Despite Serious Credibility Problems,
White House Hosts 'Jobs Summit'
Dear Friends,
On Thursday, the White House held a “jobs summit” against a backdrop of rising unemployment, soaring debt, and declining public confidence in the Obama Administration’s economic program. The White House asked “summit” participants to bring their favorite job-creation ideas to share. Conspicuously absent from the Administration’s invitation list were the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, and the National Association of Manufacturers.
Earlier this year, the President joined Washington Democrats in staking their credibility on a nearly trillion-dollar, so-called “stimulus” that was supposed to be about putting people back to work. Instead, it has produced countless examples of wasteful government spending while more than 3 million Americans have lost their jobs. Even the accounting methods designed to keep track of “stimulus” dollars have been widely discredited. Given the last 11 months of outrageous “stimulus” claims, the American people are right to wonder whether the President, Harry Reid, or Nancy Pelosi can be trusted to create jobs and cut the deficit.
Below is a list of five outrageous claims made about Congressional Democrats’ trillion-dollar stimulus:
CLAIM: “Just 10 days before taking office, Obama’s top economic advisers [Christina Romer & Jared Bernstein] released a report predicting unemployment would remain at 8 percent or below through this year if an economic stimulus plan won congressional approval.” (Associated Press, 6/14/09)
FACT: The nation’s unemployment rate now stands at 10.2 percent. The President and several members of his economic team explicitly stated that the “stimulus” was needed to avert double-digit unemployment.
CLAIM: “Q: If the president gets his way and gets this package approved, he signs it into law, how soon before – the American public starts to feel results, the creation of jobs? NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL DIRECTOR LAWRENCE SUMMERS: You’ll see the effects begin almost immediately.” (CNN, 2/9/09)
FACT: The U.S. economy has lost more than three million jobs since the trillion-dollar ”stimulus” became law. One House Democrat this week referred to the “stimulus” as the “jobless American Recovery Act.” A recent survey found that fewer than one in ten Americans believe the “stimulus” has helped create jobs.
CLAIM: “More than 90 percent of the jobs created by this plan will be in the private sector.” – President Obama (News conference, 2/9/09)
FACT: “Although President Obama initially said that 90 percent of the jobs created by the stimulus program would be in the private sector, the data suggests that well over half of the jobs claimed so far have been in the public sector.” (The New York Times, 11/4/09)
CLAIM: “We must make sure the public understands this is a very fiscally sound package.” –Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Talk Radio News Service, 3/10/09)
FACT: With the help of the trillion-dollar “stimulus,” the Obama Administration spent more in its first 100 days than all previous presidents have combined. The national debt has topped $12 trillion for the first time in U.S. history. The federal government is now operating on a budget that doubles the national debt in five years and triples it in ten.
CLAIM: “The second hundred days you’re going to see a lot more jobs created.” – Vice President Joe Biden (ABC’s This Week, 7/5/09)
FACT: The U.S. economy lost roughly 930,000 jobs in June, July, and August. It was during this period that the President proclaimed he could “see a light at the end of the tunnel.”
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