ShareThisDoes Barack Hussein Obama continue to lie about the economic stimulus plan?
This is an article from the Washington PostWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama promised Monday to deliver more than 600,000 jobs through his 7 billion stimulus plan this summer, with federal agencies pumping billions into public works projects, schools and summer youth programs.
Obama is ramping up his stimulus program this week even as his advisers are ramping down expectations about when the spending plan will effect a continuing rise in the nation’s unemployment.
Many of the stimulus plans that Obama announced Monday already were in the works, including hundreds of maintenance projects at military bases, about 1,600 state road and airport improvements, and federal money states budgeted for 135,000 teachers, principals and school support staff.
The administration had always viewed the summer as a peak for stimulus spending, as better weather permitted more public works construction and federal agencies had processed requests from states and others.
But Obama now promises an accelerated pace of federal spending over the next few months to boost the economy and produce jobs.
"We have a long way to go on our road to recovery but we are going the right way," Obama said in a written statement prepared for his public announcement of the additional summer stimulus activity. "Our measure of progress is the progress the American people see in their own lives. And until that progress is steady and solid, we’re going to keep moving forward. We will not grow complacent or rest. Surely and steadily, we will turn this economy around," the statement said.
The announcement comes days after the government reported that the number of unemployed continues to rise; the unemployment rate now sits at 9.4 percent, the highest in more than 25 years. Hundreds of thousands of Americans continue to lose jobs each month, although fewer jobs were lost last month than expected.
Just how much of an impact Obama’s recovery program had on the pace of job losses is up for debate. Obama has claimed as many as 150,000 jobs saved or created by his stimulus plan so far, even as government reports have shown the economy has lost more than 1.6 million jobs since Congress approved funding for the program in February.
Republicans remain critical of the stimulus spending, slamming it as a big government program that ultimately will do little for recovery. With only a fraction of the federal money actually spent thus far, it’s premature to give the stimulus plan credit for economic trends, congressional Republicans said last week.
"I think the economy is just as likely to begin to recover on its own, wholly aside from this, before much of this has an impact. So I’m very skeptical that this massive sort of spending binge that we’ve engaged in is going to have much of an impact," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Obama initially offered his stimulus plan as a way to put people back to work, a promise that 3.5 million jobs would be saved or created. The administration’s predictions that unemployment would rise no higher than 8 percent already have been shattered, leaving Obama’s advisers to caution that job growth takes time, even as recovery spending intensifies.
Federal agencies will release billions of stimulus dollars to states in the coming months.
Health and Human Services will provide funding for 1,129 health centers to provide expanded service for 300,000 patients; Interior will begin improvements on 107 national parks; Veterans Affairs will start work on 90 medical centers in 38 states; the Justice Department will fund 5,000 law enforcement jobs; the Agriculture Department will begin 200 new rural waste and water system projects; and the Environmental Protection Agency will begin or accelerate the cleanup of 20 Superfund sites.
At the same time federal money for these projects is released, the nation’s unemployment rate likely will continue to increase, said Austan Goolsbee, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
"I don’t think there’s any question it’s going to be a rough patch not just in the immediate term, but for a little bit of time," Goolsbee said Sunday, "because you’ve got to turn the economy around, and jobs and job growth tend to come after you turn the economy around. So it’s likely going to be a little higher."
Obama senior adviser David Axelrod argues that the stimulus program is working and points to fewer jobs lost in May than the month before as a hopeful sign of economic recovery. Improvements in unemployment numbers naturally come later, he said.
"It’s going to take some time for these unemployment numbers to turn around, for the momentum to completely stop and turn in the other direction," Axelrod said. "It feels as if we’re moving and the stimulus package now is not nearly done, it’s just really at its beginnings."
Goolsbee spoke on "FOX News Sunday;" Axelrod was interviewed on CNN’s "State of the Union".
September 1st, 2010 at 7:26 am
Of course he lies about what is really going on. He still wants more crap passed for his "legacy."
In addition, if he tells us the truth, it will hurt him politically. This looser started running for reelection on November 5, 2008.
Seriously, I think he honestly believes his crap will work. The problem is that these schemes have already been tried and have failed. You are supposed to LEARN form the past, not make the same mistakes over and over again!
Rasmussen has him at a 52% approval. Wasn’t he in the mid 70s? Hummmmmmmm. We aren’t buying his crap!
September 1st, 2010 at 7:26 am
Pretty sure he is expecting it to work like it worked for FDR in the first republican-brought on depression.
Note: Did Bush lie about anything that costs lives?
September 1st, 2010 at 7:26 am
This guy needs to wise up fast. Even the dumb hippies are getting a crash course in Econ 101
September 1st, 2010 at 7:26 am
No, Obama isn’t lying. The person or people who are pulling his strings are lying. He just reads what’s on the teleprompter.
September 1st, 2010 at 7:26 am
in 2010 the truth about the stimulus plan will come out.
September 1st, 2010 at 7:26 am
why not? He lies about everything else.
Runtun, if you think prolonging the depression is the same as ending it, the you are right. Obama has probably already prolonged the recession. Who knows how things would have progressed under Romney?
September 1st, 2010 at 7:26 am
Obama commanding Liar in Chief.
September 1st, 2010 at 7:26 am
obama lies ALL the time, little gratuitous lies and great big whoppers.his little lie the other day about he and michelle meeting in class was not a case of forgetting,it was one of his smarmy lies to make people think he is one with them,When he was campaigning in Selma,Al. he told a moving story about how his parents were caught up in the passion of the Selma peace movement and he was conceived "Don’t tell me I don’t have a claim on Selma,don’t tell me I’m not coming home to Selma" Obie forgot to check the fact’s,he was born in 1961,we marched across that bridge in selma in 1965 and I know for certain,because at just 14, I marched along with the rest of my Catholic youth group ( I don’t recall seeing either of obie’s parents there !! )It was a time and a feeling I will never forget,and no one I was with was concerned with" hooking-up" if obie’s parents were caught up in the fervor,they obviously had other agenda, and it was NOT a peace March,(maybe just a piece) Nothing he says has any validity and he lies every time he speaks . He means our country no good and we need to insure he is "One term Obie"
September 1st, 2010 at 7:26 am
What was the point of your overly long narrative? Some people think the stimulus package will help, some don’t. Naturally the Republicans don’t. In no way has President Obama been lying to the American people. The economy is always fluid, and a lot of factors effect it. If you have some sort of crystal ball and can accurately predict what will happen tomorrow, then you are the only one. The fact is, he has always said that we should look for unemployment to rise a lot. The stimulus package will not be able to keep up with job losses, but will try to offset some of the misery. 3000 people across the river from where i live, were just hired for a stimulus project. Not good enough? I’m sure those people really could care less what you think. Those are concrete examples. Your opinion is anything but. So in answer to your question? No, he has not lied. Are the Republicans lying. No they call it spin.
September 1st, 2010 at 7:26 am
No, he doesn’t. Thanks for asking.
September 1st, 2010 at 7:26 am
The only thing Obie knows how to do well is lie.
September 1st, 2010 at 7:26 am
Obama is a Politician, a Lawyer, and a very charismatic speaker. That is as long as he has his teleprompter……….We knew he would tax, tax, tax, those who work and give to those who don’t. Even Biden said that they didn’t understand the stimulus or how bad the economy was. We shall see, huh? Everyweek his numbers go down….not surprised……….Savior? No.