It’s been roughly a year since the administration’s “summer of recovery” began, but things aren’t yet getting better with the economy.
Nonetheless, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has publicly said things could be worse, and the president has made the most of the circumstances. But Florida Republican Rep. Allen West disagrees. In an appearance Friday on “Laura Ingraham” radio program, West took on his colleague in the district adjacent his. (RNC using DNC chairwoman as 2012 lightning rod)
“You know I have to tell you that you know, she is my colleague down here in South Florida,” West said. “She is — her congressional district is adjacent to mine and she’s delusional. And I think that when you look at 1.8 percent growth of our economy – that’s anemic. When you look at the unemployment numbers – 9.1 percent is really not the true indicator of our unemployment numbers. If you look at the inner-city and the black communities, it’s 16 percent.”
West explained the 9.1 percent unemployment number isn’t indicative of how bad things really are, especially in local communities. He told listeners that despite running record deficits, the president’s policies aren’t working.
“I would suggest that the president…[and Rep.] Debbie Wasserman Schultz get out in-and-about Washington, D.C. and there’s a couple of areas where the unemployment…[is] above 20 percent in some of those neighborhoods. So I don’t know what they’re talking about and I think that the facts are out there. This summer of recovery that they touted last year, it’s failed as well – $1.42 trillion, $1.29 trillion, $1.65 trillion, three years of record trillion-plus deficits. Four to five trillion dollars of new debt that they’ve added, of which China owns 30 percent of our debt – that’s a big concern.”
The solution according to West is to curb spending, which he says will add certainty to the economic picture.
“It’s not coming back unless we turn this fiscal ship around and we provide some certainty and access to capital to small business so that they can grow,” he added. “These are real simple solutions.”