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AMERICA’S FAMILIES DESERVE BIPARTISAN SOLUTIONS TO ECONOMIC CRISIS

America’s hard-working families are struggling to make ends meet as economic conditions worsen.  

·        The past few months have seen the crisis deepen – rising prices for everything from gas to food, more Americans losing their homes or losing value in their homes, and rising unemployment.  

·        The strain of the economic downturn on middle-class families demands a second economic stimulus, growth, and relief package now – and Congress will work in a bipartisan way to find solutions for the immediate crisis and for a long-term economic recovery for America.  

Democrats will work in good faith with the President to bring the Colombia Free Trade Agreement to a vote in the House once progress has been made on a new economic recovery package.  Democrats voted to take away the restrictive timeline of the Colombia Free Trade Agreement because it is imperative we bring relief to America’s working families here at home first. 

Facts about the U.S. Economy

·        One in 33 homeowners is projected to be in foreclosure within the next two years, according to a recent report by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Another 40 million are projected to lose value in their homes as a result. [4/16/08]  

·        Gas prices have reached a record $3.50 a gallon – 64 cents more than a year ago and more than double that of 2001—and today oil prices climbed to a new record of  more than $117 per barrel.  [AAA, 4/21/08; AP, 4/21/08] 

·        Eggs cost 25 percent more in February than they did a year ago. Milk and other dairy products jumped 13 percent, chicken and other poultry nearly 7 percent.  [AP, 4/15/08] The price of bread is up more than 14 percent over the past year.   

·        The number of American jobs has declined in each of the past three months by a total of 232,000. [CNN, 4/4/08]  

·        The number of people filing new unemployment claims rose 17,000 to 372,000 this week – the most since June 2004. [Bloomberg, 4/17/08]

·        Since 2001, premiums for family health coverage have climbed 78 percent, with workers paying more than $3,200 per year. A record 47 million Americans are without health insurance. [Kaiser Family Foundation, 9/11/07; CPS, 8/07] 

·        Bankruptcy filings by American consumers and businesses soared 38 percent in 2007. [Washington Post, 4/16/08] 

·        An estimated 28 million Americans – a record high -- are expected to enroll in the Food Stamp program this year. [New York Times, 3/31/08] 

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