Bachmann Comments on August Jobless Report:
"The American people don't need speeches, they need jobs."
"Mr. President - we gave you $2.4 trillion in new spending and the American people got nothing in return. Today's jobs report showing that the economy created no jobs in the last month and unemployment at 9.1 percent is further evidence that President Obama's failed economic policies are not working and have completely stalled job growth. After spending three days last month on a bus tour focusing on jobs - today's economic report shows that the nation's economy is sitting at a huge stop sign. Before his vacation, the President gave us a speech about a jobs speech; the American people don't need speeches, they need jobs.
"It's time for a comprehensive restructuring of how Washington spends taxpayers' dollars by controlling spending and encouraging pro-growth economic policies. Mr. President - it's time to stop digging our country further into debt - it's time to build a solid foundation for sustainable economic growth to restore certainty for the American people and the markets."
Cain Responds to August Job Numbers
(Stockbridge, GA)- Republican presidential candidate and longtime business leader Herman Cain responded to the release of the August 2011 jobs report, saying:
We learned today that not a single job was created during the month of August in the United States of America. In the land of endless opportunity and abundant freedom, the very promise that has inspired generations of industrious and innovative people seems to be dwindling away.
After trillions in government spending and empty promises, 14 million American workers are unemployed, with millions more underemployed. These are people, not statistics. They are families struggling to put food on the table, send their kids to school and keep the lights on. They are our family members, friends and neighbors.
Sadly, the fact that zero jobs were created last month is only fitting for this administration, which is led by a President with zero leadership, zero plans, zero results and zero understanding of basic economics. And the American people are worse off because of it.
Cain released his own economic plan in August 2011, also known as the "9-9-9 Plan." In it, Cain proposes instituting a personal income tax rate of 9 percent, a corporate income tax rate of 9 percent and a national sales tax rate of 9 percent. "Cain's Vision for Economic Growth" also calls for an elimination of the capital gains tax, the payroll tax, the estate tax and the taxes on repatriated profits.
Zero jobs created in August. No relief for the 25 million who are unemployed, underemployed or who have given up looking for work.
And the president thinks he’s “frustrated?”
As we mark Labor Day, this bad news is especially poignant, but it’s also not surprising.
Stagnant economic growth is the inevitable result of President Obama’s commitment to class warfare and bureaucratic socialism.
The president routinely demonizes successful Americans, arguing they need to be punished with higher taxes. Is it any wonder that entrepreneurs are hesitant to invest, create new wealth and jobs?
This administration has issued one job killing regulation after another. Laws like Obamacare and Dodd-Frank are so complex and confusing that businesses can’t predict their costs for the coming years. With so much uncertainty, is it any wonder businesses aren’t hiring?
There is a better way – a proven way.
As a junior congressman, I worked with Jack Kemp and Ronald Reagan to develop and then pass the Kemp-Roth tax cuts. And rather than casting successful Americans as the enemy of working Americans, Ronald Reagan praised the American entrepreneur as the cornerstone of our country’s success. The result was an unprecedented economic boom that created 25 million new jobs.
To put the difference between the Reagan Recovery and the continued Obama Depression in visual terms, here is a chart comparing the results of Reagan’s Kemp-Roth tax cuts and Obama’s big government stimulus:
Real leadership doesn’t inherit a bad economy. It fixes it.
As Speaker of the House, remembering the success of Ronald Reagan’s policies, I led a bipartisan coalition that cut taxes, reduced regulations and reformed government. The result was a drop in the unemployment rate to 4.2% from 5.4%. We also balanced the federal budget for the first time in twenty years.
Today, my Jobs and Prosperity Plan, introduced during the first week of my candidacy, is modeled after the same Reagan/Contract with America playbook: lower taxes, deregulation, and more American energy.
Read my Jobs and Prosperity Plan at Newt.org.
On Thursday, we will get to hear the president’s plan to get us out of the mess he helped create. We will find out whether he has learned from history and given up his commitment to class warfare and bureaucratic socialism in favor of liberating American entrepreneurs to do what they do best – create jobs.
Either way, I want you to know that I will continue offering leadership now, advocating for the right policies now for job creation now. That is my commitment to America. And I want to thank you for standing with me.
Your Friend,
Newt
“Two days after I offered a plan with serious solutions that would create jobs and get our economy going, we learn of yet another month with zero job growth. There is no clearer sign that the President has failed and the theatrics around his far-too-late jobs speech demonstrate that he has no real plan to change course. In a country with 307 million people, zero job growth is unfathomable. It's time for America to compete again and it's time for a new President.”
Plymouth, MI - Today, Presidential candidate and U.S. Representative Thaddeus McCotter responded to the latest jobs report.
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter made the following statement:
"This latest jobs report again proves that, unlike President Obama and the GOP candidates who are unable or unwilling to understand the central problem in our economy, my economic growth plan is the one that will end this period of debt-deflation and stagnation by fundamentally restructuring Big Government into Citizen-government and recapitalizing the failed Wall Street Bailout Banks through free market forces."
Ron Paul Campaign Releases Statement on Jobs Report
End wars, spending and reintroduce sound money
LAKE JACKSON, Texas – The Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign released the following statement from National Campaign Chairman Jesse Benton in response to the U.S. Department of Labor’s August 2011 Employment Situation Summary:
“The August national unemployment rate of 9.1 percent is another unfortunate chapter in the Obama administration’s almost superhuman mishandling of the economy. Total nonfarm employment was unchanged, with zero jobs created. The number of involuntary part-time workers is up, and the number of those marginally attached to the workforce is up.
“Six million workers, 42.9 percent of total unemployed persons, have been jobless 27 weeks or longer – a frightening proposition considering that mortgage, rent, food and back-to-school bills may go unpaid. The most recent four-week moving average of new unemployment claims, favored for being a less volatile indicator of our jobs picture, is a frowning 410,250 – also cause for dismay.
“Indeed, much more than these data hangs in the balance. Americans are enduring painful long-term joblessness. They’re witnessing their savings disappear due to lost income. They’re seeing their personal debt rise due to lost income. And they gaze despairingly upon their retirement plans as these arrangements are tabled or upended entirely.
“We’ve been told our economic situation would get worse before it gets better, yet circumstances have remained near to their utmost worst for nearly three years.
“We’ve been told that help was on the way, yet taxpayer-derived aid was granted to pet causes and favored political allies. Too often, bailouts were targeted to the President’s corporate and financial sector allies, a policy similar to that of tossing life preservers to those partying on yachts.
“Americans have had enough.
“It’s high time that the President and his Washington establishment allies – those in both parties – ‘man up’ and face the responsibility to enact authentic change.
“First, America must put an end to the unconstitutional, undeclared wars that are nothing more than destructive conflicts having an unclear connection to U.S. national security. And we should stop putting our war-weary armed services men and women in danger by being the world’s police force and dispense with state building while there are pressing needs at home.
“Ron Paul has called for an authentic stimulus that communities across America will find economically and affectionately stimulating: the return to America of 305,000 of their sons, daughters, husbands and wives who are deployed overseas.
“Dr. Paul says time and again that these men and women’s absence from the U.S., their deployments by international organizations such as N.A.T.O. and the United Nations, and their involvement in unconstitutional, undeclared wars puts America at risk.
“America’s heroes should finally return, reunite with their loved ones in the vicinity of U.S. bases – many of which face closure, as foreign bases thrive – and they can spend, save or invest their pay right here in America.
“A return to the U.S. of service men and women and their equipment just months ago would mean that Vermont would have possessed the needed Blackhawk helicopters and personnel to adequately respond to Hurricane Irene’s destruction. Instead, Vermont was required to borrow helicopters from Illinois and New Hampshire.
“In the wake of Hurricane Irene, there’s a national conversation about the constitutionality, efficacy and efficiency of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) happening. Yet, none of Ron Paul’s Republican primary competitors have raised the issue that, since the U.S. reportedly spends more than $500 billion on overseas adventures, just seven days’ worth of U.S global militarism would pay for Hurricane Irene response.
“Second, President Obama and his Washington enablers of both parties must end the appalling practice of overspending and borrowing. American households are becoming poorer as the economic doldrums continue, however Washington enjoys a kind of golden age as it grows and promotes its relevance in every facet of life.
“The Obama administration offers empty promises on a jobs fix despite the economic reality that government does not create jobs, and in lockstep those in government garner little criticism as few in the media hold Washingtonians’ feet to the fire. This selective examination of the facts, too, must end.
“Third, the U.S. must avoid the disastrous boom and bust cycles that promote irresponsible spending, investing, borrowing and lending and this can only be done by returning to a sound money system.
“The Federal Reserve should undergo a complete and thorough audit, and currency competition should be introduced by decriminalizing the use of gold and silver as legal tender. The final aim would be to end the Fed, which rewards the wealthy few while punishing and injuring working class Americans.
“The numbers and anecdotal evidence of a failed jobs picture speak for themselves. They are a glaring argument for abandoning the failed Big Government, discredited Keynesian response to the national crisis all but those in Washington are experiencing.
“We do not need another speech or prime-time lecture for that matter to tell us what we know: Washington has failed and it is time for new leadership.
“Ron Paul has championed the same constitutionally-limited government, noninterventionist foreign policy and sound money arguments for more than 30 years.
“Dr. Paul wisely predicted the economic crisis and foresaw that it would fall hardest on the hardworking and most vulnerable. The issues now match the candidate, which is why his message is resonating with more voters as the primary campaign cycle advances.”
"President Obama's job-killing polices continue to wreak havoc on the American economy. The poor national jobs picture stands in stark contrast to Texas' pro-jobs, limited government policies which helped make us the top job-producing state in the nation. Our country cannot afford four more years of economic misery, and I will continue to travel the county talking about ways to get American working again."
“Today’s disappointing unemployment report is further proof that President Obama has failed. President Obama oversaw an economy that created zero jobs last month and that is unacceptable. In order to change the direction of this country, we need to change presidents. Americans need a conservative businessman to get this economy moving again, not career politicians. That is why I am running. Next week, I will lay out my specific plan to put America back to work.” – Mitt Romney
Today’s Jobs Report Shows Continued Weakness In The American Economy:The American Economy Added Zero Jobs In August And Unemployment Remains At 9.1%. “Nonfarm payroll employment was unchanged (0) in August, and the unemployment rate held at 9.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment in most major industries changed little over the month.” (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, 9/2/11)
· “Nonfarm Employment For June And July Was Revised To Show 58,000 Fewer Jobs.” (Reuters, 9/2/11)
· “Employment Growth Ground To A Halt In August As Sagging Consumer Confidence Discouraged Already Skittish U.S. Businesses From Hiring…” (Reuters, 9/2/11)
Recent Economic News Confirms That President Obama’s Policies Have Been A Dismal Failure:
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index Plunged In August To Levels Far Below Expectations. “Consumers' confidence in August dropped almost 15 points to the lowest level since April 2009 as worries about the economy fueled the wildest stock market swings since the financial meltdown in 2008. … The Conference Board said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index fell to 44.5, down from a revised 59.2 in July … [and was] far below the 53.3 that analysts had expected.” (“Confidence Drops to Lowest Level Since April 2009,” The Associated Press, 8/30/11)
Figures Released This Month Show That Jobless Rates Increased Or Remained Stagnant In 41 States During July. “Unemployment rates rose in July in more than half the states for the second straight month, evidence that job growth remains weak nationwide. The Labor Department said Friday that unemployment increased in 28 states, fell in nine and remained unchanged in 13.” (“Unemployment In July Rose In 28 States, Fell In 9, The Associated Press, 8/19/11)
The Housing Market Continues To Underperform As Pending Home Sales Fell In July. “Pending home sales fell 1.3% in July, according to a National Association of Realtors report released Monday morning. The index, which measures the number of contracts signed to buy previously owned homes in the U.S., plunged 11.6% in July, month over month … Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said sales activity is underperforming.” (Miriam Reimer, “July Pending Home Sales Fall 1.3%,” TheStreet.com, 08/29/11)
A Report From The Mortgage Bankers Association Shows That More Than 6 Million Americans Are Delinquent On Their Mortgage Payments. “The number of American households that are delinquent on mortgage payments is rising again after falling for more than one year, an unwelcome trend for the U.S. economy. The Mortgage Bankers Association said 12.87% of mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit homes were 30 days or longer past due or in the foreclosure process at the end of the second quarter, representing more than 6.3 million households. … The figures offer the latest sign of how the slumping job market threatens to create new problems for the fragile housing market.” (Nick Timiraos, “Home-Loan Delinquencies Rise Again,” The Wall Street Journal, 8/23/11)
Activity In The Manufacturing Sector Broadly Declined In The Month Of August, According To The Federal Reserve. “Regional surveys of manufacturers are pointing to a downshift in activity, as a key driver of the recovery retreats amid worries about an economic downturn. … The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond's survey, released Tuesday, offered the latest downbeat assessment of manufacturing, which contracted in the central Atlantic region in August after stalling in July. The Philadelphia Fed last week said its index of manufacturing activity plunged in August to the lowest reading since March 2009. … Another survey from the New York Fed also worsened in August.” (Sudeep Reddy, “Factories Retrench Amid Downturn Worries,” The Wall Street Journal, 8/24/11)
New-Home Sales Have Fallen For Three Straight Months And “The Number Of New Homes Available For Sale Fell … [To] The Lowest Since The Data Series Began In 1963.” “Sales of new homes dropped to their lowest level since February, with the housing sector beset by too much supply and too little demand. … New-home sales fell 0.7% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 298,000, the lowest level since February, the Commerce Department said. It was the third straight monthly decline in sales. … The number of new homes available for sale fell 0.6% to 165,000, the lowest since the data series began in 1963.” (Sudeep Reddy, “Factories Retrench Amid Downturn Worries,” The Wall Street Journal, 8/24/11)
Santorum
Said: "...President Obama's economic policies would need to
improve
dramatically to even be described as 'Incompetent'"
Verona, PA - Former Senator Rick
Santorum (R-PA) made the following statement in response to this
morning's disappointing jobs report.
Senator
Santorum said, "This morning's jobs report is another sad sign that
President Obama's economic policies would need to improve dramatically
to even be described as incompetent. For three years, in speech
after
speech, the President has claimed to be focused on the American worker,
but month after month and report after report shows the opposite.
So
either, the President's economic policies are killing this economy or
his lack of leadership - either way, President Obama is to blame.
Employers need certainty and freedom to expand and that what my
jobs
plan would do."
In July, Senator Santorum released his jobs plan
focusing on putting America back to work, with a focus on the "great
middle of America," the manufacturing sector. Senator Santorum's
plan
would:
·
Eliminate
the corporate tax for all domestic manufacturers (take it from 35% to
0%);
·
Repatriate
taxes on profits secured overseas at a 5% rate rather than the current
35% tax rate;
· Reduce
regulatory burdens on manufacturers; and
· Expand
domestic energy exploration to lower energy costs for manufacturers.
“Today’s unemployment numbers are another painful reminder that America still awaits economic leadership from President Obama. He spent his summer fundraising and golfing, promising to lay out a jobs plan only after his Martha’s Vineyard vacation—all while nearly 14 million Americans remained jobless.
“As the country awaits another speech from President Obama next week, those without jobs can only hope this address will be different—with substantive solutions instead of empty rhetoric.
“The President needs the courage to admit his regulatory regime is the biggest road block to job creation. America’s job creators cannot hire workers while handcuffed by regulations, crushed by mandates and threatened with taxes. If the President refuses to change course, America’s unemployed with be the victims of his failure.”
WASHINGTON- Katherine Abraham, Member of the Council of Economic Advisors, issued the following statement today on the employment situation in August.
Today’s employment report shows that private sector payrolls increased by 17,000 and overall payroll employment was flat in August. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.1 percent, a level that remains unacceptably high. Despite a slowdown in economic growth from substantial headwinds experienced throughout the year, the economy has added private sector jobs for 18 straight months, for a total of 2.4 million jobs over that period.
Clearly, faster growth is needed to replace the jobs lost in the downturn. Today’s report underscores the President’s call for Congress to pass a clean extension of the transportation bill to keep workers on the job and keep critical highway construction, bridge repair, mass transit and other important projects moving forward. Next week, the President will lay out a series of additional bipartisan steps that Congress can take immediately to put more money in the paychecks of working and middle class families; to make it easier for small businesses to hire workers; to put construction crews to work rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure; and other measures that will help the economy grow while still reducing our deficit and getting our fiscal house in order.
Sectors with employment increases in August included health care and social assistance (+35,500) and professional and business services (+28,000). Sectors with employment declines included information (-48,000, which includes striking Verizon workers), construction (-5,000), and manufacturing (-3,000). Local government lost 20,000 jobs and has shed 398,000 jobs since February 2010. State government added 5,000 jobs as an estimated 22,000 furloughed Minnesota state workers returned to work.
The monthly employment and unemployment numbers are volatile and employment estimates are subject to substantial revision. Therefore, as the Administration always stresses, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report.
Katharine Abraham is a Member of the Council of Economic Advisers
CAF’s Roger Hickey says Unemployment Report Requires Bold Jobs Plan From President Obama When He Addresses the Nation Next Week
September 2,
2011
Washington, DC -- Today’s bleak unemployment numbers for August demonstrate that President Obama must put forward a big, bold program for job creation when he addresses the nation next Thursday, said Roger Hickey, co-director of the Campaign for Americas Future in response to today’s data from the Labor Department.
Hickey said, “These numbers, with no net job creation at all -- and 14 million people officially unemployed -- show that the economy is dead in the water.” Hickey noted that government policy, which is still focused on deficit reduction and austerity measures, forcing layoffs of teachers, firefighters and other public employees at the federal, state and local level, is systematically damaging employment and growth. This report shows that since employment peaked in September 2008, local government has lost 550,000 jobs. “The policy of our government is systematically undermining the recovery. Public sector layoffs are undermining consumer buying power, crippling the ability of the private sector to sell products and services. Clearly, President Obama must reverse this downward spiral by creating jobs directly, putting money in consumer’s pockets, and helping small and large companies to find buyers and invest in growth,” Hickey said.
Hickey renewed the call to President Obama asking him for a bold jobs plan that will put Americans back to work. “The Campaign for America’s Future on Aug. 30 joined with Rebuild the Dream, MoveOn, NOW and 80 other groups to send a letter to President Obama. The groups told Obama, “A problem this serious needs a plan to match it in scope. Tax cuts and incentives for corporations have repeatedly failed to put Americans back to work. It is time to move beyond these half measures designed to appeal to a narrow ideological minority who have repeatedly shown their unwillingness to negotiate and their disinterest in real solutions. History—and proven economics—tells us that any plan to solve our job crisis needs to be big, bold, and create jobs directly.”
Hickey said “With Labor Day around the corner, it is time for the President Obama and Congress to act. Everyone knows that Republicans in the Congress are demanding policies that are crippling growth – and they are even resisting small measures, like extending unemployment insurance and continuing Social Security the tax holiday. The President should push Republicans to vote for these small measures, which they used to support routinely but now oppose. However, President Obama must go beyond what might be able to pass today and present a bold jobs program that is big enough to revive the economy and create jobs. If he does this can rally the country and revive hope that the over 25 million unemployed or underemployed Americans will soon have new opportunities. If the President doesn’t acknowledge that we are in an unemployment crisis – and advance a serious plan to create growth and jobs – the country will lose hope and our economic crisis will only get worse.”
Over the past several weeks the Campaign for America’s Future has
advanced a series of proposals called Big Ideas to Get America
Working. These proposals can be found at http://www.ourfuture.org/
The Campaign for America's Future (CAF) is a center for ideas and action that works to build an enduring majority for progressive change. The Campaign advances a progressive economic agenda and a vision of the future that works for the many, not simply the few. The Campaign is leading the fight for America's priorities – for good jobs and a sustainable economy, and for strengthening the safety net.