One Year After Declaring “Recovery Summer,” Stimulus Failure Continues To Highlight Casey’s Reckless Spending, Broken Promises
WASHINGTON — In case liberal U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) lost track of the date and forgot to remind Pennsylvanians, it’s been a full year since Casey 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 Casey and the Democrats’ “Recovery Summer,” it’s worth examining a few of the claims he and his fellow liberal Democrats 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 Casey claimed it would “get our economy out of the ditch by creating jobs.” But America has lost nearly 1.9 million jobs since he helped ram the stimulus into law. As President Obama admitted this week, “[s]hovel-ready was not as … uh .. shovel-ready as we expected.”
- While Casey’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 Casey claimed the stimulus “is good for Pennsylvania,” and focused on “investing in long-term economic growth,” 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.
“Bob Casey still believes it was a good idea for him and his fellow Washington Democrats to add $787 billion to our national debt in order to lose 1.9 million jobs – and that tells Pennsylvanians all they need to know about whether they can trust his judgment,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Chris Bond.
FACT CHECK:
| FACT CHECK: CASEY & OBAMA’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)
· Casey: “The American Recovery And Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Is Helping Get Our Economy Out Of The Ditch By Creating Jobs And Aiding Those Hardest Hit By The Worst Economic Downturn Since The Great Depression.” (Senator Bob Casey Website, www.casey.senate.gov, Accessed 2/1/11)
STIMULUS REALITY:
· 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)
· 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)
· Casey Told Business Leaders In Pennsylvania That The Stimulus Would Help Get The Economy Out Of The Ditch, Create Jobs, And Help Those Who Suffered The Most From The Recession. “Mr. Casey, a Democrat, told about 165 business leaders who attended a breakfast hosted by the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry at the Woodlands Inn and Resort that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will help get the economy out of the ditch, create jobs and aid those hardest hit by the recession. He said the act is good news for Northeast Pennsylvania, the entire state and country.” (Denise Allabaugh, “Stimulus Plan Defended,” The [Scranton ,PA] Times-Tribune, 3/17/09)
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:
· Casey: “This Bill Is Good For Pennsylvania.” (Senator Bob Casey Website, www.casey.senate.gov, Accessed 2/1/11)
· Casey: “On The National Level, ARRA Is Helping To Stabilize Our Economy While Investing In Long-Term Economic Growth.” (Senator Bob Casey Website, www.casey.senate.gov, Accessed 2/1/11)
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 |
