NRCC Release:
Washington --- Today marks two years since the stimulus package was signed into law, riding on a wave of support from Zack Space and his former Democrat colleagues. Unfortunately, during the past two years, the $814 billion stimulus effort has failed to produce the jobs and economic recovery that had been promised. Today, as Space considers a run for his old seat, his former House Democrat allies are united under President Obama’s budget plan which proposes even more of the stimulus-style spending that will continue to add to our national debt and bring more uncertainty to small businesses trying to create jobs.“As Zack Space considers running again for his old seat, Ohioans should remember that in the two years since the stimulus was signed into law, more spending has produced more debt and fewer jobs,” said NRCC Communications Director Paul Lindsay. “Space had a hard enough time explaining why the first $814 billion stimulus package failed to create jobs. But if Space the candidate is anything like Space the Member was, then we can only assume that he would now be standing by his party supporting a budget that insists on even more spending.”The stimulus remains such a sore spot on the Democrats’ record that President Obama decided not to send anyone to defend it at a House panel on the law yesterday:“The Obama White House won’t be sending a witness to defend the economic-stimulus package before a House Oversight Committee panel Wednesday.“The committee is holding a hearing on the impact of the stimulus package, which President Barack Obama signed almost two years ago.”“Public perceptions of the package have been dismal and during the November midterm elections, many GOP candidates ran on a platform of criticizing the stimulus effort, while Democrats barely mentioned it.” (Louise Radnofsky, “White House Economists Won’t Testify on Stimulus,” The Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire Blog, 2/15/11)Despite this, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel has frequent conference calls with ousted Democrats seeking to reclaim their former seats:“The group, which includes members who lost their re-election bids as well as those who retired last cycle, first met during last year's lame-duck session of Congress. They now huddle by phone once or twice a month with Israel and DCCC recruiting chair Allyson Schwartz (Pa.) leading the chat. Roughly 90 percent of the Democrats who lost in 2010 participate.” (Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake, “Steve Israel's alumni association,” Washington Post’s The Fix Blog, 2/16/11)Exactly two years have gone by since the $814 billion stimulus was signed into law, and we still face growing debt levels and abysmal job numbers. In spite of their failure, Space's former Democrat colleagues continue to push for more of the same stimulus policies they advocated for two years ago. As he considers another run, Space's former constituents in Ohio are left wondering when he and his Democrat allies will finally understand more spending is only hurting job creation.
