Nancy Pelosi accurately — but misleadingly — said more private jobs were created last year than under Bush. Her statement was true. But it's also true that there were still 2,065,000 fewer private jobs in May than there were when Obama took office
At last year's pace of job creation, it would take until February 2017 just to regain the jobs lost since the high point reached under the previous administration. And it would still take until 2015 to regain all those jobs even under the faster pace of job growth during the last 15 months.
Issues: jobs
Barbour Inflates Obama’s Job Losses
Haley Barbour grossly exaggerated the nation’s job losses under President Barack Obama in a March 14 speech in Chicago.
Speaking to the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, the Republican governor of Mississippi urged his audience to look at the Obama administration’s record "in the last two years" on spending and job creation.
Barbour, March 14: Well, let’s look at their record: in the last two years the federal government spent $7 trillion and our economy lost 7 million jobs.
Job Loss, Health Care and Bankruptcy
Former Bush adviser Karen Hughes and Democratic Rep. James Clyburn both twisted facts to make partisan points on "Meet the Press."
Hughes claimed that the "vast majority" of recent job losses happened under President Obama, when in fact slightly more jobs were lost when her former boss George W. Bush was president. And Clyburn claimed that inadequate health insurance is "the biggest cause" of personal bankruptcies, which isn’t quite true either. Health costs are a contributing factor to most bankruptcies,
Reid Wrong on Jobs, Tea Party
On NBC’s "Meet the Press," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid exaggerated the latest job gains in the manufacturing sector and grossly minimized tea party victories in the 2010 midterm elections.
In the interview — which NBC taped a day before the Jan. 8 shooting of Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others in Tucson, Ariz. — Reid spoke about the latest employment numbers. The economy added 113,000 private sector jobs in the month of December, dropping the unemployment rate to 9.4 percent from 9.8 percent.
A ‘Job-Killing’ Law?
When it comes to truth in labeling, House Republicans are getting off to a poor start with their constantly repeated references to the new health care law as “job-killing.” We find: Independent, nonpartisan experts project …
Another Black Hole
A secretive, Republican-leaning group has spent an estimated $3 million on a TV ad making the false claim that government spending is "not creating jobs."
The ad first appeared Sept. 7 and was still running nearly a month later. The ad shows a man in a business suit digging an ever-deeper hole — a visual metaphor for the nation’s ever-expanding debt. It could also be a metaphor for Public Notice, the sponsor of the ad and yet another group whose finances are also something of a black hole.
Super PAC Ads, Grayson’s Attack and the Stimulus
In episode 31 of our podcast, we look at ads from a conservative "super PAC," a low blow from Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson of Florida and false claims that the stimulus failed to create jobs.
For more on the stories discussed in this episode, see:
Crossroads Jam-Up Oct. 1
Rep. Grayson Lowers the Bar Sept. 27
Did the Stimulus Create Jobs? Sept. 27
Who Killed Food Town?
In Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur misrepresents the facts when she accuses her Republican rival, Rich Iott, of running Food Town supermarkets "straight into the ground" after taking over as CEO of the company from his father. Her ad attacks Iott for "closing neighborhood stores and costing 5,000 people their jobs." But Food Town thrived with Rich Iott as CEO, and the job losses occurred three years after the company was sold to a larger chain and Iott was no longer in charge.
Obama, Ohio Jobs and Bailout Bonuses
In episode 29 of our podcast, we debunk a claim made by President Obama about Afghanistan, dueling ads about jobs in the Ohio Senate race, and an Arizona ad that makes an overblown assertion about executive bonuses and the stimulus.
For more on the stories discussed in this episode, see:
'Second Poorest' Nation? Sept. 13
Bush Years Revisited in Ohio Senate Race Sept. 10
A Record Jobs Loss? Sept. 16
Bailout Bonuses Are Back Sept. 16
A Record Jobs Loss?
Republican Senate candidate Rob Portman is attacking his Democratic opponent, Lee Fisher, for the loss of jobs in Ohio. Portman’s ad claims that under Fisher’s watch — he’s lieutenant governor — the state lost "a record number" of jobs "to other states." But this supposed "record" is based on statistics that go back only to 2004.
Ohio’s employment picture is certainly an issue in this race, and in addition to his lieutenant governor duties, Fisher was also the director of the state’s Department of Development for two years.