Bad timing for House minority whip Eric Cantor. Just yesterday, Cantor appeared at a job fair -- fueled in part by stimulus money -- to say that the stimulus hasn't created private sector jobs and that government jobs don't help the economy (not sure how that one works and he didn't really explain it).
Today we get this from Politico:
"The number of created or saved jobs is an increase from a council estimate from the first quarter of the year of 2.2 million to 2.8 million," according to the report. "The new report puts the country on track to reach 3.5 million jobs by the end of 2010."
The question I'd ask is if this means that Republicans will stop saying the stimulus hasn't created jobs -- and the answer I'm forced to give is no. They'll go on using their debunked talking point, because that's what they do. Cantor's statement had already been debunked when he said it. This report comes after an earlier CBO report that also showed that the stimulus had created jobs. Cantor was either suffering from amnesia or lying.
"The factor that the GOP House Whip is still saying that the stimulus hasn't created any jobs, well, it's bad," wrote John Aravosis. "The White House should come down on Cantor like a ton of bricks. Tell him to come to the White House tomorrow, and you'll have the cameras there, and he can explain to the American people exactly how the stimulus hasn't created any jobs, when CBO says it's created millions, when other GOP members of Congress have held press conferences with companies whose jobs have been saved/created by the stimulus." And now this report says the same thing.
Today we get this from Politico:
President Barack Obama’s stimulus plan boosted employment and supported national growth, the White House said Wednesday, as it battles Americans’ waning confidence in his economic policies.
A quarterly Council of Economic Advisers report estimated that the administration’s $862 billion economic recovery package put from 2.5 million to 3.6 million people to work. And for every $1 the government puts into Recovery Act programs, the private sector is investing $3, according to the report.
"The number of created or saved jobs is an increase from a council estimate from the first quarter of the year of 2.2 million to 2.8 million," according to the report. "The new report puts the country on track to reach 3.5 million jobs by the end of 2010."
The question I'd ask is if this means that Republicans will stop saying the stimulus hasn't created jobs -- and the answer I'm forced to give is no. They'll go on using their debunked talking point, because that's what they do. Cantor's statement had already been debunked when he said it. This report comes after an earlier CBO report that also showed that the stimulus had created jobs. Cantor was either suffering from amnesia or lying.
"The factor that the GOP House Whip is still saying that the stimulus hasn't created any jobs, well, it's bad," wrote John Aravosis. "The White House should come down on Cantor like a ton of bricks. Tell him to come to the White House tomorrow, and you'll have the cameras there, and he can explain to the American people exactly how the stimulus hasn't created any jobs, when CBO says it's created millions, when other GOP members of Congress have held press conferences with companies whose jobs have been saved/created by the stimulus." And now this report says the same thing.
