Reactions to the June 2011 Jobs Report
        July 8, 2011
Bachmann Comments on the Obama
Administration's Rising Unemployment Numbers

Washington, D.C. - Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has issued the following statement in response to the Obama administration's report showing unemployment rising to 9.2 percent.

"Today's unemployment report is another stark reminder of the failure of President Obama's economic policies. The President promised if we passed the massive stimulus package that unemployment wouldn't go above 8 percent, we are now at 9.2 percent. Unfortunately, millions of Americans are suffering today as a result of the president's broken promise and his policy of attempting to create jobs through massive government spending that has added over 35 percent to our national debt.

"Amidst this economic freefall, it should not be lost that the architect of the President's failed economic policies, Timothy Geithner, will head for the door after he attempts to cement the President's legacy of massive spending and debt by raising the debt limit another $2.4 trillion dollars. We can only hope that the President will be right behind him after the next election.

"The President promised 'shovel-ready' projects that would create jobs, but now the President says 'shovel-ready was not as shovel-ready as we expected.' Mr. President, it's time to take the shovel out of your hand and stop digging. ATM's aren't responsible for our high unemployment rate; your administration's threat of higher taxes, massive government spending, and overregulation are."

Cain Responds to Abysmal Job Report

 (Stockbridge, GA)- Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain today responded to the release of last month's job report, saying:

This is demonstrably and empirically the worst economic 'recovery' in American history.

The Labor Department reports indicating that the economy generated only 18,000 net jobs in June is absolutely unacceptable. The unemployment rate has ticked up to 9.2 percent. These figures do not even include those who have simply given up on finding work or are underemployed, scraping to get by.

What's worse, businesses added the fewest jobs in more than a year. According to President Obama's own former economic adviser, Austan Goolsbee, the private sector must lead this recovery. I agree with Mr. Goolsbee, but wonder why if the Obama Administration acknowledges this economic truth, they still fail to enact business-friendly policies that would get America's job creators hiring again.

The government doesn't create jobs. Business creates jobs. And it's time to get America working again.

Tweets from Newt Gingrich
  • If you had to explain these unemployment numbers you'd be late for the press conf too. about 4 hours ago
  • Jobs numbers are also further proof that tax increases as part of a debt ceiling deal are unacceptable. about 5 hours ago
  • When will President Obama recognize his big govt policies don't work? about 5 hours ago
  • Today's jobs numbers are yet another reminder that big govt can't create jobs. about 5 hours ago

Jon Huntsman Statement on June Unemployment Numbers

Orlando - Jon Huntsman today issued the following statement about the June jobs report showing rising unemployment and only 18,000 jobs added:

"Rising unemployment rates and extremely anemic job creation are not acceptable. Even in great hardship, the American people have been extraordinarily patient in waiting for the better and brighter times promised to them by this Administration. Their patience has rightly worn thin. We need free-market, pro-growth policies to spark a wave of job growth – the same policies we implemented in Utah to make it the fastest-growing state in the nation. America needs new leadership to turn our country around."

GARY JOHNSON SENDS WASHINGTON A JOBS PLAN – ON A POSTCARD

July 8, 2011, Sante Fe, NM – Presidential candidate Gary Johnson has responded to today’s dismal jobs report by sending the White House and Congress a plan for kick-starting private sector job creation – and the plan fits on a postcard. (see attached)

Urging three immediate steps: Eliminating the corporate income tax; cutting spending immediately by $300 billion to offset the temporary loss of revenue; and directing that regulations and their implementation meet a standard of creating certainty for employers, Johnson said, “With a June unemployment rate of 9.2% and the fewest new jobs added in nine months,  it’s time for Washington to stop fiddling while Rome is burning.  We’ve tried government ‘stimulus’ – all it did was bankrupt us.  We’ve heard a lot of talk about cutting spending and reducing job-killing debt, but it hasn’t happened.  And now we’re watching as our leaders quibble over tax loopholes and long-term spending reductions that may or may not actually happen.

“Americans can’t wait any longer for the hand-wringing to produce results.  If Congress would do three simple things, and they could do them next week with straight up –or-down votes, I guarantee that we would see historic job creation almost overnight.

“First, instead of giving lip service to the need to reduce the corporate tax rate, just eliminate the tax altogether.  It is double taxation, and the current 35% rate is among the highest of producing nations.  Eliminate it, and instead of watching jobs go overseas, we would see the U.S. become the undisputed job magnet of the world.

“Recognizing that eliminating the corporate tax may cause a temporary loss of revenue and increase the deficit – at least on paper, Congress and the President can, next week, mandate immediate spending reductions of $300 billion.  If they need help figuring out how to do that, I’m available.  One place to start might be the wars and nation-building we don’t need to be fighting or doing.  Clearly, more cuts are needed, and as president, I would submit a balanced budget for 2013.

“Finally, one can argue that the greatest obstacle to job creation in the private sector is uncertainty.  From the dark cloud of health care reform and its costs to a host of other regulatory machinations coming from Washington, investors and employers have no clue what their costs are going to be or what the competitive landscape will be going forward.  The President has tremendous power to adjust or even stop regulatory policies and enforcement that are preventing job creation, and the Administration and Congress need to focus like a laser on doing so.
 
“The politicians in DC like to make us think these types of actions are complicated and difficult.  They aren’t.  Certainly, we need comprehensive tax reform, such as a FairTax.  And we need to cut trillions, not billions, from spending and balance the budget.  And not all regulations are evil.  But right now, today, we are in crisis.  These simple, straightforward, steps will do more to create millions of jobs in America – quickly – than all the stimulus and budget hand-wringing Washington has ever dreamed of.  And yes, if they wanted to, Congress and the President could do these three things next week.”
McCotter Statement on June Jobless

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Thaddeus G. McCotter (MI) has issued the following statement today in response to the June jobs report:

 

“Over sixteen million Americans are unemployed. Over thirty million Americans are unable to pursue better jobs because of the failed stimulus and other irresponsible, job-crushing policies.  Inflation is rising.  Real wages are declining – everywhere except at the Obama White House.  To Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney’s big government and bailout banks, this is an economic statistic.  To Main Street, this is real suffering.  This must and will end.

“Like every one else in this age of international, global competition, big government and the bailout banks must be restructured for the future, and taxation and regulatory reform must be implemented, so our entrepreneurs and workers can immediately grow our economy and commence an era of unprecedented prosperity for the American people.”

Gov. Tim Pawlenty's Statement on Jobs Report

"President Obama is out of answers and running out of time.  His policies are not creating the necessary jobs and he has no plan to do anything about it. We will have continued anemic growth and disappointing job creation so long as Barack Obama is president. I will turn around the economy as president by setting bold growth goals and implementing specific proposals to achieve them."
ROMNEY ON JUNE JOBS REPORT: “THE AUDACITY OF INDIFFERENCE”
 
Boston, MA – Mitt Romney today released the following statement on the June unemployment numbers:
 
“Today’s abysmal jobs report confirms what we all know – that President Obama has failed to get this economy moving again. Just this week, President Obama’s closest White House adviser said that ‘unemployment rates or even monthly jobs numbers’ do not matter to the average American.
 
“If David Plouffe were working for me, I would fire him and then he could experience firsthand the pain of unemployment. His comments are an insult to the more than 20 million people who are out of work, underemployed or who have simply stopped looking for jobs. With their cavalier attitude about the economy, the White House has turned the audacity of hope into the audacity of indifference.”
 
Santorum Responds to Disappointing Jobs Report

Verona, PA - Former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) made the following statement in reaction to this morning's jobs report that found that only 18,000 new jobs were created in the month of June and that unemployment had risen to 9.2%.

"This morning's jobs report is one more sign that the current Administration's policies are impeding economic growth in America," said Senator Santorum.  "This past week in Iowa, I laid out a very clear vision for creating jobs and growing our economy.  I would urge President Obama to go out and talk to the people in America's heartland and hear their concerns, and I would hope that he would see that they are looking for a President who believes in them again and not continued reliance on ineffective, big government bureaucracies.  That is exactly what my plan to eliminate the corporate tax burden for U.S. manufacturers, streamline the patent and FDA approval process, and increase incentives for research and development would do.  I look forward to having this debate with the President, because it is clear his plan is not working for America."

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
ON THE MONTHLY JOBS REPORT
Rose Garden
11:05 A.M. EDT
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  Good morning, everybody.  Obviously, over the last couple of days, the debate here in Washington has been dominated by issues of debt limit, but what matters most to Americans, and what matters most to me as President, in the wake of the worst downturn in our lifetimes, is getting our economy on a sounder footing more broadly so the American people can have the security they deserve.
 
And that means getting back to a place where businesses consistently grow and are hiring, where new jobs and new opportunity are within reach, where middle-class families once again know the security and peace of mind they’ve felt slipping away for years now.  And today’s job report confirms what most Americans already know:  We still have a long way to go and a lot of work to do to give people the security and opportunity that they deserve. 
 
We’ve added more than 2 million new private sector jobs over the past 16 months, but the recession cost us more than 8 million.  And that means that we still have a big hole to fill.  Each new job that was created last month is good news for the people who are back at work, and for the families that they take care of, and for the communities that they’re a part of.  But our economy as a whole just isn’t producing nearly enough jobs for everybody who’s looking.  
 
We’ve always known that we’d have ups and downs on our way back from this recession.  And over the past few months, the economy has experienced some tough headwinds -- from natural disasters, to spikes in gas prices, to state and local budget cuts that have cost tens of thousands of cops and firefighters and teachers their jobs.  The problems in Greece and in Europe, along with uncertainty over whether the debt limit here in the United States will be raised, have also made businesses hesitant to invest more aggressively. 
 
The economic challenges that we face weren’t created overnight, and they’re not going to be solved overnight.  But the American people expect us to act on every single good idea that’s out there.  I read letter after letter from folks hit hard by this economy.  None of them ask for much.  Some of them pour their guts out in these letters.  And they want me to know that what they’re looking for is that we have done everything we can to make sure that they are rewarded when they’re living up to their responsibilities, when they’re doing right by their communities, when they’re playing by the rules.  That’s what they’re looking for, and they feel like the rules have changed.  They feel that leaders on Wall Street and in Washington –- and believe me, no party is exempt –- have let them down.  And they wonder if their efforts will ever be reciprocated by their leaders.
 
They also make sure to point out how much pride and faith they have in this country; that as hard as things might be today, they are positive that things can get better.  And I believe that we can make things better.  How we respond is up to us.  There are a few things that we can and should do, right now, to redouble our efforts on behalf of the American people.
 
Let me give you some examples.  Right now, there are over a million construction workers out of work after the housing boom went bust, just as a lot of America needs rebuilding.  We connect the two by investing in rebuilding our roads and our bridges and our railways and our infrastructure.  And we could put back to work right now some of those construction workers that lost their jobs when the housing market went bust.  Right now, we can give our entrepreneurs the chance to let their job-creating ideas move to market faster by streamlining our patent process.  That’s pending before Congress right now.  That should pass.
 
Today, Congress can advance trade agreements that will help businesses sell more American-made goods and services to Asia and South America, supporting thousands of jobs here at home.  That could be done right now.  Right now, there are a lot of middle-class families who sure could use the security of knowing that the tax cut that I signed in December to help boost the economy and put a thousand dollars in the pockets of American families, that that’s still going to be around next year.  That’s a change that we could make right now.
 
There are bills and trade agreements before Congress right now that could get all these ideas moving.  All of them have bipartisan support.  All of them could pass immediately.  And I urge Congress not to wait.  The American people need us to do everything we can to help strengthen this economy and make sure that we are producing more jobs.
 
Also to put our economy on a stronger and sounder footing for the future, we’ve got to rein in our deficits and get the government to live within its means, while still making the investments that help put people to work right now and make us more competitive in the future.  As I mentioned, we’ve had some good meetings.  We had a good meeting here yesterday with leaders of both parties in Congress.  And while real differences remain, we agreed to work through the weekend and meet back here on Sunday. 
 
The sooner we get this done, the sooner that the markets know that the debt limit ceiling will have been raised and that we have a serious plan to deal with our debt and deficit, the sooner that we give our businesses the certainty that they will need in order to make additional investments to grow and hire and will provide more confidence to the rest of the world as well, so that they are committed to investing in America. 
 
Now, the American people sent us here to do the right thing not for party, but for country.  So we’re going to work together to get things done on their behalf.  That’s the least that they should expect of us, not the most that they should expect of us.  I’m ready to roll up my sleeves over the next several weeks and next several months.  I know that people in both parties are ready to do that as well.  And we will keep you updated on the progress that we’re making on these debt limit talks over the next several days.  Thank you.
 
Q    How was the meeting with Mrs. Pelosi?
 
THE PRESIDENT:  It was good. 
 
                   END                11:12 A.M. EDT