After Another Month Of High Unemployment, is This the “Recovery Summer” Target Dems Were Hoping For?

June 18, 2010

FYI, a version of the release below went out to the following incumbent and challenger districts: John Adler (NJ-03); Jason Altmire (PA-04); Michael Arcuri (NY-24); John Barrow (GA-12); Ami Bera (CA-03); Sanford Bishop (GA-02); Tim Bishop (NY-01); John Boccieri (OH-16); Allen Boyd (FL-02); Rick Boucher (VA-09); Paula Brooks (OH-12); John Callahan (PA-15); Dennis Cardoza (CA-18); Russ Carnahan (MO-03); Chris Carney (PA-10); Ben Chandler (KY-06); Travis Childers (MS-01); Jim Costa (CA-20); Joe Courtney (CT-02); Mark Critz (PA-12); Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-03); Lincoln Davis (TN-04); Suzan DelBene (WA-08); Joe Donnelly (IN-02); Steve Driehaus (OH-01); Chet Edwards (TX-17); Bill Foster (IL-14); Joe Garcia (FL-25); Gabby Giffords (AZ-08); Alan Grayson (FL-08); John Hall (NY-19); Debbie Halvorson (IL-11); Denny Heck (WA-03); Martin Heinrich (NM-01); Baron Hill (IN-09); Maurice Hinchey (NY-22); Jim Himes (CT-04); Tim Holden (PA-17); Rush Holt (NJ-12); Steve Israel (NY-02); Steve Kagen (WI-08); Paul Kanjorski (PA-11); Marcy Kaptur (OH-09); Mary Jo Kilroy (OH-15); Ron Kind (WI-03); Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-01); Ron Klein (FL-22); Suzanne Kosmas (FL-24); Rick Larsen (WA-02); Bryan Lentz (PA-07); Dan Maffei (NY-25); Betsy Markey (CO-04); Jim Marshall (GA-08); Michael McMahon (NY-13); Jerry McNerney (CA-11); Walt Minnick (ID-01); Harry Mitchell (AZ-05); Chris Murphy (CT-05); Patrick Murphy (PA-08); Scott Murphy (NY-20); Glenn Nye (VA-02); Bill Owens (NY-23); Ed Perlmutter (CO-07); Gary Peters (MI-09); Steve Pougnet (CA-45); Nick Rahall (WV-03); Ciro Rodriguez (TX-23); Mike Ross (AR-04); John Salazar (CO-03); Loretta Sanchez (CA-47); Mark Schauer (MI-07); Kurt Schrader (OR-05); Ike Skelton (MO-04); Zack Space (OH-18); John Spratt (SC-05); Betty Sutton (OH-13); Harry Teague (NM-02); Dina Titus (NV-03); Manan Trivedi (PA-06); Niki Tsongas (MA-05); Trent Van Haaften (IN-08); Tim Walz (MN-01); Charlie Wilson (OH-06); David Wu (OR-01) and John Yarmuth (KY-03).

After Another Month Of High Unemployment, is This the “Recovery Summer” Schrader Was Hoping For?
Oregon Dem Can’t Run Away from His Abysmal Record on Jobs and Spending as State’s Unemployment Remains Unacceptably High

Washington- Another month of high unemployment brings more bad news for Oregonians as newly released figures confirm the state’s unemployment problem isn’t going away, and neither is the job-killing agenda that Democrats like Kurt Schrader have so fervently endorsed. With unemployment now at 10.6 percent, Schrader owes it to Oregon families to explain why his trillion-dollar stimulus has failed to produce results. But at a time when middle-class families are demanding answers, Schrader and his Washington friends continue to run from their basic duty of governing and are now refusing to provide a much-needed roadmap to economic recovery – a budget.

Washington Democrats have repeatedly claimed that their runaway spending is stimulating the economy, but month another month of disappointing news continues to disprove their rhetoric. And now, Vice President Joe Biden is claiming that this will be a “Recovery Summer” despite high unemployment rates throughout the country:

“The number of people filing new claims for jobless benefits jumped last week after three straight declines, another sign that the pace of layoffs has not slowed. Initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 472,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the highest level in a month…That has raised concerns that hiring is lackluster and could slow the recovery. Adding to worries about the job market, the Labor Department said earlier this month that the economy generated only 41,000 private-sector jobs in May.” (Alan Zibel, “New claims for jobless benefits rise sharply,” Associated Press, 6/17/2010)

“Vice President Joe Biden Thursday helps kick off what the White House calls “Recovery Summer,” a six week long push to highlight what the administration says will be jobs created this summer and fall by a surge in federal stimulus spending across the country.” (Dan Lothian and Paul Steinhauser, “White House begins new Stimulus push,” CNN, 6/17/2010)

Even Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke recently called on Democrats to create a responsible budget to get the nation’s economy back on track:

“Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday that Congress needs to develop a plan to manage the nation’s burgeoning debt, because the federal budget ‘appears to be on an unsustainable path.’

“Testifying before the House Budget Committee on the state of the economy, Bernanke urged lawmakers to take decisive action to show investors that the country can get back on the right financial path.” (Simmi Aujla, “Ben Bernanke: Federal Budget ‘Unsustainable,'” Politico, 6/10/10) 

“Another month of high unemployment, another missed opportunity for Kurt Schrader and his Washington friends to explain how they plan on getting the economy back on track,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “The longer Schrader allows this jobless recovery to drag on, the more difficult it will be to restore the kind of fiscal discipline essential to job creation. It’s time Schrader turns his party’s rhetoric into reality, because Oregon families are tired of asking: Where are the jobs?”

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