What’s the definition of fiscal insanity?  Apparently for Democrats, it’s calling for another round of more wasteful ‘stimulus’ spending and expecting it to create jobs – despite the fact that it has failed to deliver on their promises over the past two years.  Today, House Democrats are holding a “mock hearing” to echo President Obama’s call for more budget-busting ‘stimulus’ spending, once again promising that it will create much-needed jobs for the 14.5 million unemployed Americans.  Sound familiar?  It should – it is the same empty promise that Democrats have used to keep their spending binge on autopilot for the past two years: 

• February 2009: President Obama Says the ‘Stimulus’ Will “Create or Save 3.5 Million Jobs Over the Next Two Years.” (Remarks at the Signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, 2/17/09) [February 2009 Unemployment Rate: 8.2 percent; U.S. Debt: $10.79 trillion]

• November 2009: Then-Speaker Pelosi Says the American People Can “Absorb” More Deficit Spending Because “Their Neighbors and Their Children Will Have Jobs.”   (ThinkProgress’ “The Wonk Room” Blog, 11/24/09) [November 2009 Unemployment Rate: 10 percent; U.S. Debt: $12.02 trillion]

• March 2010: Then-Speaker Pelosi Hails Passage of a Bill That Includes $20 Billion in Infrastructure ‘Stimulus,’ Claiming it “Will Produce 300,000 Additional Jobs.” (Press Conference, 3/17/10) [March 2010 Unemployment Rate: 9.7 percent; U.S. Debt: $12.64 trillion] 

• August 2010: President Obama Calls for an Additional $26 Billion in State and Local ‘Stimulus’ Spending to “Save Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs.”  (Remarks by the President on Teacher Jobs, 8/10/10) [August 2010 Unemployment Rate: 9.6 percent; U.S. Debt: $13.32 trillion]

• October 2010: President Obama Calls for an Additional $50 Billion in Infrastructure Spending to Create Jobs “Right Now.”  (Remarks on Rebuilding America’s Infrastructure, 10/11/10) [October 2010 Unemployment Rate: 9.6 percent; U.S. Debt: $13.61 trillion]

We know that nearly a trillion dollars in ‘stimulus’ spending hasn’t created the jobs Democrats promised, so what has it done? Here’s a by-the-numbers look at the real economic impact of the ‘stimulus’:

• Private sector jobs lost since the ‘stimulus’ was signed: 1.8 million

• Obama Administration’s projected unemployment rate with the ‘stimulus’: 7 percent; actual unemployment rate: 9.4 percent

• Difference between the number of jobs the Administration said there would be if the ‘stimulus’ passed (137.6M) versus how many there are (130.7M): 6.8 million

• Number of U.S. states that have lost jobs since the ‘stimulus’ was signed: 47 out of 50

• Increase in the U.S. debt since the ‘stimulus’ was signed: $3.34 trillion

• Increase in non-defense discretionary government spending since President Obama took office: 84 percent

While Democrats may have been woefully wrong about the impact the ‘stimulus’ would have on job creation, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was right about one thing: “The American people have an anger about the growth of the deficit because they’re not getting anything for it.”  The new majority is listening to the American people, and taking steps to stop the job-crushing spending binge and give small businesses the certainty they need to create jobs.  As House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) explained on an appearance on Fox News Sunday this week:

“Cutting spending will in fact help create jobs in America. ... The fact is this, by spending money we don’t have, running up the huge budget deficits, we create more uncertainty in the private sector.  This is where cutting spending will create jobs because it is going to bring greater fiscal responsibility here in Washington, DC, end some of the uncertainty, and allow jobs to be created in America. ... We all heard what our voters had to say: cut spending, create jobs.  The fact is that our spending resolution where we instructed the Appropriations Committee to come back to the House … said bring us back at 2008 levels pre-‘stimulus,’ pre-bailout levels or less.”

Speaker Boehner has made it clear that there is “no limit” to the amount of spending the new majority is willing to cut to help create jobs and get our economy back on track.  That was our Pledge to America, and we will keep it. 

READ MORE:
Less Spending, More Jobs: Ending Washington’s Job-Crushing Spending Binge Will Help Get Americans Working Again (1/31/11)
Boehner on Fox News Sunday: “There is No Limit to the Amount of Spending We’re Willing to Cut” (1/30/11)
On CNN, Boehner Talks Creating Jobs & Cutting Spending: Our "Sputnik Moment" Is “The Fact that We’re Broke” (1/27/11)
1.5 Trillion Reasons to Cut Spending And Implement Reforms to Ensure We Keep Cutting (1/26/11)
New Majority Keeps #Pledge to Focus on Jobs & Ending the Job-Crushing D.C. Spending Binge (1/21/11)