Posted on 11/08/2003 3:00:58 AM PST by kattracks
Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - Despite the third straight month of job growth in October, Congressional Democrats are still reticent to give credit to the "Bush economy" for creating the new jobs. Republicans say the evidence of economic recovery is "just too clear to ignore."
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) called the positive economic news "very welcome," especially, he said, "after losing three million jobs in three years.
"The recent job growth is a good first step, but the economy is standing on shaky legs, and we have much more work ahead of us to make sure it is on a strong and stable foundation," Daschle said. "We have a long way to go to dig ourselves out of the hole created by the administration's economic policies."
As CNSNews.com previously reported, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Friday that American businesses added 126,000 new jobs in October, the third straight month of job growth. The nation's unemployment rate now stands at an even 6 percent, as compared to the September rate of 6.1 percent.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) had a more positive appraisal of the figures.
"This is good news. Strong economic growth means more jobs," Hastert said. "And there is a direct correlation between the president's tax cuts and the stronger economy."
Hastert noted that the economy grew at 7.2 percent in the third quarter of this year, the best quarterly growth rate since 1984, according to gross domestic product numbers released this week.
Combined with other recent data, Hastert observed that Friday's employment report shows that the economy has created more than 286,000 jobs in the last three months.
"It's all good news. The numbers are just phenomenal," said Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho). "During the 1990s, we had one of the longest economic expansions in history, and now, we are seeing that the U.S. has had one of the shortest and shallowest recessions in the past 50 years.
"President Bush and the Congress enacted sensible, pro-growth tax relief, and now, we are seeing the fruits of our labor," Craig concluded.
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) echoed the positive outlook, adding that Friday's news is especially good when considered in light of the fact that last week was the fourth straight week in which jobless claims were below 400,000, dropping to 348,000.
"In headlines across America today, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said of the decrease in jobless claims that 'the odds... increasingly favor a revival in job creation,'" Wilson said. "As Democrats continue to try to talk down the economy, the news of recovery is just too clear to ignore."
Hastert credited legislation introduced by Republicans, promoted by President Bush and passed by Congress that, he says:
- "Let middle-class taxpayers keep more of their own money so they can spend it how they want;
- "Gave small businesses incentives to buy new equipment and hire more workers; and
- Gave investors confidence to invest in the marketplace again.
"All three of these goals have been achieved. Consumer spending is up. Business investment is up. And the stock market has gained over $2 trillion in value since last January," Hastert said. "Democrats say they want to raise taxes to pay for more Washington spending, but that is the worst thing we can do to keep this economy strong and create more jobs."
Listen to audio for this story.
E-mail a news tip to Jeff Johnson.
Send a Letter to the Editor about this article.
lol....yeah right. "Deeply saddened" is more like it.
Yep, the truth about the McJob bubble can't be glossed over for very long.
Consumer debt increases in Sept. by largest amount since January
The new jobs added last month mostly were in lower-paying industries such as retail and temporary employment firms. Average weekly earnings in those sectors are $366 and $318 respectively, said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray and Christmas, an employment research and recruiting firm. The national average is $521 per week." (Source)
Consumers can't afford very much debt on a WalMart wage.
There is no reason to believe that the debt-inflated service employment bubble is sustainable.
Especially with low-wage service sector jobs.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.