GOP Candidates Smack Obama Over Latest Job Figures

The following are a series of statements released this morning after the government announced that the nation’s jobless rate fell, but only slightly, from 9.2% in June to 9.1% in July.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (via Twitter):

“When you see what this president has done to the economy in 3 years, you know why America doesn’t want to find out what he can do in 8.”

Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty:

“Today’s dismal jobs report is a far cry from the hope and change that President Obama promised on the campaign trail … It’s time for a new president to point us back in the right direction, and I am the only candidate who has proposed a specific economic plan that will create jobs and grow our economy.”

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.):

“Despite today’s jobs report showing a slight improvement, with 9.1 percent unemployment, it is still evidence that the President’s failed economic policies are digging us deeper into a hole. The President created twice as many donors for his campaign as he created jobs in the second quarter. This week the President was handed a $2.4 trillion blank check and in return the American people got a mere $21 billion in promised spending cuts, the erosion of their personal savings in the worst stock market drop since 2008, and the promise of higher taxes before the ink had dried on the budget deal. It’s time for the President to admit what the markets, the world, and the American people already know - his trillion dollar stimulus was a failure, the government can’t create jobs, and massive spending kills them. This week the President announced that he would again pivot to focus his attention on jobs. We can only hope he will pivot away from his failed economic policies that have killed growth and put millions of Americans out of work. What the markets want and what the country needs is a fundamental restructuring in the way Washington spends taxpayers dollars that reins in unprecedented spending, gets our debt under control, and encourages pro-growth economic policies. The President can attempt to blame and spin away this week’s bad economic news, but you can’t fool the markets. Mr. President - the only way to dig us out of this hole your administration has gotten us into is to stop digging.”

Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.):

“A day after the President raised millions of dollars to celebrate his birthday, more than 46 million Americans continue to suffer in his economy. Today’s ‘jobless report’ reveals to the Obama Maladminstration what working Americans know: 16 million Americans are unemployed; over thirty million Americans are unable to find better jobs; and the stagnant economy slumps toward a double dip recession. Inexcusably, Mr. Obama’s response to struggling Americans is: “Let them eat cake - at $35 grand a plate. Instead, it is better for Americans to put a fork in Mr. Obama’s half-baked policies.”

Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman:

“The President has had 2.5 years to turn around the American economy and it is clear he has failed. In less than one day, Americans have witnessed a considerable drop in the stock market and yet another jobs report showing an unemployment rate above 9%. When President Obama should have been focused on creating jobs, he focused on a government-mandated health care system that the American people didn’t ask for and can’t afford. What we can’t afford now is to waste any more time. We need to implement the type of pro-growth policies and free-market reforms that made Utah the top state for job creation when I was Governor. America needs a President who knows how to create an economic environment that allows entrepreneurs to thrive and create jobs. This country will never realize its true economic potential until we enact tax cuts, implement regulatory reform and move toward energy independence.”