>The “Recovery Summer” that Never Materialized
Today marks the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s so-called “Recovery Summer.” Unfortunately, as most Americans know all too well, the “Recovery Summer” never materialized. The President promised that his economic policies would ensure that the unemployment rate would not exceed 8%, yet we’ve had an unemployment rate well above 8% for 28 consecutive months. Despite clear evidence that we are headed in the wrong direction, President Obama now tells us this is just a “bump on the road to recovery.” Rather than make excuses for his failed economic policies, he should be stepping up to the plate to work with Republicans to address our country’s dire fiscal crisis that continues to weigh down economic growth and job creation.
In 2009, the Obama administration promised that his $1.16 trillion “stimulus” bill would bring the unemployment rate down to 6.8% by now. Fast forward to today and we find an unemployment rate of 9.1% for the month of May. When accounting for the unemployed, those unable to find full-time work and those discouraged from looking for work, the picture looks even worse – Gallup’s monthly survey places the rate of underemployment at 19.1%. Furthermore, economic growth was recently reported at an anemic 1.8% for the first quarter when we need to see growth twice that amount to start putting Americans back to work. Clearly, when Treasury Secretary Geithner wrote his New York Times op-ed, “Welcome to the Recovery,” last August, he failed to consider the millions of Americans still out of work and struggling to make ends meet.
In November 2010, the American people went to the polls to make their voice heard loud and clear that they were tired of fiscal irresponsibility and the failed economic policies of the last two years. Republicans have answered their call by taking common-sense steps towards setting our economy back on the right path and getting our fiscal house in order. House Republicans passed a budget resolution for Fiscal Year 2012 that takes serious steps towards balancing our budget in the short-term and enacting economic policies that, according to the Heritage Center for Data Analysis, would create nearly 1 million new private-sector jobs next year and bring unemployment down to 4 percent by 2015. In addition, Republicans have offered a plan to get Americans back to work by promoting private sector growth. Unlike the failed “stimulus,” this multi-faceted approach gets big government out of the way of job creators by lowering tax and regulatory burdens, promoting innovation and investment, and opening new markets.
We cannot stand by any longer and allow the failed policies of this administration to continue to chip away at confidence in the American economy. We must get our fiscal house back in order, reform the broken tax code, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and scale back burdensome regulations. These are the pro-growth policies that helped make our nation strong in the past and led to robust economic growth. That is what the American people demand and deserve. It’s time Washington listens.
Sincerely,
Scott Garrett
