Cantor says Obama’s economic programs are not working
Rep. Eric I. Cantor, R-7th, delivering the response to President Barack Obama's weekly radio and video address, said today that Obama's economic programs "have not produced jobs, have not produced prosperity and have not worked."
Obama had said in his address that the $787 billion stimulus program must be given a chance to work before consideration is given to a second such jolt for the still-ailing economy.
"We must let it work the way it's supposed to, with the understanding that in any recession, unemployment tends to recover more slowly than other measures of economic activity," the president said in his recorded message.
Cantor, the GOP whip in the House of Representatives, said Republicans have offered an alternative economic plan that would have revitalized small businesses and helped middle-class families.
The Henrico County resident urged the listening audience to call their congressional representative and the president and "let them know that you think Washington should stop the reckless spending, stop the careless borrowing and stop the war on the middle class."
As the second ranking Republican in the House, Cantor has become one of the leading critics of Obama and the stimulus.
"This is now President Obama's economy and the American people are beginning to question whether his policies are working," Cantor said.
He said tax rates should be reduced so taxpayers will see "an immediate increase in their income."
"We believe Washington must stop targeting America's small businesses and instead should empower them by allowing employers to take a tax deduction to free up funds to retain and hire new employees," he added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Reader Reactions
Never has such spending like Obama’s worked to “stimulate” an economy. It was World War II, not the “New Deal”, that got this nation out of the Great Depression. And where is this money to come from that we are spending? It will come through jacked up taxes on you, me, our children, and our children’s children to pay on the massive additional debt we will take on. This irresponsible spending by Democrats and Republicans will bankrupt this country. When we default on our massive debt, which will result in the collapse of the dollar, we will become a third world nation. Perhaps that is what it is going to take to get people to understand the folly behind this irresponsible spending.
Cantor needs only to look at himself in the mirror to find someone spending too much. His hairbrain scheme to steel $800 million for a Richmond subway is a prime example of the excess pork-barrel spending we have to stop.
“My question is, for those of you who say we need to give it time to work, why was it such an important piece of legislation that needed to be rushed through Congress if, over half a year later, only a fraction of the money has been put to use? “
MB83 - you love loaded questions, don’t you? ;)
The answer to your question is really simple - it was not a stimulus bill, but a port barrell bill. That also answers the question why it is not working, and given what it is, why we dont need a second one.
Glad to see I can count on the RTD comments section to provide an ample amount of inflammatory partisan garbage.
Let’s stop pointing fingers at individual politicians in hindsight, and look at how we’re going to fix this problem. Now, logically, if only about 10% of the original stimulus bill has been doled out, it doesn’t make any sense for some people to be clamoring for a 2nd one already. Conversely, you can’t say that it hasn’t “worked” when only 10% has been paid out.
My question is, for those of you who say we need to give it time to work, why was it such an important piece of legislation that needed to be rushed through Congress if, over half a year later, only a fraction of the money has been put to use? The economic freefall halted largely without the stimulus, so why don’t we demand the 90% be “returned” and let the economy revive on it’s own, without that enormous chunk of debt hanging around it’s neck?
dubiousthoughts
It brings me great joy to know that at least one other person out there gets it, not to pat myself on the back.
We try to differentiate between political structures like democracy, monarchy and oligarchy or economic structures like capitalism, socialism and communism, but we miss the big picture.
We are all governed by essentialy the same system, and that system is monetaryism. Money makes this entire planet revolve, we couldn’t even imagine a world without it. It controls resources, labor, living conditions, the food you eat, the air you breathe, the education you get and the leaders who lead.
I’ll see your 1971 and raise you a 1913, the year the Federal Reserve was created.
We’re told that congress controls the purse strings, but we are never told that the Fed controls the purse or that corporate giants and international banking cartels control the Fed.
These people understand the system better than most of us could ever dream of. They know how to manipulate markets, control the value of the currency, control inflation, control interest rates, fractional reserve systems, and all of the various shady financial products that generate true wealth at the expense of others.
YOU CAN NOT BEAT THESE PEOPLE UNLESS YOU CHANGE THE GAME OR LEARN TO PLAY IT LIKE THEY CAN.
Folks- The demise of the American Economy for middle class people began long before Reagan, Bush, and Obama. When Nixon repealed the Bretton Woods act of 1944 in 1971, life changed forever for the middle class. Wealth was redistributed from the bottom to the top 2%, the Financial sector took the place of manufacturing as the majority of our GDP, and the wages of Americans have not risen since 1971 as well as everything else rising in cost. Globalization ensued, and we are where we are.
We cannot blame one single politician for our demise. We need to understand laissed-faire capitalism eventually spells doom for our society. I know that goes against everything we have been taught, but it is true. Without some control in the marketplace, we will continue to see outsourcing, layoffs, cutbacks, reduced salaries, and a lesser standard of living. Most of us are living it as we speak.
Obama is trying to recreate soe stop-gap measures to get the middle class back to some level of self sufficiency. Big Business doesn’t care, as tax-cuts just enrich the wealthy further and hinder the tools the common man needs to live a respectable life. Tax cuts don’t create jobs. That’s a fallacy.
Only when we believe that we are a society and not just a group of individuals will we possibly seek change. Most people are dumbed down so much they don’t know much, or think it is normal to work three jobs to get ahead.
If you don’t believe me just ask someone who is in their 60’s now that lived in the greatest era of America and made their money. The people we will never live like under the current system
If anything, we’re in danger of DEflation, which would send the economy into a death spiral right now since far more people are debtors than creditors (inflation hurts lenders, deflation hurts debtors).
I think the rest stops are a waste. I never use them. Who are you to STEAL MY MONEY to pay for something else?
/snark
Mr. Obama with his gigantic spending spree has blindly CONTINUED what the Bush administration started and turned the disaster into a full blown catastrophe…. Never mind four years. In one huge inflasionary state with $1 million dollar bills…“
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Several problems with your narrative. First, less than 10% of the stimulus money has been released. Second, unemployment increases have leveled off. Third, the CPI is the lowest it has been since 2004 which is a good indicator that the economy is not experiencing a period of rapid inflation.
The Bush administration was a continuation of a variation on a theme that had been operational for decades.
It was the CULMINATION of those decades of policies both Democrat and Republican that caused the pendulum’s swing to pass the tipping point.
It was the Bush administration’s attempts to STOP that swing that brought on the disastrous state that Mr. Obama “inherited.“
Mr. Obama with his gigantic spending spree has blindly CONTINUED what the Bush administration started and turned the disaster into a full blown catastrophe.
And for reference. Europe was on the very same path and found herself in the very same position. It was a global
boom and decline. Decades in the making.
“We tried it your way and look where it got us.“
Wow-At the rate Your guys are going now. I dare not even imagine where the country will be in the next six months. Never mind four years. In one huge inflasionary state with $1 million dollar bills and a nice suitcase provided by the government to carry our spare change around in.
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