Fighting Washington – Failed Stimulus
Tomorrow marks the third anniversary of the Democrats’ failed $800 billion stimulus spending binge being signed into law. Three years later, we know the legacy of the ‘stimulus’ spending bill is clear: it failed. Unfortunately Democrats have learned nothing and instead are celebrating the occasion by toasting President Obama’s calls for more stimulus spending in his budget released this week. Tomorrow provides you a great opportunity to highlight your opponents support for this failed big-government boondoggle. Click HERE for the stimulus Roll Call vote (H.R. 1, Roll Call Vote #70) to check if you opponent supported. If your opponent wasn’t a Member of Congress in 2009, you can still highlight their support for this type of big-government stimulus spending if they have not verbally opposed it.
Below please find some key points to keep in mind as well as an example of a press release the NRCC sent out this morning to mark the anniversary.
All best,
Nat
Key Point: American families are suffering the economic consequences of the Democrats’ insistence on repeating their failed spending policies. Unemployment remains unacceptably high, home values have crashed, record numbers are in poverty and Americans are wondering when they will see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Legacy of our Obama Economy Key Facts:
√ CBO: Real Unemployment Rate Is 10%: “The rate of participation in the labor force fell from 66 percent in 2007 to an average of 64 percent in the second half of 2011, an unusually large decline over so short a time. … Had that portion of the decline in the labor force participation rate since 2007 that is attributable to neither the aging of the baby boomers nor the downturn in the business cycle (on the basis of the experience in previous downturns) not occurred, the unemployment rate in the fourth quarter of 2011 would have been about 1¼ percentage points higher than the actual rate of 8.7 percent.” (“The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2012 to 2022,” Congressional Budget Office, January 2012)
√ 12.8 Million Unemployed Americans: (Table A-1, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2/3/2012)
√ 15.1 Percent Underemployment: (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2/3/2012)
√ 13% Decrease In Average Home Values Since Feb. 2009: (“Real Estate Market Reports: Zillow Home Value Index,” Zillow, Accessed 2/15/2012)
√ Nearly 7 Million More Americans Living In Poverty: (p. 5, “Poverty: 2008 and 2009,” U.S. Census Bureau, September 2010; Table 1, “Poverty: 2009 and 2010,” U.S. Census Bureau, October 2011)
√ Families Already Paying $1,698 More Per Year For Health Insurance: (The Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research & Educational Trust Employee Health Benefits 2011 Annual Survey, “Average Annual Premiums for Single and Family Coverage, 1999–2011,” p. 30)
√ Gas Prices $1.64 Per Gallon Higher Under Obama: (“Petroleum & Other Liquids,” U.S. Energy Information Administration, Accessed 2/15/2012)