In an op-ed in today's Washington Post, House Republican Leader John Boehner claimed President Obama and Democrats in Congress have failed to jump-start our economy and create jobs.
Wrong, Mr. Boehner.
When President Obama was sworn into office, this country was deep into the worst economic recession since the Great Depression, and President George W. Bush had the worst jobs record of any administration in 75 years. Now, as a result of legislative solutions championed by President Obama and Democrats in Congress — chiefly the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act which the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates has created or saved between 600,000 and 1.6 million jobs so far — job losses in the country have been steadily slowing.
In this case, a picture is worth more than the 604 words in Mr. Boehner's op-ed:
Mr. Boehner also claimed American families are anxious with the legislative agenda being forwarded by Democrats in Congress. Wrong again. A recent Bloomberg poll shows the American people support the solutions passed by Democrats in Congress — against nearly unanimous Republican opposition:
70 percent support education and job training for unemployed workers to improve their skills
68 percent support giving businesses a tax credit for hiring new people
66 percent support spending money on public infrastructure such as roads and bridges
66 percent support raising income taxes on the wealthy — individuals making $500,000 or more and households making $1 million or more — to cut the deficit
60 percent support increasing spending on alternative energy
Polls also show a shrinking number of Americans identify with the Republican Party and its rehashed ‘ideas’ for ‘reform’:
Just 20 percent of Americans identify themselves as Republicans — the lowest number since 1983. [ABC/Washington Post, 10/19/09]
By a 15 point margin, Americans say Democrats are more concerned with the needs of people like them–51 percent said Democrats and 36 percent said Republicans [ABC/Washington Post, 11/15/09]
“The challenge for Cantor and Republicans is that these solutions — low taxes, free trade, and fewer regulations — existed during the Bush years, which saw three different economic downturns (in 2001, 2003, and 2008), and which produced the weakest eight-year span for the U.S. economy in decades.” [MSNBC, 12/2/09]