{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.fischer.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news?ID=977FBB30-70D8-4EBC-9E0D-B1B72E452BF7", "VIDEO: Fischer on How Bidenomics Is Failing Nebraska Families", "2023-09-07", "2023", "2023-09", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Deb Fischer", "F000463", "www.fischer.senate.gov", "fischer", "https://www.fischer.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) spoke on the Senate floor this week about President Biden\u2019s failing economic agenda and the damaging impact of \u201cBidenomics\u201d on Nebraska families and small businesses. During her remarks, Senator Fischer also spoke about her stops across Nebraska during the August work period.\n\nClick the image above to watch video of Sen. Fischer\u2019s remarks\n\nClick here to download audio\n\nClick here to download video\n\nFollowing is a transcript of Senator Fischer\u2019s remarks as prepared for delivery:\n\nTwenty-two years ago, Apple released the first desktop version of its Mac OS operating system. The first Harry Potter movie and the first Lord of the Rings movie both came out. Alicia Keys and Destiny\u2019s Child were topping the charts. And Bill Clinton left office.\n\nTwenty-two years ago was also the last time mortgage rates were as high as they are now \u2014 yes, they\u2019re higher now than they were during the 2008 financial crisis.\n\nMortgage hit its lowest rate in American history in January 2021. Then, Joe Biden became president.\n\nOver the past two-and-a-half years, mortgage rates have almost tripled. In the meantime, inflation rates are still climbing higher.\n\nThis past month, as I traveled Nebraska during the Senate\u2019s state work period, I visited with dozens and dozens of middle-class Americans. It\u2019s truly the best part of my job \u2014 meeting small business owners, ag producers, schoolteachers, nurses, students, and employees around my home state. But this year, aside from the fun, I was sad to hear about the economic struggles Nebraskans are facing.\n\nMiddle-class Nebraskans are scraping by financially. And what\u2019s ironic is that they\u2019re doing it on the watch of a president who calls himself \u201cMiddle Class Joe.\u201d\n\nPresident Biden\u2019s line recently has been: \u201cWhen the middle class does well, everyone does well.\u201d\n\nI agree with him. I\u2019d just add that right now, everyone is not doing well. That\u2019s especially true for the middle class. And it\u2019s because this administration\u2019s ill-advised policies keep pumping air into an economy that\u2019s already bloated.\n\nThe so-called \u201cBidenomics\u201d agenda is poison disguised as a cure for middle-class Americans. M. President, that\u2019s not an exaggeration. Last month, I saw Bidenomics up close in Nebraska \u2014 so let me tell you how it\u2019s going.\n\nOne Saturday this August, I visited a small town in Western Nebraska. That afternoon, a small business owner told me that his electricity bills have shot up exponentially over the past couple years, both for his home and his business.\n\nElectricity, groceries, you name it \u2014 these essentials are tough to afford, if not impossible to afford, for the average middle-class American.\n\nThat\u2019s Bidenomics in Nebraska.\n\nBusiness owners and families alike shared that they could hardly pay skyrocketing rent and mortgage rates. In fact, all year, an increasing number of middle-class Nebraskans have resorted to asking the Salvation Army for money so they can pay their utilities.\n\nThat\u2019s Bidenomics in Nebraska.\n\nAs I traveled the state, the issue of child care affordability popped up repeatedly. Child care costs have skyrocketed, and dads and moms are at a loss for how to afford rising rates.\n\nThat\u2019s Bidenomics in Nebraska.\n\nThe Bidenomics agenda has made many promises, but I haven\u2019t seen the administration keep a single one. Remember the president\u2019s American Families Plan? Almost two-and-a-half years ago, the president promised that low- and middle-income families would spend no more than seven percent of their income on child care.\n\nBut leading up to the fourth year of Biden\u2019s presidency, here\u2019s what family life looks like:\n\nNebraskan families are already struggling due to inflation \u2014 they\u2019ve seen price increases on bills, groceries, and almost everything in between. In many cases, both parents need to work so they can make enough to pay off debt or afford those sky-high mortgage rates.\n\nBut when child care costs are through the roof, it\u2019s impossible for both parents to work. According to the Economic Policy Institute, child care costs 24.4% more per year than average rent and 53.5% more than in-state college tuition. Did you get that? 53.5% more per year.\n\nThat means parents are stuck between a rock and a hard place financially \u2014 either they live off one income rather than two, or they pay an arm and a leg for child care.\n\nAgain, that\u2019s Bidenomics in Nebraska.\n\nFrom the American Families Plan to the Inflation Reduction Act, this administration\u2019s efforts to grow our economy from the middle class out have totally failed.\n\nMy message to the president is this: When the middle class does badly, everyone does badly.\n\nSo we\u2019d better start undoing the harmful, excessive regulations that are making middle-class Americans suffer. We need to put the priority on reducing costs for everyday Americans.\n\nWe need to unleash American energy to lower our gas prices. We need to support an economic plan that will lower inflation. And we need to pull the plug on wasteful policies that don\u2019t help anyone.\n\nLet\u2019s spend more time listening to real Americans\u2019 concerns than coming up with political slogans.\n\nBidenomics isn\u2019t working in Nebraska. And it\u2019s not working in the other 49 states either. Our administration needs to hear this \u2014 it\u2019s two-and-a-half years past time to make a change.\n\nThank you, M. President, I yield the floor.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:35:26Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.fischer.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news?ID=977FBB30-70D8-4EBC-9E0D-B1B72E452BF7"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.286182949319482, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}