from the Democratic National
Committee rec'd Feb. 12, 2011
Haley
Barbour's Selective Memory
While President
Obama has been working to win the future by out-educating, out-building
and out-innovating the rest of the world, Mississippi Governor Haley
Barbour spent his speech at the Conservative Political Action
Conference fighting the fights of the past two years falsely attacking
the Recovery Act as Hostile to job creation. But while Barbour is
living in the past he seems to have blocked out the part where he took
billions in Recovery Act dollars to help balance his budget and other
state projects, and even went far as saying that the Recovery Act has
"made our fiscal situation better.”
RHETORIC: HALEY BARBOUR SAID OBAMA'S
POLICIES HAVE BEEN HOSTILE TO JOB CREATION AND THAT STIMULUS ONLY
STIMULATED MORE GOVERNMENT. Barbour
criticized President Obama’s economic politics and the stimulus during
his speech at CPAC, claiming that the stimulus only stimulated more
government and Obama’s economic polices have been more hostile to job
creation than any other I have ever seen. [CPAC, 2/12/11]
REALITY: THE RECOVERY ACT CREATED UP
TO 3.3 MILLION JOBS
Bureau
Of Labor Statistics: Private Employers Added 1.1 Million Jobs In 2010,
The Strongest Private Sector Job Growth Since 2006. “Today’s
employment report shows that the unemployment rate fell sharply to 9.0
percent and private sector payrolls increased by 50,000 in January.
Revisions to private sector payroll data show that 1.1 million jobs
were added during 2010, the strongest private sector job growth since
2006.” [White House Council of Economic Advisers blog,
2/4/11]
Bloomberg: “Obama's Economic Stimulus
Program Created Or Saved Up to 3.3 Million Jobs, CBO Says”:
President Barack Obama’s stimulus package may have created or saved as
many as 3.3 million jobs last quarter and lowered the unemployment rate
by as much as 1.8 percentage points, the Congressional Budget Office
said. The $814 billion program, known as the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act, or ARRA, probably added between 1.7 percent and 4.5
percent to gross domestic product for the three months through June,
the nonpartisan agency said in a report issued yesterday.” [Bloomberg,
8/24/10]
CEA: The Stimulus Package Saved Or
Created Up To 3.6 Million Jobs. “As of the second quarter of
2010, the Recovery Act has raised employment by between 2.5 and 3.6
million jobs. This puts us well on track to reach the 3.5 million
jobs benchmark by the end of this year.” [Council of Economic Advisors,
7/14/10]
…BARBOUR HAS ALSO TOUTED THE SUCCESS
OF THE STIMULUS PREVIOUSLY…
Barbour: The Stimulus Has “Made Our
Fiscal Situation Better.” FOX News
reported that Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said “We participated in
the stimulus. It has made -- it's made our fiscal situation better. I
wish we'd have a little more leeway in how we could spend the money.”
According to the report, Barbour claimed that “the stimulus package is
twice as big as it needs to be, which is why he initially opposed the
program. But now he says he intends to work with it.” [FOX News,
7/17/09]
…AND BARBOUR TOOK $370 MILLION IN
STIMULUS FUNDS TO BALANCE HIS BUDGET
November 2009: Barbour’s Budget
Included $370 Million in Stimulus Funds.
“Governor Haley Barbour today proposed a 12 percent budget
reduction
for most state agencies and called for the merger of some state
agencies, universities and school districts in his Executive Budget
Recommendation for Fiscal Year 2011. The $5.5 billion state budget
includes $370 million in stimulus funds that will cease after the
coming fiscal year, which begins July 1.” [Barbour Press Release,
11/16/09]
Barbour Accepted All But $53 Million
Of The $2.8 Billion Recovery Act Funds For His State.
“In Mississippi, Gov. Barbour -- like other governors -- has pledged to
refuse roughly $53 million for unemployment benefits out of the $2.8
billion available to his state, arguing the unemployment funds come
with too many strings attached. In response, Mississippi's
Democrat-controlled House passed a resolution late last week saying the
state would take all available stimulus money. The resolution faces a
more uncertain future in the state Senate.” [
Wall Street Journal, 3/12/09]