Republicans Talking Down The Economy

Predictably, Republicans can’t celebrate better job numbers, they have to find an excuse for them.  Today’s talking point is that the jobs being created are because of the hiring of “temporary government workers,” a.k.a. the Census. In fact, as Think Progress notes, the GOP and its defenders are once again wrong on the facts.

The RNC’s claim bears little relation to reality. Of the 162,000 jobs added to the economy last month, 123,000 were in the private sector. Joel Naroff, the president of Naroff Economic Advisors, wrote in a note to clients that “the federal government didn’t hire nearly as many Census workers as thought. It was the private sector that stepped up to the plate.” In fact, the Census Bureau hired only 48,000 workers. Speaker Pelosi’s office put out a chart using Bureau of Labor Statistics data that illustrates the job gains:

When Democrats were not optimistic during the Bush years, they were accused of “talking down the economy” for political gain.  Now Republicans are doing what outraged them about Democrats. Of course, the dire economic warnings during the Bush years turned out to be worth listening to.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.