Does He Still Believe $787 Billion Stimulus Made A “Big Difference In The Job Market”???

As President Obama plans to deliver yet another “major speech” on the economy in an effort to jumpstart the worst approval ratings of his Presidency, the White House is signaling that he will call for another round of borrowed “stimulus” spending.  And as ABC News reports this morning, “[m]any Democrats say they want to hear a forceful presidential push for new stimulus spending and middle-class tax cuts, with less emphasis on deficit reduction and government spending cuts they say could stunt job creation and hamper economic recovery.”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) today called on Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) to step forward and make clear whether or not he agrees with President Obama and other liberal Democrats that more government spending is needed to jumpstart the economy.

“Given Joe Manchin’s strong support for the Obama agenda and his past failed stimulus policies, West Virginians deserve to know if he intends to rubber-stamp yet another round of government spending that is borrowed on the backs of taxpayers,” NRSC spokesman Chris Bond said today. 

Background:

Sound Familiar?

THEN:  September 15, 2009: Obama Said His Stimulus Was Putting Americans To Work And Was “The Largest Investment In Our Infrastructure Since Eisenhower Created The Interstate Highway System In The 1950s.” “We’re putting Americans to work across this country rebuilding crumbling roads and bridges and waterways with the largest investment in our infrastructuresince Eisenhower created the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s. All in all, many middle class families will see their incomes go up by about $3,000 because of the Recovery Act, helping them get back much of what they’ve lost due to this recession.” (President Barack Obama, Remarks By The President At AFL-CIO Convention, 9/15/09) 

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)

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)

NOW:  “President Barack Obama Said Monday He Would Unveil Proposals Next Week Aimed At Spurring Job Growth In Part Through Infrastructure Improvements.” (“Obama Says Will Unveil Jobs Plan Next Week,” Reuters, 8/29/11)

• In His Speech, “The President Is Likely To Discuss Items He Has Pitched Before.” “The president is likely to discuss items he has pitched before, including an extension of payroll tax cuts, a string of free-trade deals and new infrastructure projects — items he said Republicans and Democrats should agree on.” (David Jackson, “Obama: Jobs Are Our ‘Urgent Mission,” USA Today’s “The Oval,” 8/29/11)

Obama’s Economic Advisors and Senate Democrats Predicted That The Stimulus Would Keep The Unemployment Rate Below 8 Percent With Stimulus. (The Job Impact Of The American Recovery And Reinvestment Plan, 1/9/09)

Last Week, CBO Said Unemployment Will Remain Above The Administration’s Projection Of 8% Until At Least 2014.  That means a lousy job market for years to come. CBO expects the unemployment rate to fall from today’s 9.1 to 8.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012—and then to remain above 8% until 2014.  (The Wall Street Journal, 8/24/11)

Under President Obama, Long-Term Unemployment Has Reached An Unprecedented Level. On average, 44 percent of workers who were unemployed in the first half of 2011 had been jobless for more than six months. Moreover, in mid-2011, 31 percent of unemployed workers had been jobless for at least a year. Those rates of long-term unemployment are unprecedented in the post–World War II era. (By comparison, workers who had been jobless for more than six months accounted for about 25 percent of all unemployed workers shortly after the 1981–1982 recession.) (CBO, 8/24/11)

There Are 2.5 Million Fewer Jobs Today Than When President Obama Took Office.  The nation has 2.5 million fewer jobs today than the day Obama took office.  (Politico, 8/4/11)