The Investing in America's Economy blueprint represents the voice of reason and sanity in a budget debate that has become increasingly unhinged from reality.  It's a surreal debate in which people who claim to be deficit hawks hypocritically clamor to bust the budget by showering the richest Americans with over $700 billion in wasteful tax cuts, while starving the economic growth essential to budget vitality.  Investing in America's economy begins where any serious proposal must begin – by repealing the Bush tax cuts for the rich and by rejecting Wall Street's plan to attack Social Security and Medicare.

People may or may not agree with every specific detail – the AFL-CIO certainly does not – but we should all be able to agree on the core principles underlying this blueprint:  We need to put jobs and economic growth first; we must make significant investments in education and infrastructure to be competitive in the 21st century; Wall Street and the wealthy must bear their share of the burden; and we need to deal with the growth of health care costs. 

Only if we take these steps can we stabilize our nation's finances in the long run. 

If there is any common sense left in Washington DC, this budget blueprint will be the starting point for the debate over budgeting for broadly shared prosperity.

Contact: Josh Goldstein (202) 637-5018