew by an average of 2.6 percent per year for the lower-income half of taxpayers between 1993 and 1997, while growing by an average of 1.0 percent between 1981 and 1993.
To Cut Taxes for Working Americans, President Clinton:
-- Expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit. In 1993, President Clinton succeeded in expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, giving a tax cut to 15 million of the hardest-pressed American workers. In 1999, the EITC lifted 4.1 million people out of poverty, nearly double the number lifted out of poverty by the EITC in 1993.
-- Created the $500 per Child Tax Credit. In 1997, President Clinton secured a $500 per child tax credit for 27 million families with children under 17, including 13 million children from families with incomes below $30,000.
-- Won the Hope Scholarship Tax Credit. President Clinton proposed tax credits for college tuition in 1996 and signed them into law in 1997 as part of the balanced budget agreement. The Hope Scholarship provides a tax credit of up to $1,500 for tuition and fees for the first two years of college, roughly equal to the cost of the average community college. It will save American families $4.9 billion this year.
-- Won the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit. Also enacted in 1997, the Lifetime Learning tax credit provides a 20 percent tax credit on $5,000 of tuition and fees (to be raised to $10,000 in 2003) for college and graduate students and adults taking job training. It will reduce the cost of college and job training for American families by $2.4 billion this year.
-- Established Education IRAs. The 1997 balanced budget agreement also created Education IRAs. For each child under age 18, families may now deposit $500 per year into an Education IRA in the child's name. Earnings in the Education IRA accumulate tax-free and no taxes will be due upon withdrawal if the money is used to pay for college. The law also allowed taxpayers to withdraw funds from a traditional IRA without penalty to pay for higher education for themselves or their spouse, child, or even grandchild.
-- Created Empowerment Zones. President Clinton created Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities in 1993 and expanded them in 1994, 1997 and again in 2000 to spur economic growth in distressed communities through tax incentives and federal investment. To date, the 31 Empowerment Zones and 95 Enterprise Communities have leveraged over $10 billion in new private sector investment, creating thousands of new jobs for local residents.
-- Simplified Pension Rules. In 1996, President Clinton signed the SIMPLE (Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees) plan into law, simplifying and expanding retirement plan coverage for small businesses.
-- Simplified Tax Laws and Protected Taxpayer Rights. President Clinton signed the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 to simplify the tax laws and enhance taxpayers' rights. The law has saved families and businesses millions of hours be simplifying and reducing paperwork, such as allowing a tax exclusion for income from the sale of a home.
-- Closed Tax Loopholes. To ensure that all taxpayers pay their fair share, the Clinton Administration addressed the use and proliferation of corporate tax shelters by proposing several remedies to curb the growth of such shelters by increasing disclosure of sheltering activities, increasing and strengthening the substantial understatement penalty, codifying the judicially-created economic substance doctrine, and providing consequences to all parties involved in an abusive sheltering transaction.
Source: http://www.usembassy.it/file2001_01/alia/a1010913.htm
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Instead of mirroring these winning policies, the current administration has gone in the opposite direction. Remember "pro-life" policies shouldn't focus just on the womb or the death bed.
True "pro-life" policies should work to ensure a comfortable life (as much as possible) for all Americans with all Americans getting a fair shot at affordable housing, decent health care and a real opportunity to use their talents to go as far and achieve as much as they can.