Sept. 2, 2011
Bachmann Comments on August
Jobless Report:
"The American people don't need speeches, they
need jobs."
Urbandale, Iowa –
Republican presidential candidate
Michele Bachmann has issued the following statement on today's jobless
report showing unemployment at 9.1 percent:
"Mr. President -
we gave you $2.4 trillion in new spending and the American people got
nothing in return. Today's jobs report showing that the economy created
no jobs
in the last month and unemployment at 9.1 percent is further evidence
that President Obama's failed economic policies are not working and
have
completely stalled job growth. After spending three days last month on
a bus tour focusing on jobs - today's economic report shows that the
nation's
economy is sitting at a huge stop sign. Before his vacation, the
President gave us a speech about a jobs speech; the American people
don't need
speeches, they need jobs.
"It's time for a comprehensive
restructuring of how Washington spends taxpayers' dollars by
controlling spending and encouraging pro-growth economic policies. Mr.
President - it's time to stop digging our country further into debt -
it's time
to build a solid foundation for sustainable economic growth to restore
certainty for the American people and the markets."
Cain Responds
to August Job Numbers
(Stockbridge, GA)-
Republican presidential candidate and longtime business leader Herman
Cain responded to the release of the August 2011 jobs report, saying:
We learned today that not a single
job was created during the month of August in the United States of
America. In the land of endless opportunity and abundant freedom, the
very promise that has inspired generations of industrious and
innovative people seems to be dwindling away.
After trillions in government spending and empty promises, 14 million
American workers are unemployed, with millions more underemployed.
These are people, not statistics. They are families struggling to put
food on the table, send their kids to school and keep the lights on.
They are our family members, friends and neighbors.
Sadly, the fact that zero jobs were created last month is only fitting
for this administration, which is led by a President with zero
leadership, zero plans, zero results and zero understanding of basic
economics. And the American people are worse off because of it.
Cain released his own economic plan in August 2011, also known as the
"9-9-9 Plan." In it, Cain proposes instituting a personal income tax
rate of 9 percent, a corporate income tax rate of 9 percent and a
national sales tax rate of 9 percent. "Cain's Vision for Economic
Growth"
also calls for an elimination of the capital gains tax, the payroll
tax, the estate tax and the taxes on repatriated profits.
Newt Gingrich sent the
following email to his supporters today in reaction to the U.S. economy
creating zero jobs in August.
Class
Warfare
and
Bureaucratic
Socialism
Fail Again
Zero jobs created in August. No relief for the 25 million who are
unemployed, underemployed or who have given up looking for work.
And the president thinks he’s “frustrated?”
As we mark Labor Day, this bad news is especially poignant, but it’s
also not surprising.
Stagnant economic growth is the inevitable result of President Obama’s
commitment to class warfare and bureaucratic socialism.
The president routinely demonizes successful Americans, arguing they
need to be punished with higher taxes. Is it any wonder that
entrepreneurs are hesitant to invest, create new wealth and jobs?
This administration has issued one job killing regulation after
another. Laws like Obamacare and Dodd-Frank are so complex and
confusing that businesses can’t predict their costs for the coming
years. With so much uncertainty, is it any wonder businesses aren’t
hiring?
There is a better way – a proven way.
As a junior congressman, I worked with Jack Kemp and Ronald Reagan to
develop and then pass the Kemp-Roth tax cuts. And rather than casting
successful Americans as the enemy of working Americans, Ronald Reagan
praised the American entrepreneur as the cornerstone of our country’s
success. The result was an unprecedented economic boom that created 25
million new jobs.
To put the difference between the Reagan Recovery and the continued
Obama Depression in visual terms, here is a chart comparing the results
of Reagan’s Kemp-Roth tax cuts and Obama’s big government stimulus:
Real
leadership doesn’t inherit a bad economy. It fixes it.
As Speaker of the House, remembering the success of Ronald Reagan’s
policies, I led a bipartisan coalition that cut taxes, reduced
regulations and reformed government. The result was a drop in the
unemployment rate to 4.2% from 5.4%. We also balanced the federal
budget for the first time in twenty years.
Today, my Jobs and Prosperity Plan, introduced during the first week of
my candidacy, is modeled after the same Reagan/Contract with America
playbook: lower taxes, deregulation, and more American energy.
Read my Jobs and Prosperity Plan at Newt.org.
On Thursday, we will get to hear the president’s plan to get us out of
the mess he helped create. We will find out whether he has learned from
history and given up his commitment to class warfare and bureaucratic
socialism in favor of liberating American entrepreneurs to do what they
do best – create jobs.
Either way, I want you to know that I will continue offering leadership
now, advocating for the right policies now for job creation now. That
is my commitment to America. And I want to thank you for standing with
me.
Your Friend,
Newt
STATEMENT FROM GOVERNOR
JON HUNTSMAN
ON AUGUST JOBS REPORT
Manchester, NH – Governor Jon Huntsman issued the following
statement on the August jobs report:
“Two days after I offered a plan with serious solutions that would
create jobs and get our economy going, we learn of yet another month
with zero job growth. There is no clearer sign that the President has
failed and the theatrics around his far-too-late jobs speech
demonstrate that he has no real plan to change course. In a
country
with 307 million people, zero job growth is unfathomable. It's time for
America to compete again and it's time for a new President.”
JOHNSON
ON
JOBS
REPORT:
WASHINGTON
HAS STIMULATED US TO DEATH
September 2, 2011, Santa Fe, NM
-- Responding to today's report that no net jobs were created in
August, former New Mexico governor and presidential candidate Gary
Johnson released the following statement:
"With
today's jobs report, the worst in a year, one has to wonder what it
will take to make the President and Congress admit that they are doing
all the wrong things. Government does not create jobs, it kills
jobs.
Yet, the White House says the answer is to pass a highway bill so
they
can 'stimulate' construction jobs. Washington has stimulated us
to
death, and it has to stop. Provide certainty for employers, stop
the
insane spending, and reform the tax code. Do those things, and
the
private sector will do the job creation. We have let the myth of
government jobs programs go too far, and America is suffering as a
result. We don't need more prime time speeches -- we need
government
to just get out of the way."
McCotter
Responds to Jobs Report
Plymouth, MI - Today, Presidential candidate
and U.S. Representative Thaddeus McCotter responded to the latest jobs
report.
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter made the following statement:
"This latest jobs report again proves that, unlike President Obama and
the
GOP candidates who are unable or unwilling to understand the central
problem in
our economy, my economic growth plan is the one that will end this
period of
debt-deflation and stagnation by fundamentally restructuring Big
Government
into Citizen-government and recapitalizing the failed Wall Street
Bailout Banks
through free market forces."
Ron Paul Campaign
Releases Statement on Jobs Report
End
wars,
spending
and
reintroduce
sound money
LAKE JACKSON, Texas – The
Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign released the following statement
from
National Campaign
Chairman Jesse Benton in response to the U.S. Department of
Labor’s August 2011 Employment Situation Summary:
“The August national unemployment rate of 9.1 percent is another
unfortunate chapter in the Obama administration’s almost superhuman
mishandling of the economy. Total nonfarm employment was
unchanged,
with zero
jobs created. The number of involuntary part-time workers is up,
and
the number of those marginally attached to the workforce is up.
“Six million workers, 42.9 percent of total unemployed persons, have
been jobless 27 weeks or longer – a frightening proposition considering
that mortgage, rent, food and back-to-school bills may go unpaid.
The
most recent four-week moving average of new unemployment claims,
favored for being a less volatile indicator of our jobs picture, is a
frowning 410,250 – also cause for dismay.
“Indeed, much more than these data hangs in the balance.
Americans are
enduring painful long-term joblessness. They’re witnessing their
savings disappear due to lost income. They’re seeing their
personal
debt rise due to lost income. And they gaze despairingly
upon their
retirement plans as these arrangements are tabled or upended entirely.
“We’ve been told our economic situation would get worse before it gets
better, yet circumstances have remained near to their utmost worst for
nearly three years.
“We’ve been told that help was on the way, yet taxpayer-derived aid was
granted to pet causes and favored political allies. Too often,
bailouts were targeted to the President’s corporate and financial
sector allies, a policy similar to that of tossing life preservers to
those partying on yachts.
“Americans have had enough.
“It’s high time that the President and his Washington establishment
allies – those in both parties – ‘man up’ and face the responsibility
to enact authentic change.
“First, America must put an end to the unconstitutional, undeclared
wars that are nothing more than destructive conflicts having an unclear
connection to U.S. national security. And we should stop putting
our
war-weary armed services men and women in danger by being the world’s
police force and dispense with state building while there are pressing
needs at home.
“Ron Paul has called for an authentic stimulus that communities across
America will find economically and affectionately stimulating: the
return to America of 305,000 of their sons, daughters, husbands and
wives who are deployed overseas.
“Dr. Paul says time and again that these men and women’s absence from
the U.S., their deployments by international organizations such as
N.A.T.O. and the United Nations, and their involvement in
unconstitutional, undeclared wars puts America at risk.
“America’s heroes should finally return, reunite with their loved ones
in the vicinity of U.S. bases – many of which face closure, as foreign
bases thrive – and they can spend, save or invest their pay right here
in America.
“A return to the U.S. of service men and women and their equipment just
months ago would mean that Vermont would have possessed the needed
Blackhawk helicopters and personnel to adequately respond to Hurricane
Irene’s destruction. Instead, Vermont was required to borrow
helicopters from Illinois and New Hampshire.
“In the wake of Hurricane Irene, there’s a national conversation about
the constitutionality, efficacy and efficiency of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) happening. Yet, none of Ron Paul’s
Republican
primary competitors have raised the issue that, since the U.S.
reportedly spends more than $500 billion on overseas adventures, just
seven days’ worth of U.S global militarism would pay for Hurricane
Irene response.
“Second, President Obama and his Washington enablers of both parties
must end the appalling practice of overspending and borrowing.
American households are becoming poorer as the economic doldrums
continue, however Washington enjoys a kind of golden age as it grows
and promotes its relevance in every facet of life.
“The Obama administration offers empty promises on a jobs fix despite
the economic reality that government does not create jobs, and in
lockstep those in government garner little criticism as few in the
media hold Washingtonians’ feet to the fire. This selective
examination of the facts, too, must end.
“Third, the U.S. must avoid the disastrous boom and bust cycles that
promote irresponsible spending, investing, borrowing and lending and
this can only be done by returning to a sound money system.
“The Federal Reserve should undergo a complete and thorough audit, and
currency competition should be introduced by decriminalizing the use of
gold and silver as legal tender. The final aim would be to end
the
Fed, which rewards the wealthy few while punishing and injuring working
class Americans.
“The numbers and anecdotal evidence of a failed jobs picture speak for
themselves. They are a glaring argument for abandoning the failed
Big
Government, discredited Keynesian response to the national crisis all
but those in Washington are experiencing.
“We do not need another speech or prime-time lecture for that matter to
tell us what we know: Washington has failed and it is time for new
leadership.
“Ron Paul has championed the same constitutionally-limited government,
noninterventionist foreign policy and sound money arguments for more
than 30 years.
“Dr. Paul wisely predicted the economic crisis and foresaw that it
would fall hardest on the hardworking and most vulnerable. The
issues
now match the candidate, which is why his message is resonating with
more voters as the primary campaign cycle advances.”
Statement From Gov. Perry on August Job
Numbers
"President Obama's job-killing polices continue to wreak havoc on
the
American economy. The poor national jobs picture stands in stark
contrast to Texas' pro-jobs, limited government policies which helped
make us the top job-producing state in the nation. Our country cannot
afford four more years of economic misery, and I will continue to
travel the county talking about ways to get American working again."
MITT ROMNEY: JOBS
REPORT “UNACCEPTABLE”
“Today’s
disappointing unemployment report is further proof that President Obama
has failed. President Obama oversaw an economy that created zero jobs
last month and that is unacceptable. In order to change the direction
of this country, we need to change presidents. Americans need a
conservative businessman to get this economy moving again, not career
politicians. That is why I am running. Next week, I will lay out my
specific plan to put America back to work.” – Mitt Romney
Today’s Jobs Report Shows
Continued Weakness In The American Economy:
The American Economy Added Zero Jobs
In August And Unemployment Remains At 9.1%.
“Nonfarm payroll employment was unchanged (0) in August, and the
unemployment rate held at 9.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported today. Employment in most major industries changed
little over the month.” (Bureau Of Labor Statistics,
www.bls.gov,
9/2/11)
·
“Nonfarm Employment For June And July Was
Revised To Show 58,000 Fewer Jobs.” (Reuters, 9/2/11)
·
“Employment
Growth Ground To A Halt In August As Sagging Consumer Confidence
Discouraged Already Skittish U.S. Businesses From Hiring…” (Reuters, 9/2/11)
Recent Economic News Confirms That
President Obama’s Policies Have Been A Dismal Failure:
The Conference Board’s Consumer
Confidence Index Plunged In August To Levels Far Below Expectations.
“Consumers' confidence in August dropped almost 15 points to the lowest
level since April 2009 as worries about the economy fueled the wildest
stock market swings since the financial meltdown in 2008. … The
Conference Board said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index fell
to 44.5, down from a revised 59.2 in July … [and was] far below the
53.3 that analysts had expected.”
(“Confidence Drops to Lowest
Level Since April 2009,” The Associated Press, 8/30/11)
Figures Released This Month Show That
Jobless Rates Increased Or Remained Stagnant In 41 States During July.
“Unemployment rates rose in July in more than half the states
for the
second straight month, evidence that job growth remains weak
nationwide. The Labor Department said Friday that unemployment
increased in 28 states, fell in nine and remained unchanged in 13.”
(“Unemployment In July Rose In 28 States, Fell In 9, The Associated Press, 8/19/11)
The Housing Market Continues To
Underperform As Pending Home Sales Fell In July.
“Pending home sales fell 1.3% in July, according to a National
Association of Realtors report released Monday morning. The index,
which measures the number of contracts signed to buy previously owned
homes in the U.S., plunged 11.6% in July, month over month … Lawrence
Yun, NAR chief economist, said sales activity is underperforming.”
(Miriam
Reimer,
“July
Pending
Home
Sales Fall 1.3%,” TheStreet.com, 08/29/11)
A
Report From The Mortgage Bankers Association Shows That More Than 6
Million Americans Are Delinquent On Their Mortgage Payments.
“The
number of American households that are delinquent on mortgage payments
is rising again after falling for more than one year, an unwelcome
trend for the U.S. economy. The Mortgage Bankers Association said
12.87% of mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit homes were 30 days or
longer past due or in the foreclosure process at the end of the second
quarter, representing more than 6.3 million households. … The figures
offer the latest sign of how the slumping job market threatens to
create new problems for the fragile housing market.”
(Nick
Timiraos, “Home-Loan Delinquencies Rise Again,” The Wall Street Journal, 8/23/11)
Activity In The Manufacturing Sector
Broadly Declined In The Month Of August, According To The Federal
Reserve.
“Regional surveys of manufacturers are pointing to a downshift
in
activity, as a key driver of the recovery retreats amid worries about
an economic downturn. … The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond's survey,
released Tuesday, offered the latest downbeat assessment of
manufacturing, which contracted in the central Atlantic region in
August after stalling in July. The Philadelphia Fed last week said its
index of manufacturing activity plunged in August to the lowest reading
since March 2009. … Another survey from the New York Fed also worsened
in August.”
(Sudeep Reddy, “Factories Retrench Amid Downturn
Worries,” The Wall Street Journal, 8/24/11)
New-Home
Sales Have Fallen For Three Straight Months And “The Number Of New
Homes Available For Sale Fell … [To] The Lowest Since The Data Series
Began In 1963.” “Sales of new homes dropped to their lowest
level
since February, with the housing sector beset by too much supply and
too little demand. … New-home sales fell 0.7% in July to a seasonally
adjusted annual rate of 298,000, the lowest level since February, the
Commerce Department said. It was the third straight monthly decline in
sales. … The number of new homes available for sale fell 0.6% to
165,000, the lowest since the data series began in 1963.”
(Sudeep
Reddy,
“Factories
Retrench
Amid
Downturn Worries,” The Wall Street Journal, 8/24/11)
Santorum
Said: "...President Obama's economic policies would need to
improve
dramatically to even be described as 'Incompetent'"
Verona, PA - Former Senator Rick
Santorum (R-PA) made the following statement in response to this
morning's disappointing jobs report.
Senator
Santorum said, "This morning's jobs report is another sad sign that
President Obama's economic policies would need to improve dramatically
to even be described as incompetent. For three years, in speech
after
speech, the President has claimed to be focused on the American worker,
but month after month and report after report shows the opposite.
So
either, the President's economic policies are killing this economy or
his lack of leadership - either way, President Obama is to blame.
Employers need certainty and freedom to expand and that what my
jobs
plan would do."
In July, Senator Santorum released his jobs plan
focusing on putting America back to work, with a focus on the "great
middle of America," the manufacturing sector. Senator Santorum's
plan
would:
·
Eliminate
the corporate tax for all domestic manufacturers (take it from 35% to
0%);
·
Repatriate
taxes on profits secured overseas at a 5% rate rather than the current
35% tax rate;
· Reduce
regulatory burdens on manufacturers; and
· Expand
domestic energy exploration to lower energy costs for manufacturers.
RNC Chairman Priebus
Statement on the August Unemployment Numbers
WASHINGTON – Republican
National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus released the following
statement regarding today’s dismal jobs report:
“Today’s
unemployment numbers are another painful reminder that America still
awaits economic leadership from President Obama. He spent
his summer
fundraising and golfing, promising to lay out a jobs plan only after
his Martha’s Vineyard vacation—all while nearly 14 million Americans
remained jobless.
“As
the country awaits another speech from President Obama next week, those
without jobs can only hope this address will be different—with
substantive solutions instead of empty rhetoric.
“The
President needs the courage to admit his regulatory regime is the
biggest road block to job creation. America’s job creators cannot
hire
workers while handcuffed by regulations, crushed by mandates and
threatened with taxes. If the President refuses to change course,
America’s unemployed with be the victims of his failure.”
Statement on the Employment Situation in
August
WASHINGTON-
Katherine Abraham, Member of the Council of Economic Advisors, issued
the following statement today on the employment situation in August.
Today’s
employment report shows that private sector payrolls increased by
17,000 and overall payroll employment was flat in August. The
unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.1 percent, a level that
remains unacceptably high. Despite a slowdown in economic growth
from
substantial headwinds experienced throughout the year, the economy has
added private sector jobs for 18 straight months, for a total of 2.4
million jobs over that period.
Clearly,
faster growth is needed to replace the jobs lost in the downturn.
Today’s report underscores the President’s call for Congress to pass a
clean extension of the transportation bill to keep workers on the job
and keep critical highway construction, bridge repair, mass transit and
other important projects moving forward. Next week, the President will
lay out a series of additional bipartisan steps that Congress can take
immediately to put more money in the paychecks of working and middle
class families; to make it easier for small businesses to hire workers;
to put construction crews to work rebuilding our nation’s
infrastructure; and other measures that will help the economy grow
while still reducing our deficit and getting our fiscal house in
order.
Sectors
with employment increases in August included health care and social
assistance (+35,500) and professional and business services (+28,000).
Sectors with employment declines included information (-48,000, which
includes striking Verizon workers), construction (-5,000), and
manufacturing (-3,000). Local government lost 20,000 jobs and has shed
398,000 jobs since February 2010. State government added 5,000 jobs as
an estimated 22,000 furloughed Minnesota state workers returned to
work.
The
monthly employment and unemployment numbers are volatile and employment
estimates are subject to substantial revision. Therefore, as the
Administration always stresses, it is important not to read too much
into any one monthly report.
Katharine Abraham is a
Member of the Council of Economic Advisers
CAF’s Roger Hickey says Unemployment Report
Requires Bold Jobs Plan From President Obama When He Addresses the
Nation Next Week
September 2,
2011
Washington, DC -- Today’s bleak unemployment numbers for
August
demonstrate that President Obama must put forward a big, bold program
for job creation when he addresses the nation next Thursday, said Roger
Hickey, co-director of the Campaign for Americas Future in response to
today’s data from the Labor Department.
Hickey said, “These numbers, with no net job creation at all -- and
14 million people officially unemployed -- show that the economy is
dead in the water.” Hickey noted that government policy, which is
still focused on deficit reduction and austerity measures, forcing
layoffs of teachers, firefighters and other public employees at the
federal, state and local level, is systematically damaging employment
and growth. This report shows that since employment peaked in
September 2008, local government has lost 550,000 jobs. “The policy of
our government is systematically undermining the recovery. Public
sector layoffs are undermining consumer buying power, crippling the
ability of the private sector to sell products and services. Clearly,
President Obama must reverse this downward spiral by creating jobs
directly, putting money in consumer’s pockets, and helping small and
large companies to find buyers and invest in growth,” Hickey said.
Hickey renewed the call to President Obama asking him for a bold
jobs plan that will put Americans back to work. “The Campaign for
America’s Future on Aug. 30 joined with Rebuild the Dream, MoveOn, NOW
and 80 other groups to send a letter to President Obama.
The groups told Obama, “A problem this serious needs a plan to match it
in scope. Tax cuts and incentives for corporations have repeatedly
failed to put Americans back to work. It is time to move beyond these
half measures designed to appeal to a narrow ideological minority who
have repeatedly shown their unwillingness to negotiate and their
disinterest in real solutions. History—and proven economics—tells us
that any plan to solve our job crisis needs to be big, bold, and create
jobs directly.”
Hickey said “With Labor Day around the corner, it is time for the
President Obama and Congress to act. Everyone knows that
Republicans
in the Congress are demanding policies that are crippling growth – and
they are even resisting small measures, like extending unemployment
insurance and continuing Social Security the tax holiday. The
President should push Republicans to vote for these small measures,
which they used to support routinely but now oppose. However,
President Obama must go beyond what might be able to pass today and
present a bold jobs program that is big enough to revive the economy
and create jobs. If he does this can rally the country and revive
hope
that the over 25 million unemployed or underemployed Americans will
soon have new opportunities. If the President doesn’t acknowledge
that
we are in an unemployment crisis – and advance a serious plan to create
growth and jobs – the country will lose hope and our economic crisis
will only get worse.”
Over the past several weeks the Campaign for America’s Future has
advanced a series of proposals called Big Ideas to Get America
Working. These proposals can be found at http://www.ourfuture.org/report/bigideas
The Campaign for America's Future (CAF) is a center for ideas and
action that works to build an enduring majority for progressive change.
The Campaign advances a progressive economic agenda and a vision of the
future that works for the many, not simply the few. The Campaign is
leading the fight for America's priorities – for good jobs and a
sustainable economy, and for strengthening the safety net.