Clearly, Republican leaders have no idea how to react to this morning’s jobs news that put unemployment at 8.3%. Usually, these reports are met with prepared and very well coordinated rebuffs dripping with scorn and sarcasm – not this time. The response, so far has been markedly subdued and the attacks have been measured – as if they’re afraid to go very negative on a very good news for Americans. Here’s a few of these reactions so you can judge for yourself.
House Speaker John Boehner:
“While there are flickers of hope in our recovery and certainly they’re welcome,” the speaker said. “But the American people were promised by the president that unemployment would not exceed 8 percent. And here we are 36 straight months with unemployment over 8 percent.”
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor:
“After several years of bad jobs news, we are finally seeing some good news in today’s jobs report,” Cantor said in a statement. “These numbers are encouraging, especially for those millions of Americans out of work, but we should aim even higher. We shouldn’t settle, we can do more, this is America.”
Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers said Ronald Reagan led a faster recovery from a “more difficult, deeper recession” that he inherited (a claim disputed by economists who say the two recessions were extremely different and uncomparable in many ways).
And Mitt Romney:
“We welcome the fact that jobs were created and unemployment declined,” Romney said in a statement. “Unfortunately, these numbers cannot hide the fact that President Obama’s policies have prevented a true economic recovery. We can do better.”
GOP Koch sucking Koch blockers = How to turn good news into “the sky is falling” without blinking.