GOP pounces on bad jobs report UPDATED

Job losses mounted unexpectedly in June — followed by an increase in GOP press releases citing Thursday’s abysmal unemployment report as proof Barack Obama’s stimulus plan is failing to live up to promises.

Five e-mails arrived in my inbox within 32 minutes of the report’s 8:30 release.

UPDATED: Make that six, with a new number one:

1. Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), chairman of the House GOP conference, 8:34(!):

“Congress should be doing what every American family is doing during these tough economic times: cutting expenses, and making sacrifices. Instead, Washington is pushing for more spending, more debt and higher taxes, all on the backs of our nation’s taxpayers.”

2. Republican Study Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.), 8:45 a.m.:

“After five months of the so-called stimulus, Americans are left with just one question: where are the jobs? The administration assured us its bloated spending package would halt unemployment at 8%, yet it has now hit 9.5% and continues a rapid ascent. This is not the economic security that Americans were promised – far from it! It seems the grim outlook of the job market is only matched by the impending fiscal disaster to which this failed stimulus is contributing.”

3. Republican National Committee, 8:47 a.m:

“JUDGMENT DAY:Facts Belie Obama’s “Rose-Colored Forecast” As
Unemployment Hits 9.5% Percent.”

4. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), 8:48 a.m.:

“Today’s employment report reminds us that spending, taxing, and borrowing with reckless abandon is no way to create more jobs, yet that is exactly what Democrats in charge of Washington have done all year long. Middle-class families and small businesses are hurting, and they’re looking to Washington for real solutions that won’t raise their taxes and drive future generations into even deeper debt… That at’s the same failed formula that has cost Americans their jobs in the past, and it’s costing them their jobs once again. We must do better, and that starts with Democrats working with Republicans to help families and small businesses emerge from this economic crisis.”

5. Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.), 8:51 a.m.:

“The American people do not support a government healthcare plan that will increase costs, reduce patient choice and flexibility, and lower the quality of care available in our country. The American people do not support the radical Cap & Tax plan which will impose a hard-hitting tax upon families and small businesses costing our struggling economy thousands of jobs…At some point, even the Speaker must realize that enough is enough. Republicans will continue to offer innovative solutions that put job creation first, and we hope that fair minded, centrist Democrats concerned about the direction this Congress has taken will work together with us.”

6. National Republican Congressional Committee, 9:02 a.m.:

“Jobless Rate Reaches 26 Year High: Where are the Stimulus-Created Jobs? Democrats Continue to Deficit Spend, Create Bigger Government as Unemployment Continues to Skyrocket.”

 
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