WASHINGTON – House and Senate Democrats unveiled their latest economic policy proposal Wednesday as part of their new “A Better Deal” agenda, calling for strengthening workers’ rights to join unions and collectively bargain for better wages, benefits, and working.
Flanked by national labor leaders, Democratic leaders assailed the decline of America’s middle class.
“The number one reason for the decline of the middle class is the assault on unions and labor that has occurred over the last 30 years,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka praised the Democratic proposal and called strong unions a necessary element of a fair and growing economy. National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen Garcia and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten also spoke in support of the plan.
In July, the Democrats launched the “A Better Deal” plan and have since rolled out a series of six programs. In addition to Wednesday’s proposal, the full plan calls for:
• raising wages and offering tax incentives to employers to train and hire new workers;
• lowering the costs of prescription drugs;
• cracking down on large corporate mergers;
• passing a bill to provide child care support for low-income families;
• increasing access to high-speed internet through a federal grant program.
Congressional Republicans are set to unveil a new tax proposal this week as both parties jockeying to position themselves as representing working people.
Jeff Miron, director of economic studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, said “A Better Deal” is not the best political strategy for Democrats.
“I think they would have a better chance of gaining more political power if they moved back in the direction of the Bill Clinton New Democrats,” he said. “More moderate economically, more respect for capitalism and less focus on redistribution.”
But Schumer said Democrats will stick to the agenda and try to get GOP support, but Republican crossover is highly unlikely.
“If not, we’re going to campaign on this issue,” he said.