WASHINGTON - Pointing toward midterm elections, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi promises to raise the minimum wage while cutting taxes to spur economic growth and help the middle class.

ADVERTISEMENT

She also vows that Democrats will keep American jobs from going overseas by repealing current tax incentives if voters give her party the reins of Congress on Nov. 7.

"This economy is making the super-rich richer, and leaving middle-class American families further behind, deeper in debt and struggling to make ends meet," Pelosi, D-Calif., said in excerpts of a speech she was delivering Thursday at Georgetown University.

"Democrats believe in the marketplace," she said. "Choices made by President Bush and Republicans in Congress have created a market failure — they have consistently rewarded wealth without rewarding work."

Pelosi emphasized the economy as House Republicans were consumed with the fallout of a virtual sex scandal that led to the resignation of former Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record), R-Fla., and has prompted calls for House Speaker Dennis Hastert to step down.

Five weeks before congressional elections, polls show the public favors putting Democrats in charge of Congress.

Democrats also have the advantage on the economy as a campaign issue.

A recent Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that Democrats have a 22-percentage point edge among likely voters who care deeply about the economy, with 57 percent saying they're more likely to vote for Democrats and 35 percent indicating they probably would lean Republican.

Republicans took issue with Pelosi's remarks.

"If there was any evidence that campaign season is in full swing, it's Nancy Pelosi's epiphany that tax cuts spur economic growth after years of leading the charge in tax hikes on American workers," said Tracey Schmitt, a Republican Party spokeswoman.