It’s time to rebuild the American Dream

In the nine long months since his inauguration, President Trump has certainly kept busy putting out fires of his own making. Between managing the fallout of high-profile White House firings and legal scandals to playing innumerable rounds of golf at his private clubs around the country, our president has scarcely had time to sleep – or, apparently, to work with Congress to make our nation’s economy work for working Americans. Contrary to his campaign promises to put Americans back to work, President Trump’s only real policy effort to date has been a fruitless crusade to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, parents are working multiple jobs just to be able to feed their children, seniors who have worked hard all their lives are watching their retirement security disappear, and millions of Americans are still struggling to find good paying work and make a living.

This is not the American economy you will hear about from the Trump administration. They are all too pleased to tout the Department of Labor report that over a million jobs were created during President Trump’s first six months in office – despite the consensus among economic experts that this job creation was largely a result of President Obama’s economic policies. Trump has also been quick to claim investments in America’s auto manufacturing, telecommunications, and energy industry as victories of his presidency, wrongly attributing Ford and ExxonMobil’s multi-year investments to his administration’s business-friendly policies.

{mosads}We formed the Blue Collar Caucus in the wake of the 2016 election to home in on the economic frustrations that led working Americans to take a chance on Donald Trump and reconnect Democrats in Congress with the blue-collar Americans who had been the backbone of our party for so long. With over 30 members, we are a group of House Democrats who are stepping up to hold the president accountable for the loose promises he made to these voters by meeting with jobs experts, labor leaders, and the real voters and workers on whom Trump has turned his back. We are committed to finding bold, practical solutions to the real problems plaguing American families every day, and to stand up for the principles upon which the middle class was formed – which are too often negotiable in the eyes of the president.

There are steps that Congress and the White House can take right now to boost Americans’ financial security and create jobs in America. Revitalizing our crumbling, outdated infrastructure needs to be a top priority for lawmakers, especially as we undertake efforts to rebuild after the destruction of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. This year alone, the American Society of Civil Engineers scored the U.S. infrastructure with a D+, showing the need for significant improvements. However, the Trump administration’ skeleton plan does little to unleash infrastructure’s potential for job creation and instead opts to rely on non-direct federal spending. It remains to be seen if he supports critical Davis-Bacon wage protections for project workers. Instead of relying on private industry, our president would be smart to evaluate the economic benefits of a direct spending infrastructure package to springboard an infrastructure renaissance. The Duke Center on Globalization, Governance & Competitiveness estimated that every $1 billion dollars invested in transportation infrastructure create 21,671 jobs, and every dollar invested returns $3.54 in economic impact. The Huge economic payoff, hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and a stronger national infrastructure make the approach seem like a no-brainer – but President Trump hasn’t lifted a finger to try to pass a real infrastructure plan.

As co-chairs of the Blue Collar Caucus, we will continue to fight every day to make a difference for America’s working families. By bringing back secure, good-paying jobs, we can restore the fundamental promise of our nation – we can rebuild the American Dream. To this end, we stand ready to work with administration officials and every lawmaker who wants to invest in the future of our country. The question is, will President Trump make American workers a real priority? The American people deserve leaders who will fight for them – through action, not just words – and fulfill their promises. They cannot afford anything less.

Veasey and Boyle established the Blue Collar Caucus following the 2016 presidential election to generate solutions that will protect American workers.