WASHINGTON, DC – After the U.S. Department of Labor released its monthly employment report showing unemployment rising to 9.4 percent – the highest in more than a quarter century – House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement:This is Change we can believe in?
“Today’s unemployment rate is the highest in more than a quarter century, and it’s another reminder of how Washington is hanging middle-class Americans out to dry. More than 2.5 million Americans have lost their jobs this year, and what have the Democrats in charge of Washington given them? A trillion-dollar ‘stimulus’ that isn’t producing jobs immediately, as the Administration promised, and that Vice President Biden admits is ripping off the American people. Another $400 billion spending bill loaded with 9,000 unscrutinized earmarks. And bailouts that reward irresponsible behavior and bad business decisions. These policies are harming middle class families when they can least afford it and adding to the massive debt inherited by future generations.
“There is a better way. Doubling down on the Democrats’ plans to tax more, spend more, and borrow more from our children and grandchildren is not the right answer to this economic crisis. Republicans have offered better solutions to create more jobs, curb spending, cut taxes, rebuild savings, and control the debt, and we have reached out to our Democratic counterparts to work on these policies in a constructive way. I urge Democrats in Congress and the Administration to finally follow through on their promises of bipartisan cooperation.”
NOTE: Earlier this year, the President’s chief economist, Dr. Christina Romer, said that the jobless rate would only hit nine percent if Washington failed to pass the trillion-dollar “stimulus” spending bill. Less than four months after the President signed the “stimulus,” the unemployment rate has hit 9.4 percent.
UPDATE: Tom has more on the May report over at BizzyBlog.
