During his first year in office, President Trump ignored the big problems, such as our nation’s crumbling infrastructure, failed to address national crises, including the opioid epidemic and Puerto Rico’s devastation following Hurricane Maria, and at every turn, acted to undermine recent gains in health insurance coverage. As we near the end of President Trump’s first year in office, below are 10 numbers that highlight the challenges ahead and which likely won’t be talked about by the administration:
Jan 12 2018
Medicaid Work Requirements Just Don't Work
The Trump administration announced yesterday that it is giving states the green light to implement work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries. More than 10 states have already proposed some form of Medicaid work requirements. Not only do these work requirements fail to significantly boost long-term employment, they hurt the very people who Medicaid is designed to serve.
Expanding education opportunities and increasing quality are not only good for workers and their families, but are also good for communities and the economy as a whole. Investing in proven middle-skills pathways will enhance the skills of America’s workforce, boost U.S.competitiveness, and prepare a new generation of American workers for labor market success. By scaling up these programs, regional and local communities can effectively shape the workforce to meet the needs of employers while advancing opportunities for prosperity for workers.
Jan 11 2018
Consumer Corner: A Look at Rising Household Debt
Welcome to the first edition of Consumer Corner—a new blog series focused on consumer issues. In this post, we focus on household and consumer debt: what is it; how much is out there; who are the major regulators and interested parties?
President Trump has regularly touted 2017 employment gains as signs that he is making America great again. The truth is that the labor market in 2017 mostly continued down the path that it had been on since well before he took office. The American job market has been slowly and steadily improving since the enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In fact, average monthly job growth under President Trump has actually slowed and is at its lowest level since 2010.
Jan 05 2018
President Trump Job Tracker December 2017
Joint Economic Committee Democratic staff are comparing job growth each month to the average in the late 1990s (a boom time in the economy), but also to the best individual month each series has ever seen.
Jan 03 2018
December Economic Snapshot of the States
Although the U.S. economy overall continues its expansion following the Great Recession and associated financial crisis, the recovery can look very different from state to state. The lion’s share of economic gains are not only concentrated at the top of the income and wealth distribution, but also in a small share of regions. While some parts of the country have surged ahead, millions of Americans in urban and rural communities are still waiting for their wages to start rising again and struggling to make ends meet.
The federal safety net lifted nearly 11 million children out of poverty in 2016—led by refundable tax credits raising 4.4 million children out of poverty, SNAP and Social Security 1.5 million children each, and housing subsidies 1 million children. Poverty leads to worse health outcomes, developmental delays, and poor academic outcomes for affected children, all of which have lifelong effects. House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republican leaders intend to target many of these successful programs for cuts in 2018.
This year has turned out to be a rough one for working Americans. In his first year in office, President Trump and Congressional Republicans hurt workers’ pay and benefits, rolled back consumer financial protections, targeted public lands for commercial development, and attempted to strip health care coverage from millions of Americans. Just one year into the Trump presidency and already the harm to people, communities, and the environment is considerable.