RNC Women

New unemployment data released today by the Department of Labor shows that the jobless rate has now topped 9.5 percent for 14 consecutive months – the longest such stretch since the 1930’s. 

The monthly statistics also show a significant increase in the number of people who have part-time jobs but want to work full time.  The number of these “underemployed” Americans rose by nearly 1 million since July, to 9.5 million.  This is the highest number dating back to at least 1955. 

These Americans – the 14 million unemployed and the nearly 10 million underemployed – are the people who have been left behind by the Obama Administration’s so-called “Recovery Summer.”  When these people needed quick action to get the economy moving again, the Democrats in Washington delivered economic policies that have contributed to the worst stretch of unemployment since the Great Depression. 

The millions of American families struggling to make ends meet don’t need more empty rhetoric from the Democrat majority in Congress.  The past 14 months make that clear.  The American people need tax relief to get the economy moving again, and they need certainty from the federal government that our increasing national debt won’t devalue the currency and make their savings worthless. 

For the past 14 months, the Democrat majority in Congress had the opportunity to extend the Bush tax cuts for every American.  For the past 14 months, they had the chance to reduce government spending and lay out a plan to curb the national debt. 

Instead, they tried the same failed stimulus plans over and over again.  It’s time for a new approach to get our economy moving, and it’s time for a new Republican majority in Congress.   The past 14 months show enough is enough.