Bernie Sanders corrected President Obama’s often cited unemployment number insisting, “Real unemployment in this country is not 5.1 percent, it is 10 percent.”
Sanders, appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, told Chuck Todd that under the Obama administration the, “Deficit has gone down. Debt has gone up.” (RELATED: Bernie Sanders Takes Swipe At ‘Real Unemployment’ Number In U.S. [VIDEO])
Todd asked Sanders what he would do with America’s $18 trillion debt if he was elected president, Sanders said, “You take a hard look at our tax system. And you say, ‘You know what? Corporate America, you ain’t going to stash your money in the Cayman Islands and not pay any taxes at all.’”
This is not the first time Sanders has attempted to correct the record on the figure the Obama administration has been using for unemployment. In August, at the DNC Summer meeting, Sanders did it as well.
Chuck Todd: So, and you think in your administration you’ll actually start paying down the debt? That you could maybe be deficit neutral?
Bernie Sanders: Well, paying– I believe deficit is a serious problem. As you know, we’ve made major progress in that in the last seven years. But I’ll tell you what–
Chuck Todd: But we’re still adding to the debt every year. Just at a lower rate each year.
Bernie Sanders: Deficit has gone down. Debt has gone up. But I’ll also tell you what I think. Real unemployment in this country is not 5.1%, it is 10%. I want to invest a trillion dollars in rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. I do want to do that because I think that will create up to 13 million jobs. So is deficit reduction important. Of course, it is. But so is creating the millions of jobs we desperately need. So is making public colleges and universities tuition free.