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Federal Budget &
the Economy

Minnesotans have always believed in opportunity through hard work. We believe that no matter where you come from, if you work hard you can succeed, give the uplifting gift of education to your children, take care of your parents, and have security in your later years.

To make the most of this opportunity, we must have an economy that produces good-paying jobs and delivers prosperity for all. Too many hard-working Minnesotans and Americans now struggle to make ends meet - squeezed by rising health care costs, soaring mortgage rates, skyrocketing gas prices and mounting bills for child care and college. Families confront these rising expenses even as jobs pay less, provide fewer benefits and offer less security. I'm working in Washington to preserve the middle class and provide an opportunity for everyone who shares the American Dream.

Also essential to our prosperity is fiscal responsibility in our federal budget. Our economy has been put at risk by the reckless fiscal policies of the current Administration. I am proud to be part of a new Congress that passed a budget with pay-as-you-go rules requiring that any new spending or tax cuts be offset by either new revenue or spending cuts elsewhere in the budget.

But fiscal responsibility is not just about dollars and cents. It is also about having the right priorities. Do we want a budget that offers extra tax breaks to the people making over $336,000 per year, or a budget that provides relief to middle-class families? Do we want a budget that gives lucrative special favors to the giant oil and pharmaceutical companies, or a budget that invests in our future prosperity through research and development of homegrown energy?

Since coming to the U.S. Senate, I have worked hard to make sure we have a strong economy, a responsible budget and the right fiscal priorities by:

• Promoting long-term economic growth and job creation. Earlier this year, acting in a bipartisan fashion, we passed a short-term economic stimulus package to send rebate checks to American families. But we also need to make sure that our economy is growing and creating jobs long after the rebate checks have been spent. In the Senate, we were able to add $35 billion to the Fiscal Year 2009 budget for long-term investments, including crucial infrastructure projects that will create jobs for months to come while addressing our country's pressing needs to repair and upgrade roads, bridges and other public infrastructure.
• Bringing fiscal responsibility back to Washington. Washington has to get its priorities right and start living within its means. That is why I support pay-as-you-go rules and voted for the new Congress' 2008 budget plan. Pay-as-you-go rules helped produce budget surpluses and a prosperous economy in the 1990s and they can help bring fiscal discipline back to Washington now. When it came to reform the Alternative Minimum Tax, a provision that is hitting more and more middle-class families, I voted to do it in a way that would have been fully paid-for. Opponents of our proposal were able to block that approach, but I will continue to fight to keep our budget on a responsible course.
• Putting federal spending on a sustainable long-term course. Early in 2008, I met with a number of my Senate colleagues on ways to bring long-term government spending under control. Since this meeting, I have cosponsored legislation that will create a bipartisan task force to look at our long-term federal spending and find solutions for sustaining programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, while continuing to focus on reducing the federal deficit.
• Strengthening America's competitiveness in the global economy. In my first year, I voted in support of the America Competes Act, which provides increased funding for math and science education as well as new technology initiatives. This legislation will advance our country's economic competitiveness through greater support for our schools, universities and research centers. We need to increase both our human capital and our technological capital to compete in the global economy.

These steps are just a down payment on fiscal responsibility and a stronger economy. As Minnesota's U.S. Senator, I will continue to work to:

• Provide needed tax relief for middle-class families. In my first months as Senator, I cosponsored the Middle Class Opportunity Act, which increases tax credits for child and dependent care, makes it easier for families to pay for higher education, protects middle-class families from unfair tax increases and helps families provide for aging parents. These credits would be fully paid for by closing tax loopholes on corporations that use the tax code to avoid paying their fair share. I will keep working until Congress passes real relief for middle-class families.
• Maintain long term fiscal responsibility. I will continue to support the pay-as-you go rules for federal budgeting, which are a responsible way to get our spending in line with our revenues. In addition, I will fight for reforms to federal entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, which represent the greatest long term challenge to our national finances. In Medicare we can save billions of dollars, while improving health care for our country's seniors, by reforming the system so it rewards doctors for quality care, rather than volume of services, and pays physicians and hospitals for delivering efficient, coordinated care.
• Provide stability to our housing markets. With rising food and gas prices, a slowing economy, and a spreading foreclosure crisis, more and more Minnesotans are worried about the value of their homes and whether they will be able to make their next mortgage payments. We don't have to sit on the sidelines and watch as this housing crisis eats away at our finances and paralyzes our economy. We need to take steps to help homeowners and home buyers - and to focus on stabilizing the housing market and the economy. Last summer I introduced the First Time Homebuyers' Tax Credit, which would help families purchase their first home and provide some much-needed demand in the housing market, and I will continue to work for its passage. In addition, I support the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008, which would provide resources to refinance troubled mortgages so homeowners can keep their homes while paying off their mortgages and increase funding for homeowner counseling to prevent foreclosures before they happen.