$787 Billion Debacle Failed To Create Jobs, Drove Nat’l Debt Past $14.3 Trillion
When President Obama rammed through the $787 billion stimulus, liberal U.S. Senator Joe Manchin and his tax-and-spend friends in Washington promised it would “save or create 3.5 million jobs before 2011” and would “make a big difference in the job market.”
But the fact is, 28 months since Manchin and the Democrats’ stimulus was passed, nearly 1.9 million fewer Americans are employed.
As CNS News reports:
Twenty-eight months after Congress passed President Obama’s signature economic stimulus law, and nearly one year after he declared the summer of 2010 to be “Recovery Summer,” 1.9 million fewer people are employed. In February 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that 141.7 million people were employed. By the end of May 2011 – the last month for which data are available – that number had fallen to 139.8 million, a difference of 1.9 million.
“When Joe Manchin’s fellow Washington Democrats rammed their $787 billion stimulus into law, he promised it would ‘make a big difference in the job market,’ but today there are 1.9 million fewer Americans employed,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Chris Bond. “West Virginians will hold Manchin accountable for this massive spending debacle that failed to create jobs while driving our national debt past $14.3 trillion.”
Background Information:
“The Obama administration is defending its claim that the $787 billion economic stimulus plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs before 2011 even while conceding that unemployment will likely continue to rise beyond its earlier predictions.” (Stimulus plan will create or save 3.5 million jobs, White House says, Associated Press, 05/11/09)
President Obama’s Economic Advisors Christina Romer And Jared Bernstein Predicted Unemployment Would Not Rise Above 8 Percent If The Stimulus Was Passed. (Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein, “The Job Impact Of The American Recovery And Reinvestment Plan,”1/9/09)
In February 2010, Manchin Said The Stimulus Would “Make A Big Difference In The Job Market.” Q “Looking back at the success of the stimulus package, there seems to be a sense that a lot of states are making hard decisions and maybe it wasn’t such a great thing after all. Do you share that assessment? Do you think it’s fair?” . . . Gov. Manchin: “There’s an awful lot of that money that is coming out now going towards infrastructure — projects, state by state, I think it will make a big difference in the job market.” (Press Conference With Governor Joe Manchin (D-WV) et al, 2/22/10)
In December 2008, Manchin Said Obama’s Plan For An Economic Stimulus Package With Funding For Infrastructure Projects Would Jumpstart The U.S. Economy Immediately By Creating Jobs And Demand For Construction Materials. “After meetings with President-elect Barack Obama on Monday and Tuesday, Gov. Joe Manchin said he is convinced Obama will move quickly on economic stimulus packages for the states. Manchin said federal funding for highway construction and other infrastructure projects would jump-start the U.S. economy by immediately creating jobs and demand for construction materials. ‘With infrastructure projects, these jobs are ready to go tomorrow,’ Manchin said Tuesday afternoon, after Obama met with the Democratic Governors Association Monday evening and the National Governors Association Tuesday morning in Philadelphia.” (Phil Kabler, “Obama Will Help, Manchin Says,” The Charleston [WV] Gazette, 12/3/08)
- “Manchin Said, ‘He’s [Obama’s] Not Just Throwing Money At This (Recession). He Wants To Make Sure There Are Investments And Value.’” (George Hohmann, “Manchin Says Obama Here To Help,” Charleston [WV] Daily Mail, 12/3/08)
But Since The Stimulus Was Passed, America Has Lost Nearly 1.9 Million Jobs
- Our County Has Lost Nearly 1.9 Million Jobs Since The Stimulus Passed In February 2009. (Matt Clover, “1.9 Million Fewer Americans Have Jobs Today Than When Obama Signed Stimulus,” CNS News, 6/14/11)
- The Unemployment Rate Is 9.1 Percent And Has Remained Above 8 Percent For 28 Straight Months. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 6/3/11)
