Today marks the 2nd anniversary of our bundle of joy – that which was supposed to keep unemployment from reaching 8% and put America on the path to recovery – our bouncing baby “stimulus.”
Wishing who his friends call “S-Timmy” a happy birthday are George Allen:
“Two years ago today, President Obama signed into law a $800 billion jobless stimulus bill that promised to keep unemployment under 8%. Instead the American people have endured 21 consecutive months of 9% or higher unemployment, 2.6 million jobs have been lost, and our nation’s debt has hit a record-setting $14 trillion. It is clear that only thing this jobless stimulus bill has created is more debt for our children to bear.”
Republican Leader Eric Cantor:
“Today marks the 2nd birthday of the stimulus that failed to meet the Democrats’ promise to create jobs and get our economy back on track….At the time, House Republicans stood united in opposition to the stimulus, and offered our own plan to spur investment, empower small business people and create private sector jobs. Two years ago, the national debt was $10.7 trillion; today, it is more than $14 trillion. These figures run counter to the philosophy driven by the President and Congressional Democrats that Washington knows best when it comes to spending taxpayer dollars, job creation and economic growth. Yet despite these obvious flaws, the President and Senate Democrats this week pushed a status quo approach for this year’s budget that locks in bloated spending levels which increased 24% over the past two years and ‘invests’ trillions of taxpayer dollars in more stimulus-style spending.
“In contrast, House Republicans are fully committed to using every tool at our disposal to rein in out-of-control spending so that we can foster an environment for economic growth and create jobs. Today, we are wrapping up consideration of the Continuing Resolution which reduces spending by $100 billion and takes a first step toward changing the over-spending culture in Washington. This spring, our budget will take serious action on long-term spending to start getting our fiscal house in order and get people back to work. We cannot afford to continue to gamble away our children’s future and back more government-sponsored stimulus efforts.
“On the birthday of the stimulus, let’s step back and recognize that Washington does not always know best. We need to reduce spending and encourage businesses to grow and create jobs in the private sector, not spend more money that we don’t have on big-government programs. To put it simply, less government spending equals more private sector jobs.”
And the National Republican Congressional Committee:
“Gerry Connolly and his fellow Democrats have a hard enough time explaining why their first $814 billion stimulus package failed to create jobs, which makes their insistence on even more spending even more astounding,” said NRCC Communications Director Paul Lindsay. “In the two years since the stimulus was signed into law, more spending has produced more debt and fewer jobs. The American public understands this, but it’s clear that Connolly and his fellow Democrats still haven’t received that message two years later.”
The National Republican Senatorial Committee produced the above video.
