According to the Obama administration, by now the president's stimulus bill should have caused unemployment to drop below 6 percent. Instead, May marked the 40th straight month of unemployment above 8 percent. The last time the economy faced 40 straight months of unemployment over 8 percent was during the Great Depression. The president's stimulus bill has spectacularly failed to turn the economy around. It's time for a new strategy: cut reckless government spending, stop job-killing regulations, reform the tax code to fuel economic growth, and increase energy security to create homegrown American jobs.
This month marks the second anniversary of the president's so-called Recovery Summer, which his administration touted as the start of an economic recovery brought about by the president's policies. Two years on, however, Americans are still waiting for the promised recovery. Unemployment, which the president's stimulus bill was supposed to prevent from exceeding 8 percent, has not only exceeded 8 percent but has remained above 8 percent for 40 straight months, and finding a job has become so difficult for many people that hundreds of thousands have dropped out of the labor market altogether. The American people are looking to their leaders to create an environment conducive to private-sector job creation and economic growth. The president's policies have just made things worse.