The Obama administration’s attempts to revive the economy have been one of the most costly failures ever, according to Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions.
On the heels of the latest jobs report, Sessions, the highest ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, highlighted numerical snapshots of the Obama economy — one in five Americans are on food stamps; there are more workforce drop outs than gains; and the debt is still increasing.
“The President’s plan to spend and borrow and add debt in order to revive the economy has proved to be one of the most costly failed gambits our nation has seen. Government debt has increased 64 percent since 2009, from $10.6 trillion to $17.4 trillion. Yet, median household income has decreased 4.5 percent over that same time—that’s $2,268 per household, or $270 billion in total lost income.”
Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its unemployment report for the month of February revealing that the unemployment rate had increased slightly to 6.7 percent, adding 175,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate increased slightly due to the fact more people entered the workforce.
“The economy has consistently produced too few jobs to keep up with population growth, and did so again this month, falling 20,000 shy of the 195,000 jobs just needed to stay even,” he said. “This is now the 74 straight months beneath the employment levels at the beginning of the recession.”
Sessions went on to slam the president’s budget for continuing to spend, despite the apparent proof that it is not working.
“Not only did this unprecedented accumulation of debt drain the nation of its wealth, but it failed to provide even the temporary benefit promised. Indeed, this massive build-up of debt has weakened growth and dampened job creation,” he said. “Yet this week the President submitted another tax-and-spend budget that would add $8 trillion to our $17 trillion debt. He would add more than $1 trillion in taxes to an already weak economy, further growing Washington and shrinking the middle class.”
He concluded by calling for a “new course” that focuses on energy, regulation reduction, immigration policy that “serves American workers,” trimming the government, “a streamlined tax code”, and a balanced budget.