Throughout Congressman Moran’s service in the U.S. House of Representatives, he has been a leader on economic and financial issues. Keeping Northern Virginia’s economy strong and growing is one of his top priorities. That includes promoting job creation, which given our region’s proximity and interconnectedness with the Federal Government has contributed greatly to our having an unemployment rate that is half the national average.
While the economy in Northern Virginia remains on relatively strong footing, nationally, the U.S. economy is still in the throws of the second worst economic decline in the last hundred years. The unemployment rate remains at unacceptably high levels, consumer spending has not rebounded, and more than 20 percent of American home mortgages are underwater.
Congressman Moran believes the Federal Government must continue to show economic leadership, stepping in where the private sector is failing to drive job growth and by investing in our future. Rep. Moran has supported pursuing policies to increase the dynamism of our economy, building up the human and physical capital that will enable us to compete and win in a global marketplace. Representing the Washington Metropolitan area for more than 20 years, Rep. Moran is intimately aware of the importance of the Federal Government as an economic engine and the benefits of sound federal investments around the country.
The U.S. needs to address our serious medium and long term deficits, but Moran believes that fiscal retrenchment in the near term is not the answer and has lead the charge against severe and immediate cuts in government services that help millions of Americans suffering from the recession. Moran has advocated for a comprehensive economic plan to reduce the deficit that includes a combination of spending reductions and revenue increases. The U.S. currently takes in an historically low 15 percent of GDP, but is spending roughly 25 percent of GDP. Spending cuts alone will not put our budget in balance – and have the potential to retard economic growth through job losses in the public sector and a reduction in federally-backed construction projects and other government assisted ventures, almost all of which are carried out by private sector companies. The U.S. needs to reach a sustainable level of revenues of roughly 20 percent of GDP – the level seen in the last year of the Clinton Administration, a time when we had a projected budget surplus.
In the 112th Congress, Rep. Moran continues to highlight the growing wealth disparity in the U.S. which is eroding our middle class and thus weakening our economic standing in the world. Currently, the top one percent of wealthiest Americans control 40 percent of the nation’s wealth, while only 27 percent is controlled by the bottom 90 percent. Wealth disparity in the U.S. has been steadily increasing since 1980, reaching its highest level in 2007, surpassing even the period immediately preceding the Great Depression.
Under the higher and fairer Clinton tax rates of the 90’s, more than 20 million new jobs were created, while the federal budget generated annual surpluses and a $2.3 trillion projected surplus. In contrast, the lower tax rates instituted during the Bush years resulted in the slowest period of job growth since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began recording employment figures in 1939.
As a founding member of the New Democrat Coalition and co-chair of the New Democrats Trade Task Force, Congressman Moran also believes that our economy can be strengthened by a robust trade agenda designed to maintain our leadership in the global economy. He is a firm supporter of President Obama’s National Export Initiative, believing that by engaging globally, we can expand opportunities for American businesses and workers, while at the same time using this increasing economic connectivity to bolster our national security.
Likewise, Congressman Moran believes in trade that is fair for America and Americans. Trade must level playing fields with our partners, ensuring that America gets what it bargained for, promotes American exports, and eliminates unfair barriers to Americans trying to sell their goods and services overseas. In the 112th Congress, Rep. Moran will work to ensure passage of free trade agreements with South Korea, Panama and Colombia.