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Congresswoman McCollum on Today’s Plummeting Stocks: Tea Party Republican Policies are Pushing Economy Back into Recession

August 4, 2011

Contact: Maria Reppas, (202) 225-6631 / (202) 527-0149 maria.reppas@mail.house.gov

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Betty McCollum (MN-04) issued the following statement as global financial markets plummeted and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 512 points. This was the worst day for the Dow since the depths of the financial crisis in 2008.

"Today, the stock market tumbled 512 points, wiping away billions of dollars from the retirement and education savings of middle class Americans. Every American should be concerned about the very real possibility of sliding into a 'Tea Party recession.'

"Tea Party Republicans took the entire U.S. economy hostage over the debt ceiling increase and used this crisis to force trillions in cuts at a time when more, not less investment in the U.S. economy is needed. The destructive default politics and machete budget cutting of the Tea Party Republicans in Congress is exactly the wrong medicine for the ailing U.S. economy.

"The Republican obsession with slashing government investment is totally counterproductive. The Tea Party's default crisis created enormous, unnecessary uncertainty in global markets. Congress should have raised the debt ceiling months ago and spent the summer working together in Congress on a growth agenda for the country.

"Congress needs to restore confidence in the markets. Now is the time for President Obama and Congress – Democrats and Republicans – to focus 100 percent of our energy on strengthening and growing America's economy and creating jobs."

Congresswoman Betty McCollum serves on the House Appropriations and Budget Committees.

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