September 12, 2012
Over the past four years, President Obama has been dedicated to strengthening the middle class and making sure everyone who is willing to work has the opportunity to climb out of poverty into the middle class.
New median income data released by the Census Bureau today shows that incomes continued to decline in 2011—but the data doesn’t reflect that the economy continues to grow and create jobs. Over the past 12 months, median incomes have increased by over $1100, ac,cording to a private forecaster both campaigns have cited. Businesses have created almost 2 million jobs in that time, and 4.6 million jobs over the last two and a half years. And to help families, the President signed a payroll tax cut that put $1,000 back in the pocket of the typical American family this year.
President Obama has been clear that we need to do more to create jobs now as it’s the single most important step we can take to keep median incomes rising. That’s why he has a detailed plan that will add 1 million jobs next year, based on independent estimates, and boost the economy by helping small businesses hire and invest, putting construction workers back to work, and helping schools avoid teacher layoffs.
Romney opposes action to create jobs now and is pushing a plan that could actually slow the economy by making deep and immediate spending cuts. In fact, compared to the President’s policies, Romney’s plans would create 2 million fewer jobs next year alone, based on independent analysis.
And to pay for his $5 trillion tax plan that’s slanted toward the wealthiest, Romney will have to raise taxes on the middle class. Romney says he will pay for his plan by closing tax deductions, which the independent Tax Policy Center says would require raising taxes on middle-class families with children by an average of $2,000. And he supports a budget plan that could cut Pell Grants for 10 million students, eliminate 27,000 scientific and medical research grants over the next decade, and deny Head Start to 200,000 children.
President Obama has a clear plan to build on recent progress in the economy and help middle-class families and those seeking to join the middle class. Mitt Romney would return us to the same failed economic policies of the past that benefited a few, but let down the middle class and crashed the economy.
The Census Bureau has reported that—after years of increases—the number of uninsured Americans fell from 16.3 percent to 15.7 percent. In fact, the percentage of people with private health insurance remained constant for the first time in 10 years. Experts believe this progress was driven in part by the provision in the Affordable Care Act that allows young adults to stay on their family’s health insurance plan—one of the first pieces of Obamacare to go into effect.
We’ve also learned that Obamacare is helping lower health care costs for families across the country. The Department of Health and Human Services reported that consumers saved more than $2 billion on their premiums with the help of two provisions in the health care law: more than $1 billion in rebates from insurance companies that overcharged them, and $1 billion because regulators cracked down on insurance companies who tried to increase rates without justification. The Kaiser Family Foundation released a study showing that premiums for employer-based coverage increased at historically low rates in 2011, and that employees’ share of premiums actually remained flat. All of these signs suggest that Obamacare is working to shift power away from insurance companies to the consumer and to keep premiums lower for families and businesses.
Of course, too many Americans still lack access to the security that health insurance provides, and health insurance costs remain a concern for millions. That’s why President Obama is committed to implementing the health reform law and bringing its benefits to the American people. Beginning in just over a year, middle-class families that don’t get insurance at work will be eligible for tax credits that will make coverage affordable, and the health care law will enable 30 million people to gain insurance. When the law is fully implemented, families’ premiums will be about $2,000 lower because of Obamacare.
Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, on the other hand, have pledged to repeal Obamacare, starting on their very first day in office. They’d leave tens of millions more Americans uninsured and take us back to the days when insurance companies had unchecked power to raise premiums and price millions of families out of the health care market. We can’t afford to go back.
Fight Back against the attacks on President Obama and his record!
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