Please see below for DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s remarks at a press conference on the Republican presidential field in Tampa, FL this afternoon.
 
 
INTRODUCTION
 
Good afternoon. 
 
Throughout this primary campaign, we haven’t heard a single new idea from the Republican candidates, and tonight you shouldn’t expect that to change.
 
If given half a chance, they would bring back the same trickle-down policies that got us into this mess – failed policies that left President Obama with an economy shedding more than 750,000 jobs each month when he came into office.
And what is their message to middle-class American families?
 
They would advocate for policies that just set us up for the next big burst bubble - repealing the protections put in place to prevent another financial crisis – and for giving more tax breaks to special interests and tax cuts to the wealthiest.
 
If you’re struggling as a result of the financial crisis, the mortgage crisis or just having trouble finding a job, you won’t find a candidate on stage tonight with a plan to do anything but return to the policies we're all too familiar with and that have failed us in the past.
 
 
SOCIAL SECURITY & MEDICARE
 
And for seniors and anyone looking forward to aging with dignity what’s worse, is that you can expect to see the leading Republican candidates calling for changes that would do great harm to Social Security if not dismantle it entirely.  Social Security, like Medicare, is something Americans have earned - we've paid for it, we’re counting on it - but Republicans would shred this safety net to bits - breaking a decades long compact with the American people.
 
At least Rick Perry was honest about his hostility towards Social Security, calling it a ‘Ponzi scheme’ in last week’s debate in California.
But Mitt Romney was not so straightforward about his support for privatizing Social Security – a scheme that would be as dangerous to the future of the program as Rick Perry's attitude and rhetoric. 
 
Now, Mitt Romney would have you believe otherwise.  He's been running around all week attacking Rick Perry on the issue.  The hypocrisy is beyond galling.  Romney would gamble with our Social Security in the stock market - a scheme that would devastate Social Security.  He said so publically numerous times.
 
The truth is, Republicans like Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and George Bush before them, have had their sights set on dismantling Social Security and the American people have emphatically said, "no."
 
Now these candidates have come to my home state of Florida. And, Florida’s seniors don't want either Rick Perry or Mitt Romney's approach to dismantling Social Security - and they have already expressed opposition to these candidates’ support for the Ryan Republican plan to end Medicare as we know it. 
 
Ending Medicare and dismantling Social Security are curious positions for candidates campaigning here in the Sunshine State . . . But that is exactly what these Republicans support and believe.  Florida’s seniors need to know that. 
 
Each of the Republican candidates in this race is desperate to appease the Tea Party.  They rubber-stamped an ideologically driven agenda that would end Medicare as we know it, erode Social Security, weaken middle-class security and eliminate millions of jobs.
 
AMERICAN JOBS ACT
 
Meanwhile, President Obama and Democrats are building an America that is poised for success in the future. On Thursday, the President offered a bill that would create more jobs right now because the American people demand immediate action. 
 
As soon as Congress passes it, businesses will be able to hire more workers and middle-class families will be able to keep more of what they earn.
 
There’s no reason for delay, and as the President said there is nothing in this bill that’s controversial if your goal is to create jobs for middle class families.
This is a matter of values – the idea that hard work pays off and that responsibility is rewarded. The President’s bill reflects these values. 
The American Jobs Act creates jobs and grows the economy now, helping America’s small businesses hire and grow by cutting their payroll taxes by 50%.
 
It puts more money in the pockets of working and middle-class Americans, lowering their taxes. The average family will get to keep $1,500 more from their paychecks each year. 
 
 
It would put more people back to work in jobs that keep us safe today and strengthen our future, including teachers, first responders, veterans and construction workers.
 
And, while this bill will create American jobs, it won’t add a dime to the deficit.
 
This bill is sound policy that will ensure that middle class families are protected and that they’re rewarded for their hard work.
 
But the Republican candidates have opposed this common sense plan because they aren’t interested in solutions. 
 
 
They would rather see middle class families continue to struggle than give up their effort to give more tax cuts to special interests and the wealthy.
 
This is not a question of partisanship – it’s a question of values and these Republican candidates are making a clear statement of who they value.  They care about one job – President Obama’s.  Democrats care about American jobs.
 

CONCLUSION
Tonight, you’ll hear a lot of talk about the President, but you won’t hear any plan to create jobs now or to protect Social Security without privatizing it, or to strengthen Medicare without transforming it into a voucher program benefitting insurance companies and increasing health care costs for seniors. 
 
Republicans have no plan for middle class families because they are working for the special interests.
 
Their plans to deregulate Wall Street, give tax breaks to insurance companies and Big Oil and extend tax cuts for millionaires won’t create jobs or make things any easier on middle-class families.
 
Floridians need to know that Democrats are on their side and the Republican message is “You’re on your own.”
 
At this debate and for the entirety of this campaign, we'll make sure voters know it.
 
Thank you.