Democrats are fighting for American workers, their families and small businesses and we will continue to work to grow our economy and create jobs. What is clear is that Republicans are continuing to obstruct progress and seek to take us back to the failed economic policies of the Bush Administration.

Here are the facts about the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act passed by House Democrats:

Estimated Job Impact: 450,000-500,000 new American jobs

Passed the House: June 17, 2010

Opposed by House Republicans: 98% voted NO

A similar bill has been blocked by Senate Republicans for months.

…An economist and two health policy researchers at the nonprofit Rand Corp. conducted a simulation  to predict what is likely to happen once employers are able to offer coverage through these exchanges. Overall, they estimate that the proportion of U.S. workers who will have access to health insurance through their jobs will jump from 84.6% to 94.6%. That works out to 13.6 million additional workers having the option to buy affordable health plans.

Most of that bump is likely to come from smaller businesses with 50 or fewer employees. Today, only 60.4% of these employees can get health insurance through their jobs. Once the exchanges are functioning, the Rand researchers forecast that 85.9% of small business employees will have the option of buying health plans at work – an increase of 10.5 million workers.

Part of the reason for that growth is that the policies that will be offered through the exchanges will be less expensive, the researchers said. Small companies will be able to band together to pool their risk, which will give them more leverage to bargain with insurance companies. It also means their premiums should be more stable from year to year…

And this morning, the nonpartisan Commonwealth Fund found that:

Relief for small businesses was greatly needed, as most of the erosion in employer health coverage over the last decade has taken place in small firms.  Currently, 52 percent of workers in firms with fewer than 50 employees are uninsured or underinsured.

Millions of small businesses will benefit from the new small business tax credits included in the Affordable Care Act to help them afford health insurance for their workers, which became effective in January 2010.

16.6 million workers are estimated to be currently working in the small businesses that are eligible for these new small business tax credits.

Democrats in Congress and President Obama enacted landmark health insurance reforms to make health coverage more affordable for small businesses and families, and protect young adults, the middle class, women, and seniors.  Despite the clear benefits of health insurance reform – Republican leaders are standing with insurance companies and want to repeal the Patient’s Bill of Rights which protects Americans from discrimination when they need it most – when they get sick or have a pre-existing condition.

Is there any reason for hope in this gloomy summer for the economy? A certain fatalism – that a double-dip recession is inevitable – has crept into a lot of economic analysis lately, but it may be overstating the degree to which we are in dire straits. A roaring recovery is probably not on the way, but here are five reasons that a slow-and-steady recovery is likely to continue.

Savings
The savings rate rose from 2.7 percent at the start of the recession, in the beginning of 2008, to 5.9 percent in July. That means households are farther along in readjusting their spending patterns to match their incomes than was previously realized. That should make them freer to spend more in the months ahead.

Credit
Gradual healing is underway in the financial sector, making loans more available for households and businesses. The most recent edition of the Federal Reserve’s senior loan officers survey showed that more banks have eased lending standards for corporate loans. For companies with access to global capital markets, interest rates remain quite low, which supports growth.

Manufacturing
The industrial sector is actually holding up. July industrial production was up 1 percent, and early indicators show that the expansion continued last month. The Institute for Supply Management said Wednesday that its index of activity in the manufacturing sector rose in August, to 56.3 from 55.5 (numbers above 50 indicate expansion). It appears that manufacturers view final demand for their products as steady enough to keep producing.

Housing
No one is expecting home-building activity to return to pre-crisis levels for a very long time. But in July, builders began building new housing units at a paltry annual rate of 546,000, less than half of what’s needed to keep up with population growth. The housing market just can’t contract that much more. When housing starts fell from a 2.3 million annual rate in early 2006 to the low of 477,000 in April 2009, it was a major drain on the economy, but a decline of that scale is now mathematically impossible.

Trade
A steep rise in imports dragged down the economy in the second quarter to an unprecedented degree. If the trade deficit had not widened, the gross domestic product would have grown at a healthy 5 percent annual rate. With many other world economies doing better than the U.S. economy right now, exports may be set to rise more than imports in the coming quarters, which would help domestic growth.

“This explosion highlights the significant risks associated with offshore drilling, and that much is left to be done to keep America’s workers and waters safe from those risks.

“After the 13 workers on this rig are safe and sound, we have a duty to them and all oil workers to make sure the oil industry’s drilling practices are also safe and sound.”

Some states suing to toss out President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul law are also lining up to claim a share of its subsidies for the medical costs of retired employees.

An administration official said Tuesday seven states suing the federal government are among 16 already approved for subsidies to help with the health care costs of early retirees. The seven are Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska and Nevada.

Times-Picayune, “Louisiana approved for participation in program it is suing to end”:

Louisiana is one of seven states suing to overturn President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul law while also applying to get money provided under the legislation to help cover the medical costs of early retirees…

In addition to the state of Louisiana itself, 16 Louisiana companies and government entities also were approved for participation. They include Entergy Corp., St. Tammany Parish public schools, St. Bernard Parish government, the Orleans Levee District, Plaquemines Parish government and the Albemarle Corp.

The Journal Gazette (Indiana), “Feds OK 75 in state for health subsidies”:

The state of Indiana, dozens of schools, one of the state’s largest private employers and unions will receive money under the nation’s new health insurance law when early retirees file high-cost medical claims.

Indiana applied for the subsidies even though it has sued to block the health insurance law…

In addition, the state of Indiana, Eli Lilly and Co., Elkhart County, Ball State University, Indiana State Police, NiSource, Purdue University and unions representing plumbers, painters and cement masons were accepted into the program.

Americans are all too familiar with Congressional Republican hypocrisy. Just last week, in a speech before the City Club of Cleveland, Mr. Boehner said “all this stimulus spending has gotten us nowhere…”:

But that very same day the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a report showing the Recovery Act added as many as 3.3 million jobs and the Ohio Department of Transportation announced that 9,500 Ohioans were employed on Recovery Act-funded construction projects just in the month of July.

Mr. Boehner is also on the record supporting the use of Recovery Act funds in his home state of Ohio stating it “will create much-needed jobs.”

In fact, many Congressional Republicans have publicly criticized the Recovery Act while going out of their way to take credit for it in their home districts.

…Among other things, the new rules ban credit card companies from charging fees that are larger than the infraction: If you miss a $20 payment, the maximum penalty is $20. Thus, the finishing touches are on a revamped credit card regulatory structure that will also require issuers to apply any payment over the minimum due to the highest interest portion of a customer’s debt and make it harder for companies to market plastic to students under 21. Between 1989 and 2006, total credit card charges increased from $69 billion a year to more than $1.8 trillion. But now, those go-go days are over.

The excessive extension of credit to riskier and riskier segments of the borrowing public was partly responsible for the huge bubble of debt that burst in 2008, bringing on the recession.

…credit cards were also an important factor in building up total U.S. household debt to a peak of 138 percent of disposable income just before the crash. Households were inevitably going to have to deleverage with or without the CARD Act. And there are signs that this painful but necessary process is going relatively well: Credit card losses are falling faster than the unemployment rate, according to a recent report by Moody’s…

In short, the consumer-credit business is being put back on a more sustainable basis. And in the new world of the CARD Act, it is less likely that the business can easily return to the days when card issuers attempted to extend every last dollar of credit to every single borrower they could squeeze into a “risk-based pricing” formula…

Read a good summary of the new rules that took effect in August from the Army Times»

Learn more about the provisions of the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights that went into effect last month»

Leader Boehner’s partisan rhetoric is an attempt to distract the American people from the failed Republican record on troops and veterans—and their plans to put tax cuts for the wealthy ahead of the needs of our troops and Veterans.

Last week in his economic speech in Ohio, Leader Boehner said we need to go back to 2008 spending levels on all non-defense discretionary spending. The Boehner Republican budget could result in a cut of $13 billion in veterans’ health care and other benefits, even as the needs of our returning soldiers continues to grow.

President Obama and Congress, under Democratic leadership, have taken historic action in support of our troops and veterans such as:

Enacting the new G.I. Bill to provide returning troops with a full, four-year college education

Enacting historic investments in veterans’ health care and services, and ensuring that funding one year in advance to prevent political or legislative delays

Expanding economic opportunities for returning soldiers

Enacting landmark legislation providing support to family members and others who care for wounded veterans, and enhancing health services for the 1.8 million women veterans

Unfortunately, despite Mr. Boehner’s rhetoric, Congressional Republicans have voted against a number of key measures to meet our solemn obligation to our troops and veterans, voting:

Against Providing Our Troops with Equipment They Need: Voted against providing our troops in harm’s way in Iraq and Afghanistan with everything they need during the remainder of FY 2009, such as $1.9 billion more than requested for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles to protect our troops.

Against Stop Loss Payment for Troops: Voted against providing special $500 payments for every month that 185,000 service members and veterans were forced to serve under stop-loss orders since September 11, 2001.

Against Support for Our Troops: Republicans voted against restoring our nation’s military readiness by funding the Army’s and Marine Corps’ equipment reset requirements, giving the military a 3.4 percent pay raise, and expanding and strengthening health care services.

Against Extending the New GI Bill for Children of Fallen Soldiers: Republicans voted against extending the New GI Bill college benefits to all children of service members who have died on active duty since 9-11-01.

Against Veterans Job Creation and Economic Help: Republicans voted against providing businesses with a $2,400 tax break for the hiring of an unemployed veteran, a $250 one-time payment to nearly 2 million disabled veterans receiving benefits from the Veterans Affairs Department as part of the make-work-pay tax credit, and $1.2 billion for veterans’ medical facilities repairs throughout the country.

Against Activated Military Reservists: Republicans voted against ensuring that activated military reservists do not suffer a pay cut by providing a tax credit for small businesses employers who continue to pay their National Guard and Reserve employees when they are called up to serve.

Looking back at Congressional Republicans’ record during President Bush’s term in office:

The Bush Administration’s poor planning for the Iraq war failed to provide essential equipment to protect our troops, with these shortages resulting in many unnecessary deaths and injuries. For example, it took more than 18 months after the Iraqi invasion for the Pentagon to provide body armor to all American soldiers. Soldiers and their families were forced to purchase their own body armor.

Republicans voted against a $1,500 bonus for troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan while voting for a pay raise for themselves. [H.R. 3289, Vote #554, 10/17/03. Rejected 213-213]

The Bush Administration cut off veterans’ health care for veterans who make as little as $26,000 a year in the lead up to the Iraq War, which resulted in more than 1.6 million veterans being denied VA health care over four years.

As the Iraq War began, House Republicans voted to cut $14 billion from veterans’ health care and $14 billion from veterans’ benefits, including veterans’ pensions, compensation, and education. This could have denied health care to 168,000 veterans, or cut the number of VA nurses by 8,700. [H Con. Res 95, 2003 Vote #82, 3/21/03]

Republicans ousted Rep. Chris Smith from his chairmanship of the Veterans Committee because he was too strong a proponent for our veterans. “Veterans groups were incensed this week when word surfaced that Smith might be replaced. The Veterans of Foreign Wars sent a letter to House Speaker Hastert Monday expressing ’intense opposition’ to any efforts to remove the chairman. … Smith challenged GOP leaders and the Bush administration over funding proposals for veterans, and was one of 10 Republicans to oppose the budget resolution last year.” [Congress Daily, 1/6/05]

Republicans voted for the FY 2007 budget that hurts America’s veterans, including cuts in health care totaling $6 billion and as much as tripling TRICARE health care costs for military retirees under 65. [HCR376, 5/18/2006, Vote# 158]

Learn more about the legislation the Democratic-led Congress has passed in support of our troops and veterans»

In a new book to be released next month, three House Republican leaders include many of the policies and ideas that some in their party have promoted over the last year, as well as a controversial plan to drastically cut the country’s entitlement spending.

… Ryan’s proposal, which looks to balance the budget through slimmer versions of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the tax code, has vexed many Republicans who have attacked Democrats over the federal debt but who don’t want to say they would favor cutting entitlement programs.

Last month, House Republican Leader John Boehner “pointed to $1.3 trillion in potential cuts outlined by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) as ‘a pretty good list of options.’” Most of the cuts in the Ryan-GOP plan come from privatizing Social Security and ending Medicare as we know it—the Washington Post explains:

Some GOP lawmakers also have endorsed Ryan’s alternative budget plan, which would wipe out deficits in part by privatizing Social Security and replacing traditional Medicare benefits with an insurance voucher for people age 55 and older.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analyzed the Ryan-GOP plan concluding:

Traditional retirement benefits would be reduced below those scheduled under current law for many workers who are age 55 or younger in 2011…A system of individual accounts would be established in 2012. In that year, workers who are age 55 or younger would be able to participate in voluntary individual accounts, funded with a portion of their payroll taxes.

Democrats remain committed to protecting Social Security and the bedrock promise to America’s seniors of retirement and economic stability after a lifetime of hard work paying into Social Security. We will not go back to the failed policies of the Bush-Republican era when seniors and working Americans had to fight Republican efforts to dismantle Social Security time and again.

“In these tough economic times, it is difficult for employers to keep up with skyrocketing health care costs for employees and retirees. Many Americans who retire before they are eligible for Medicare see their life savings disappear because of medical bills and exorbitant rates in the individual health insurance market… The Affordable Care Act’s Early Retiree Reinsurance Program will make it a little easier for employers to provide high-quality health benefits to their retirees as we work to put in place market reforms to lower costs for all.”

“Americans must never forget that the brave service and sacrifice of our fallen soldiers was not made in vain, and has both made the United States safer and helped ensure better lives for millions of Iraqis. There are many challenges ahead in maintaining forward momentum, but today’s milestone is an important opportunity to reflect on the hard-fought battle to bring peace and stability to a very troubled region of the globe.”

Nationwide, 1 million Medicare beneficiaries have already been mailed their rebates and more beneficiaries will be receiving checks in the coming months as they enter the coverage gap. Eligible beneficiaries receive these checks automatically in the mail when they reach the donut hole, and they don’t have to sign-up to be eligible for the rebates.

Rebate checks will help people with their drug costs this year. Next year, those who fall into the donut hole will receive a 50-percent discount on covered brand name medications while in the donut hole. Every year, the amount Medicare beneficiaries pay in cost sharing will decrease markedly until the coverage gap is closed.

The closing of the donut hole is just one of the ways seniors benefit from the Affordable Care Act. In addition to savings on prescription drugs, the law provides new benefits to Medicare beneficiaries when they visit their doctor. All beneficiaries will receive free preventive care services like mammograms and certain colon cancer tests and a free annual physical starting in 2011 in Original Medicare. Additionally, seniors can expect to save an average of nearly $200 per year in premiums by 2018 compared to what they would have paid without the new law, and most beneficiaries will also see a significant reduction in their Medicare coinsurance as a result of the Affordable Care Act.

Speaker Pelosi on the news:

More than 1 million Medicare beneficiaries have now received a rebate check to help begin closing the prescription drug ‘donut hole’ coverage gap and make their prescription drugs more affordable. Starting in January, those who fall into the donut hole will begin receiving a 50-percent discount on brand name drugs while in the donut hole. They are receiving these benefits because of the health care law Congress passed to strengthen Medicare, lower costs for our seniors, and give seniors more control over their medical care.

Congressional Republicans have voted to repeal this law, and undercut Medicare by making it a voucher system. While Democrats are closing the donut hole and making Medicare fiscally sound for decades to come, Republicans are promising they will go back to the days of higher drug costs, shrinking benefits, and insecurity for our seniors. We will not go back to the failed Bush agenda that placed insurance industry profits ahead of care for our seniors.

Learn more about the Affordable Care Act»

One school district is already putting that money to good use. With their share, the Vallejo school district has the money to pay the teachers they hired back earlier this month in order to bring K-3 classes back down to 28 students.

District spokeswoman Tish Busselle said:

"The jobs bill has become a great relief because we still don't have a state budget," she said.

In early August, State Administrator Richard Damelio agreed to give 20 laid-off Vallejo teachers their jobs back as a way to prevent K-3 classes from increasing to 31 students.

All told, some 38 teachers were brought back recently, though the unresolved state budget casts uncertainty on school district funding levels.

The teachers were laid off in anticipation of state funding cuts, but were hired back just prior to the start of the new school year.