Tell President Biden: Replace the Trump-aligned heads of CBO and BLS
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Call Script
My name is __________. I am a constituent, and my zip code is _______. I am a member of Indivisible SF.
President Biden:
The American Rescue Plan (ARP) delivered a record-breaking boost to our economy, demonstrating that democratic economic policies that benefit the broadest range of people possible are the most effective. But the American people don’t feel it because BLS Commissioner Beach has issued early jobs reports that have to be revised upward, month after month, after they’ve already received bad press.
Your Build Back Better agenda is designed to build upon the success of the ARP. But during critical Congressional negotiations on the BBBA last year, CBO Director Swagel publicly disputed its revenue projections.
Both of these positions are traditionally non-partisan, but they’re currently occupied by Trump appointees steeped in failed Republican trickle-down economic dogma, and their actions seem suspiciously partisan. We hope you will use recess appointments to replace them both with officials who understand and support the effectiveness of democratic economics.
Background
The American Rescue Plan, passed with zero Republican votes in the Senate, has proven the success of democratic economics aimed at helping the broadest range of people possible. Yet even though polling indicates the American people feel their personal lives have improved, they have the impression that things aren’t going as well in the country as a whole. Many people don’t realize that in Biden’s first year, the GDP grew at 5.7%, the fastest rate in more than 40 years, after never topping 3% under Trump. Consumer spending also soared 7.9%, the unemployment rate fell, and 6 million new jobs were created.
Biden’s success has been continuously undermined by jobs reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that need to be revised upward, month after month. Those revisions get less attention than the lower initial reports. It turns out that the Commissioner of the BLS is Trump appointee William Beach who previously served as Chief Economist for the Senate Budget Committee, Republican Staff, and as a Fellow in Economics at The Heritage Foundation and director of their Center for Data Analysis.
In November 2021, Congressional Budget Office director Philip Swagel said that the Build Back Better Act’s plan to finance itself by increasing IRS funding to crack down on tax cheaters would bring in far less revenue than projected. It turns out that Trump appointee Swagel is also a Republican economist with extensive service in the George W. Bush administration, and a nonresident scholar at conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute.
The heads of the BLS and OMB are supposed to be nonpartisan, so President Biden may have hesitated to replace them. However, we know that Trump appointees were expected to put his needs first, and Republican trickle-down economic theory is a lie, so it is time for them to go. The president can make recess appointments when the Senate is not in session. We’re asking President Biden to replace these key players during the next recess period called by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
References
Messy 2021 jobs reports, unreliable labor data take toll on Joe Biden,1/12/22, CNBC
Swagel Says Cracking Down on Tax Cheats will bring in far less than BBBA projection , 11/16/21, NY1
CBO Report Says Biden Administration's Build Back Better Plan Closer to $5T. 12/13/21, AG Web
Trump will get to pick the head of agency that delivers 'phony' jobs report 2/03/17, CNBC
Swagel officially chosen for CBO director, replacing Hall - Roll Call, 5/15/19
The Year the American Rescue Plan Made: 2021 in Review - Roosevelt Institute, 12/09/21
Biden Boom hits new heights — press buries the good news, Eric Boehlert, 1/31/22