One year ago today, President Barack Obama signed into law the first major legislation of his presidency, the Congressional Democrats' so-called "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act." The Obama Democrats made many bold claims about what this $862 billion bill would do for America's ailing economy.
Let's see how their promises measure up to reality.
Obama Promised Unemployment Would Not Rise Above 8 Percent With $862 Billion Stimulus. (Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein, "The Job Impact Of The American Recovery And Reinvestment Plan," 1/9/09)
• REALITY: Unemployment Currently At 10 Percent. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 2/4/10)
Obama Promised His Stimulus Would Create 3.5 Million Jobs By End Of 2010. (President Barack Obama, Remarks At The Signing Of The American Recovery And Reinvestment Act, Denver, CO, 2/17/09)
• REALITY: Since Obama Signed Stimulus Last February, America Has Lost 2.8 Million Jobs. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 2/4/10)
Biden Promised Stimulus Would Create Construction Jobs. "Road projects, energy projects and construction projects are being started as soon as they pass review, contracts are competitively bid and reporting systems are in place." (Joe Biden, "What You Might Not Know About The Recovery," The New York Times, 7/26/09)
• REALITY: Since Obama Signed The Stimulus Last February, 712,000 Construction Jobs Have Been Lost. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 2/4/10)
Obama Claims Stimulus Created Manufacturing Jobs. "That's right -- the Recovery Act, also known as the stimulus bill. Economists on the left and the right say this bill has helped save jobs and avert disaster. But you don't have to take their word for it -- Talk to the window manufacturer in Philadelphia who said he used to be skeptical about the Recovery Act, until he had to add two more work shifts just because of the business it created." (President Barack Obama, Remarks In State Of The Union Address, Washington, DC, 1/27/10)
• REALITY: Since Obama Signed The Stimulus Last February, 847,000 Manufacturing Jobs Have Been Lost. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 2/4/10)
Obama Claims Stimulus Created Teaching Jobs. "Because of the steps we took, there are about two million Americans working right now who would otherwise be unemployed -- 300,000 are teachers and other education workers." (President Barack Obama, Remarks In State Of The Union Address, Washington, DC, 1/27/10)
• REALITY: Since Obama Signed The Stimulus Last February, 55,000 Education Jobs Have Been Lost. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 2/4/10)
Obama Promised Recovery Act "Will Create Good Jobs That Pay Well And Can't Be Shipped Overseas." (The White House, "Remarks By The President And The Vice President On The American Recovery And Reinvestment Act," 4/13/09)
• REALITY: Recently Distributed Stimulus Funds Going To Foreign Corporations Creating Jobs Overseas. "Nearly half of the $2.4 billion in federal grant money awarded Wednesday to stimulate the U.S. economy and boost the production of hybrid and electric vehicles went to six companies with ties to places as far away as Russia, China, South Korea and France. ... But because so few American companies have the necessary technology, much of the money will initially go toward manufacturing electric vehicle batteries overseas." (Jerry Seper, "Obama Sends Stimulus Aid To Foreign Firms," The Washington Times, 8/6/09)
Obama Promised Stimulus Would Have "Responsibility and Accountability." "'What I will need from [U.S. Mayors] is unprecedented responsibility and accountability on all of our parts,' Obama said. 'The American people are watching.'" (Michael D. Shear, "Obama To Watch Cities' Stimulus Spending," The Washington Post, 2/21/09)
• REALITY: GAO Says Transparency, Oversight Lacking When Keeping Track of Stimulus' Effectiveness. "The Government Accountability Office said in a report that increased transparency and better oversight is needed to track stimulus money being sent to state and local governments. -- 'Questions remained about how to count jobs and measure performance under Recovery Act-funded programs,' the report said." (Rich Edson and Joanna Ossinger, "GAO: More Transparency Needed To Track Stimulus Money," Fox Business, 7/7/09)
Barack Obama and his big-spending Democrat allies in the U.S. Congress, led by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, have proven, their claims notwithstanding, that their kind of "Stimulus" will only run America's economy into the ground.
And this massive transfer of wealth to the Democrats' public sector union allies in local and state governments was just the beginning of Obamanomics -- soak the private sector to feed the never-ending growth of government.
In fact, as the Obama Democrats moved on from their bloated "Stimulus" Bill to take over the American auto industry, implement Cap-and-Trade energy taxes, and socialize private health care, they made it obvious to everyone not on their gravy train that they care not a whit for the millions of unemployed who simply want a chance to earn an honest living in the free marketplace.
Americans know that the Obama Democrats have no intention of doing what will really create new jobs -- reducing the punishing tax rates on American small business and investors to spur job growth and vitalize our economy.
So faced with the reality of the voters' backlash in New Jersey and Virginia, then Massachusetts and soon the entire country, they are cloaking their next spending boondoggle as a "jobs bill."
Sorry, Democrats, but the American people have had enough of your "Stimulus" -- they demand an end to the childish double talk and irresponsible wealth transfers. But no one expects the Obama-Pelosi-Reid Democrats to listen.
That's why the RNC needs your support now. Please make a secure, online contribution of $25, $50, $100, $500, or $1,000 to the Republican National Committee. Only with your help can we keep the pressure on Congress to pass policies that will truly help fix our economy.
And you also help provide the resources our Party needs to recruit and support commonsense, conservative Republican candidates who will defeat the double talking, double dealing Democrats this fall and return fiscal sanity to Washington, and a chance for real job growth to American workers.
Thanks for your time -- I hope you will give as generously as you can today.
Sincerely,
Michael Steele
Chairman, Republican National Committee
P.S.: Mad American, there is no better time than now to increase your support of the RNC's efforts to stop the Obama Democrats' disastrous attempts to plunge America further into economic malaise to feather their public sector union allies' already lavish nests. Unions pumped more than $400 million into the Democrats' 2008 campaign war chest -- and will be only too happy to do it again this year. Help us put an end to the Big Government kickbacks by supporting the RNC's efforts to help our candidates defeat the Obama Democrats this November and end the leftist plundering of the American peoples' treasury. Thank you.
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