Washington, DC – Following a spate of weekend interviews in which Administration officials confusingly cited wildly different numbers in an attempt to claim the Democrats’ “stimulus” bill was a success, Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) today released data showing the Obama Misery Index (the combined change in the nation’s public debt and unemployment since the President took… Read more

While the White House claims their stimulus bill “has already created or saved up to 2 million jobs,” the table below compares the White House's recent claims of state-by-state job creation with the actual change in state payroll employment through December 2009, using data announced today by the U.S. Department of Labor.  According to today’s data, 49 States have lost… Read more

In yet another indication that President Obama and Congressional Democrats’ “stimulus”plan has failed, the most recent Unemployment Insurance (UI) claims data released this morning by the U.S. Department of Labor show almost 12 million Americans claimed UI benefits for the most recent week of full data. This is an increase of almost 4 million since Democrats in Congress sent President… Read more

In releasing a new study concocted by the same people who said the unemployment rate would never exceed 8 percent if stimulus was passed (at 10 percent it currently stands 25 percent higher), Christina Romer, the chair of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors, said the Democrats' bill had a “truly stunning and important effect” on jobs and that “it has done exactly what we have… Read more

Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released data showing the nation lost 85,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate remained at 10 percent.  Of note, especially for the millions of Americans without work, tomorrow marks the first birthday of the Romer/Bernstein report.  The now infamous document contains the Administration’s prediction that the 2009 stimulus law would “create… Read more

The table below compares the White House's February 2009 projection of the number of jobs that would be created by the 2009 stimulus law (through the end of 2010) with the actual change in state payroll employment through November 2009 (the latest figures available).  According to the data, 49 States have lost jobs since the stimulus was enacted as unemployment has skyrocketed to 10… Read more

The “Misery Index” of the 1970s is back, but in a new and startling form.  Today, the nation’s skyrocketing debt, coupled with rapidly growing and now double-digit unemployment, has created a new “Obama Misery Index,” detailed by Ways and Means Republicans each month since June 2009.  Now Moody’s has created its own “Misery Index.”  Like the Ways and Means Republican version, the Moody’s… Read more

For the second time in three weeks, the number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits has reached an all time record -- 10.1 million in the week ending November 28, 2009, the most recent for which full data are available.  As the graph below shows, the total number of Americans on unemployment benefits has increased by over 2 million since Congressional Democrats passed the… Read more

As House Democrats prepare to bring “Stimulus II” to the floor today, a quick review of its major provisions shows striking similarity to the failed Stimulus I Democrats passed in February 2009.  Unfortunately for the American people, it is likely to have the same result:lots more spending but no job creation. ### Read more

Democrats insisted their so-called February 2009 stimulus bill would create 3.5 million jobs and keep unemployment from rising above 8 percent.  Instead we have lost almost 3 million jobs since then as unemployment rose to 10 percent: In an attempt to distract from their grim economic record, Democrats have taken to blaming the last President for the failure of their own stimulus… Read more