Saturday, February 4, 2012

Republicans Unhappy With Good Employment News

This week, the nation got some very encouraging news about our economy. For the 23rd consecutive month, the number of new American jobs has continued to grow. January saw an additional 257,000 private-sector jobs, bringing us to nearly 3.7 million cumulative private-sector jobs under this administration.

This is positive news, and it's a sign that the job-creation policies that President Obama and Democrats in Congress have fought for and implemented — despite near-universal Republican obstruction — are working.

When the Republican's won control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2010 mid-term elections, they decided that a stalled American economy would be just the thing to ensure Pres. Obama's re-election defeat in 2012.

It is not surprising then that the Republican reaction to the better-than-expected job news Friday and the fact that unemployment had dropped for the 5th month in a row was hardly an occasion for celebration. Some of the GOP reaction:

Mitt Romney issued a statement. "Unfortunately, these numbers cannot hide the fact that President Obama's policies have prevented a true economic recovery. We can do better." The 243,000 people who had jobs in January that didn't in December probably think having a job is a recovery. So would the the average 201,000 people per month over the last three months. Romney did create a lot of jobs while he was the head of Bain Capital. Too bad so many of jobs Romney created were in Mexico and China. He promises, if elected President, to run our nation like he ran Bain Capital.

Tea Party darling, Rep Allen West (R-Fla.) thinks someone is cooking the numbers. "Can someone tell me how employment in the black community has improved at a rate three times the national average in just a few months?" Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) told The Hill. "There is something suspicious about the job numbers released today and it has me very concerned. Is this dramatic supposed decrease in black unemployment a result of job creation or is someone playing around with the census numbers?"

Newt Gingrich, pressed by CNN's Wolf Blitzer on whether President Obama deserves some credit for the positive economic news Friday, said: "Give him some credit. If it makes you happy, give him some credit." Newt Gingrich released a statement, saying "anemic growth is not growth." Noting that "millions of Americans have been waiting months, if not years" for the economy to improve, he said, "I believe the economy will begin to recover the day Barack Obama is voted out of office."

In fact, economic improvement begin the day Barack Obama took the oath of office in January 2008.

The jobless rate is now at its lowest percentage since the month after President Obama took office after 23 consecutive months of job growth with private employers adding 3.7 million jobs since Pres. Obama took office. For 3.7 million people who are working today, who were not when President Obama took office, the idea of a Pres. Romney running the nation the same way he ran Bain Capital might seem something less than appealing.

Republicans just can't seem to find it in themselves to share the nation's enthusiasm over the recovery.

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