By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
U.S. Representative Spencer Bachus (R) from Vestavia responded to comments from President Barack H. Obama that the American private sector economy was doing “just fine” under his administration.
Rep. Bachus said in his new e-newsletter, “President Obama was wrong when he said our private sector is doing “just fine.” The unemployment rate has been at or above 8 percent for 40 straight months, the longest period since the Great Depression.”
Congressman Bachus said, “The stimulus, the health care plan, and the Dodd-Frank regulations that the President promised would fix the economy have not worked. We need to return to the principles of free enterprise and reduce, not further expand, the role of the federal government in our economy.”
On Friday President Obama told reporters, “The private sector is doing just fine,” while denouncing the Congress for not passing his proposal to borrow money to give to the states to prevent the states from laying off state workers like teachers, policemen, and firemen.
Republican leaders, like Rep. Bachus, have been eager to denounce the President’s claim that the economy has turned around following the worst economic downturn since the Depression and is now doing just fine.
The President’s Republican opponent, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, said, “For the President of the United States to stand up and say the private sector is doing fine is going to go down in history. It’s an extraordinary miscalculation and misunderstanding by a President who is out of touch, and we’re going to take back this country and get America working again.”
Alabama Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard said in a written statement, “The president doesn’t get it. The only way to truly fix this economy is by growing the private sector to produce more jobs. And the private sector isn’t “doing fine,” because too many people are still out of work, and more still are finding it difficult to make ends meet.”
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said, “Any voter who wonders whether to vote for Gov. Romney or for President Obama in November should remember this: President Obama thinks the “private sector is doing fine.” If you don’t collect a government paycheck, he thinks you’re “doing fine.” And that means he doesn’t think you—or your neighbors, or your children looking for work—are struggling.”
Republicans point to statistics that show that under Obama’s Presidency 97.3 million Americans now qualify as low-Income and another 49.1 million are in poverty. 146.4 million Americans or 48% of the population have dropped to lower income. The number of Americans getting Food Stamps has increased from 31.9 million to a record 46.4 million. Meanwhile Obamacare has driven the average cost of family health care premiums to $15,073 from $13,375. 23.2 Million Americans are unemployed, underemployed or have given up and dropped out of the labor market altogether. The average American family has lost 40% of their net worth in just the last three years.
Gov. Romney has been making the argument that the President is out of touch and does not understand the economy. Romney said Tuesday, “Well, he’s had a number of very revealing comments that show just how far out of touch he is with what’s happening in the country. Yesterday, he said among other things, that he didn’t realize that Obamacare is having any impact on small business. I’d acquaint him with a survey done by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that asked small businesses how Obamacare is affecting them, 75 percent, three quarters of them said it was less likely for them to hire people because of Obamacare.”
Congressman Spencer Bachus represents Alabama’s Sixth Congressional District.
