Issue Position: Standing Up for Middle-Class Families

Issue Position

Debbie Stabenow knows that middle-class families are the cornerstone of a strong economy. She believes that we won't have a middle class unless we make things and grow things. Debbie supports cutting taxes for middle-class families across Michigan while her opponent supports proposals to eliminate Medicare and Social Security to pay for tax giveaways to millionaires and billionaires. Debbie is also focused on making sure college is accessible and affordable so Michigan families have the opportunity to succeed and opposes efforts by her opponent to eliminate equal pay for women protections that he calls a "nuisance."

Making College More Affordable

Senator Stabenow knows that a college degree has become increasingly important to reach or remain in the middle class, yet the cost of higher education has skyrocketed, making college unaffordable for too many middle-class families. That's why Debbie led the successful fight to stop student loan interest rates from doubling and has opposed efforts to eliminate federal student loans and Pell Grants. She also fought hard for groundbreaking reforms that ended wasteful subsidies to banks and used those funds to help make college affordable for more students.

Ensuring Equal Pay for Women

When women make less than men for the same work, it hurts Michigan families. Senator Stabenow was a co-sponsor of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the first law signed by President Obama and a milestone piece of legislation that helps ensure women get equal pay for equal work. Debbie is also a cosponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act to stop companies from using workplace rules to keep women in the dark about salary discrimination. Senator Stabenow's opponent, on the other hand, has called equal pay protections for women a "nuisance" and said they "shouldn't be law." Senator Stabenow understands that when women are discriminated against and paid less than men for the same work, middle class families suffer and that's why she will never stop fighting to make sure women are treated fairly in the workplace.

Standing with Main Street, not Wall Street

After the economic collapse in 2008, Debbie voted against the bailout of big banks in New York City, saying that the people that needed help were families on Main Street, not Wall Street.

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