For the fourth month in a row, our economy’s shed jobs at a time when working families are already battered by rising costs from food and gas to health care.

The combination of a shrinking job market, stagnating wages and rising costs is a toxic mix that is poisoning our economy and pushing families over the edge.  The loss of 20,000 jobs in April plunges thousands more into economic despair and adds new stress to those already out of work.  Remember that it takes 125,000 new jobs just to keep up with population growth.

Contrary to the claims of President Bush and Sen. McCain, who say the recent downturn is simply a bump in the road, the current nosedive is the result of a number of fundamental economic imbalances that have resulted from misguided policies put in place over the past 30 years. McCain this morning reiterated his call for tax breaks for the wealthy and band-aid solutions that will do nothing to address the underlying problems with the economy, more evidence that he simply doesn’t get it.

To get us out of this economic mess, we need to enact both short-term stimulus to stop the bleeding and long-term structural changes to prevent the economy from failing working families time and time again. First,  Congress must pass a second stimulus bill, including fiscal relief to cash- strapped states and an extension of unemployment benefits to help those most  at risk as the job market worsens.  There should also be an immediate moratorium on foreclosures for subprime loans, to keep more families from  losing their houses as the economy sours.  Then we need an aggressive job creation plan to put Americans back to work. We can start with ready-to-go infrastructure projects that will rebuild our crumbling schools, bridges and  roads — and invest in the green jobs of the future.

We need fresh vision and new direction to turn around the economy.  We must restore economic growth, rebuild our national competitiveness and assure the benefits of a strengthened economy are broadly shared.  It’s time for McCain and Republican leadership to cut the election year rhetoric and support real economic change that will lift up families.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 2nd, 2008 at 2:12 pm and is filed under Politics, Economy/Budget, Labor .