2005-04-23
Stuck in the Middle
President Bush signed the egregious bankruptcy bill yesterday, thereby making it much tougher for middle-class Americans to get out of debt following a major setback—like being laid off from work or suffering a medical emergency. But the bankruptcy bill isn't the only barometer of this Congress' overarching disregard for middle-income families and their lives. The Drum Major Institute's analysis of congressional legislation from 2004 affecting the middle class found that neither chamber of Congress adequately supports the middle class—and more than 90 percent of Republicans consistently voted against working families.
Have you heard of the Healthy Mothers and Healthy Babies Access To Care Act? Sounds good, no? It's actually a law that would have limited malpractice awards to women whose babies sustained brain injuries because of doctors' delivery mistakes. (Thankfully, this bill died in a Senate vote after failing to get a majority.) Or how about the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 ? That one was signed into law last October after receiving majority votes in both the House and Senate. Despite its name, the bill provides huge tax cuts for special interests and offers no guarantee that a single job will be created.
The report from the Drum Major Institute—a nonprofit, nonpartisan group working for social and economic fairness in public policy—analyzed all bills from 2004 that would have a substantial impact on the middle class and graded Congress members' support for them. Among the main findings :
Neither chamber of Congress did an adequate job of supporting the middle class. In both the House and the Senate, about half the members passed, half failed and less than a quarter received A's. Despite a more lenient grading system than last year’s report, Congress did significantly worse overall in 2004. tuck in the Middle.doc
Click here to use an interactive map and find out how your senators and representatives voted on middle-class legislation.
