Democrats praise their efforts on jobs issue
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Battered by questions on how it computed the number of jobs saved during the current recession, the White House today praised a recent report showing that the Recovery Act was responsible for more than 1 million jobs.
“This new report from the Congressional Budget Office is further evidence of what private forecasters and government economists have been saying: the Recovery Act is already responsible for more than 1 million jobs nationwide,” Vice President Joe Biden said in a prepared statement. Biden has been the administration’s point person on the recovery efforts.
“From independent economists to Congress’ own nonpartisan research body, the experts have spoken and the debate is no longer whether the Recovery Act is creating and saving jobs, but how we provide even more opportunities to drive growth and support American workers,” Biden maintained.
Conservative critics have argued that the administration has engaged in sloppy accounting on the number of jobs saved or created by the Recovery Act, which has poured billions of dollars into the economy. In recent appearances, officials, including Biden, have conceded that some errors may have crept into the count as a result of states’ reporting systems, but that overall, the numbers were accurate.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also praised the report, which backs the success of the Recovery Act, pushed by Democrats.
“The Recovery Act is likely producing even more jobs and higher economic growth than originally thought,’ she said. “But Americans struggling to find and keep jobs need all the help they can get, and Congress will keep working to create and save jobs and restore American economic security.”
President Obama will sponsor a jobs summit on Thursday and will visit Allentown, Penn., on Friday to push job creation.
-- Michael Muskal
