It's Official: Democrat Stimulus Bill Was a Failure

For the last two years, Washington has ignored the plight of the American people and job creators. Instead, a Democratic-led Congress saddled them with policies that fostered uncertainty and eliminated jobs. Democrats’ continued pursuit of misguided economic policies and reckless spending have driven our debt to $14 trillion – a level that has cost the U.S. economy as many as 1 million jobs and that continues to undermine our nation’s economic recovery.

In January of 2009, Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein, then President Obama’s chief economic advisors, put together an analysis predicting that the Democrats’ stimulus package would “save or create” at least 3 million jobs by the end of 2010. Similarly, Romer and Bernstein claimed that passage of the stimulus package would keep the unemployment rate under 8 percent, falling to 7 percent by the end of 2010. But since that time, the unemployment rate has remained above 9 percent for 20 consecutive months, and there are 6.8 million fewer jobs than Romer and Bernstein predicted in their now-infamous report.

The arrival of 2011 has ended the era of the failed economic policies embraced by the Democratic Administration and advanced by unchecked Democratic Congressional Leaders. Instead, in the 112th Congress, the new Republican House Majority will pursue a contrasting agenda that creates the climate of certainty necessary to usher in a new era of private sector job creation. Congress sent a strong signal of that commitment in December by extending the current tax rates and preventing a massive tax hike on Americans and small businesses. If there is any hope of getting Americans back to work, Washington must get out of the way and let employers do what they do best and what America needs most – create jobs.

Stimulus_Final_Report_Jan_2011_final