The President’s Budget – Broken Promises On Jobs

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Mar 8, 2014

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President Obama Promised That Government Spending Was The Answer To Creating Jobs

In 2009, The Obama Administration Told The Public That If The “Stimulus” Were Passed, The Unemployment Rate Would Not Pass 8.0%. (Christina Romer And Jared Bernstein, “The Job Impact Of The American Recovery And Reinvestment Plan,” 1/9/09)

Here’s The Chart The White House Provided in 2009:

 

Here’s The Truth:

• Despite The Enactment Of A Stimulus Bill That Cost More Than $1 Trillion, The Unemployment Rate Peaked At 10.0% In October 2009. (“Current Population Survey,” BLS, Accessed 3/7/14)

• Real Cost Of The Stimulus $1.177 Trillion: According to CBO, the stimulus bill cost $830 billion. Adding in $347 billion in long-term interest payments, the bill will total nearly $1.2 trillion.

• Unemployment Stayed Above 8.0% For 43 Consecutive Months. (“Current Population Survey,” BLS, Accessed 3/7/14)

Even After An $1.177 Trillion Stimulus Package And Four Straight Trillion-Dollar Deficits, Too Many Americans Are Still Looking For Work

• There are still 10.5 million Americans who are unemployed.

• The unemployment rate at 6.7% is still far above the 5.0% the president’s advisors had predicted for 2014 with the stimulus.

• There are currently 7.2 million Americans working part-time but wanting full-time work.

• There are still 651,000 fewer jobs today than at the start of the recession.

Sources: “Current Population Survey,” BLS, Accessed 3/7/14; “Current Employment Statistics,” BLS, Accessed 3/7/14; Christina Romer And Jared Bernstein, “The Job Impact Of The American Recovery And Reinvestment Plan,” 1/9/09

The President’s Budget Calls For The Same Failed Plans Of “Stimulus” And Increased Federal Spending

The President’s Budget Proposal Would Increase Spending From $3.4 Trillion In 2013 To $3.9 Trillion In 2015. (“Budget Of The United States Government, Fiscal Year 2015,” OMB, 3/4/14)

• President Obama Is Proposing $56 Billion For A So-Called “Opportunity, Growth, And Security Initiative.” “

• The President’s Budget Also Proposes A $302 Billion Transportation Spending Increase To Support Infrastructure And Create Jobs.

• President Obama Also Doubles Down On “Stimulus” With A Proposed National Infrastructure Bank.

While The President Calls For Bigger Government, His Administration Blocks Private Job Creation

Exhibit A Of Government Holding Back Job Creation: Keystone XL

In His Latest Budget, President Obama Outlined How His Administration Would “Continue To Act On [Its] Own To Cut Red Tape And Streamline The Permitting Process For Key Infrastructure Projects” In Order To Spur Job Creation. “At the same time, this Budget lays out how my Administration will continue to act on our own to cut red tape and streamline the permitting process for key infrastructure projects, so we can get more construction workers on the job as fast as possible.” (“Budget Of The United States Government, Fiscal Year 2015,” OMB, 3/4/14)

But The Administration Has Stalled For More Than Five Years On The Keystone XL Project Despite Its Potential For Creating Private-Sector Jobs. “During construction, proposed Project spending would support approximately 42,100 jobs (direct, indirect, and induced), and approximately $2 billion in earnings throughout the United States. Of these jobs, approximately 3,900 would be direct construction jobs in the proposed Project area in Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas (3,900 over 1 year of construction, or 1,950 per year if construction took 2 years). Construction of the proposed Project would contribute approximately $3.4 billion (or 0.02 percent) to the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). The proposed Project would generate approximately 50 jobs during operations.” (“Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement For The Keystone XL Project,” State Department, 1/31/14)