Bidenomics Is Working for Pennsylvania – and America
President Biden’s visit to Philadelphia today offers a timely reminder of how much progress Pennsylvania has made under his leadership. Two years ago, President Biden inherited a broken economy – one that didn’t reflect the American dream but instead a fundamental lie: the idea that an economy rigged for the ultra-wealthy and the biggest corporations would somehow send prosperity trickling down to the working class.
That’s the lie that Republicans have tried to sell the American people for decades. It’s the same MAGA lie that former President Donald Trump pushed when he gifted billions in tax cuts to the rich, shrank public investments, and shipped good jobs overseas. So-called trickle-down economics under Trump failed. Trump presided over one of the highest national deficit increases in history and departed the White House with the worst jobs record since the Great Depression – all while leaving our economy in shambles and working families in the dust.
In 2020, Pennsylvanians rejected Trump’s MAGA economic agenda and helped send Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to the White House to revitalize the middle class, the backbone of our country. In the two years since they took office, Biden and Harris have moved us from trickle-down economics to Bidenomics, rebuilding our economy for everyone, not just the top 1%.
Rooted in what’s always worked best, the president’s economic vision is about investing in working people and strengthening the middle class to promote economic growth for all.
Bidenomics is delivering major results for Americans by lowering costs, rebuilding infrastructure, and spurring a manufacturing boom across the country – a stark contrast with the legacy left by the previous administration.
Take President Biden’s jobs record. Since taking office, this administration has created over 13.2 million new jobs, replacing all the jobs lost during the pandemic and adding nearly four million more. Now we’re seeing the highest share of working-age Americans in the workforce in over 20 years. Where the last administration failed to deliver on manufacturing promises and shipped jobs overseas, the president’s economic policies are driving a manufacturing boom that has spurred more than $503 billion in private sector investment and created over 1.5 million jobs in manufacturing, construction, and research & development.
Under Biden’s leadership, unemployment has stayed under four percent for the longest stretch in more than 50 years. We’re seeing those strong numbers reflected in Pennsylvania, where unemployment is down to 4% and 486,800 new jobs have been created under the Biden–Harris administration.
In addition to creating new jobs, Bidenomics has helped tame inflation, bringing it down to its lowest level in more than two years. At the same time, wages for the average American worker are rising, with lower-wage workers seeing the largest gains, and Pennsylvanians are feeling the effects of lower costs at the supermarket, pharmacy, and the gas pump. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, 2.2 million seniors and other Medicare Part D beneficiaries in Pennsylvania are saving money on prescription drugs; thanks to the American Rescue Plan, the 371,500 Pennsylvanians who signed up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act could save thousands per year on health-care premiums.
Trump touted an “Infrastructure Week” that delivered nothing; President Biden’s leadership has ushered in an infrastructure decade. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is bringing $8.9 billion in public infrastructure investment to Pennsylvania – including funding to enhance the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, upgrade Pennsylvania waterways, and much more. Just last month, my office worked with the administration and state officials to rebuild I-95 by securing the quick release of emergency federal funds and previous funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Thanks to our partnership, a reconstruction that should’ve taken months was completed in just 12 days. That’s Bidenomics in action.
These are just a few of the ways that Pennsylvanians are seeing Bidenomics at work. Thanks to the President’s leadership, the economy is booming across the board.
While MAGA Republicans in Pennsylvania and across the country try to roll back the economic progress we have made, Democrats will continue to work with President Biden to build an economy that works for all Pennsylvanians and all Americans.
