Chris Murphy’s Endless Summer…

One Year After Declaring “Recovery Summer,” Stimulus Failure Continues To Highlight Murphy’s Reckless Spending, Broken Promises

WASHINGTON — In case liberal U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy (D-CT) lost track of the date and forgot to remind Connecticut voters, it’s been a full year since Murphy and his fellow Washington Democrats declared that it was “Recovery Summer,” promising that their $787 billion in reckless deficit spending would fix America’s ailing economy.

So, to mark the one-year anniversary of Murphy and the Democrats’ “Recovery Summer,” it’s worth examining a few of the claims he and his Washington party bosses made regarding their failed $787 billion stimulus debacle.  For instance…

• The Obama administration claimed their stimulus would “save or create 3.5 million jobs before 2011,” and Murphy claimed it would “add or save 2 million jobs across the nation.” But America has lost nearly 1.9 million jobs since the stimulus was passed in February 2009.  As President Obama admitted this week, “[s]hovel-ready was not as … uh .. shovel-ready as we expected.”

• While Murphy’s party bosses predicted the Democrats’ stimulus would keep unemployment below 8 percent, unemployment nearly two-and-a-half years later is 9.1 percent – and has remained above 8 percent for 28 consecutive months.

• And while Murphy claimed the stimulus was a “bold action” that “put[s] us on the road to recovery,” a report shows that stimulus funds have been ‘invested’ in a large number of outrageous non-job-related projects, including a study to determine the effects of cocaine on monkeys, iPods for high school students, cell phones for smokers trying to quit, and advertising devoted to the promotion of the stimulus bill itself.

Meanwhile, as she continues to drag him even farther to the left in their divisive Democratic primary, former Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz (D-CT) also remains fully supportive of the failed stimulus, recently claiming that “the $787 billion economic stimulus… helped avert a second economic depressions [sic],” despite admitting that “she is disappointed that it didn’t create more jobs, particularly in the construction industry.”

“Chris Murphy and Susan Bysiewicz both still believe it was a good idea to add $787 billion to our national debt in order to lose 1.9 million jobs – and no matter who emerges from this divisive Democrat primary, that fact tells Connecticut families all they need to know about whether they can trust that candidate’s judgment,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Chris Bond.

FACT CHECK: MURPHY’S $787 BILLION STIMULUS FAILED TO CREATE PROMISED JOBS WHILE DRIVING OUR

NATIONAL DEBT PAST $14.3 TRILLION

STIMULUS RHETORIC:

• “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)

• “Murphy predicted that the bill would add or save 2 million jobs across the nation and help improve consumer confidence.” (Peter Urban, “Houses passes $819b stimulus plan,” Connecticut Post Online, 1/28/09)

STIMULUS REALITY:

• Our Country 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)

• President Barack Obama: “Shovel-ready was not as … uh .. shovel-ready as we expected.” (President Barack Obama, Fox News, 06/13/11)

STIMULUS RHETORIC:

• 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)

STIMULUS REALITY:

• 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)

STIMULUS RHETORIC:

• Murphy Said The Stimulus Bill Was “Bold Action” That “Put[s] Us On The Road To Recovery.” “‘In this unprecedented economic downturn we need bold action and we need it now,’ said Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5. ‘This bill doesn’t fix everything that is wrong with the economy but it can stop the bleeding and put us on the road to recovery.’ Murphy predicted that the bill would add or save 2 million jobs across the nation and help improve consumer confidence.” (Peter Urban, “Houses passes $819b stimulus plan,” Connecticut Post Online, 1/28/09)

STIMULUS REALITY:

Stimulus Dollars Have Been Thrown At Dubious, If Not Outrageous, Projects, Including:

• $2 million to capture and study exotic ants
• $71,000 to study how monkeys react under the influence of cocaine
• $750,000 to develop a computerized choreography program that could lead to a YouTube-like “Dance Tube” online application
• $554,000 to replace windows at a Washington visitor center with no plans to reopen the visitor center
• $54 million to develop a building for the Mohegan Tribe in Connecticut that will also serve as a practice facility for the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun women’s professional basketball team
• $300,000 to study whether Integral Yoga can be an effective method to reduce hot flashes in menopausal women
• $194,000 to study people’s perceptions of federal stimulus spending.

SOURCE: Sens. Tom Coburn and John McCain, “Summertime Blues: 100 Stimulus Projects That Give Taxpayers The Blues,” msnbcmedia.msn.com, 8/10