Obama: I 'pulled our country back from the brink'
In his Labor Day message to the nation, President Obama credits himself and his administration with having "pulled our country back from the brink" of economic disaster.
"In the last several years, we have pulled our country back from the brink, through a series of tough economic decisions," Obama writes. "While we have come far, great challenges still face us."
According to the Labor Department, the national unemployment rate stood at 7.6 percent when Obama inherited a faltering economy from George W. Bush in January 2009. Unemployment rose to 10.2 percent by October 2009, and, with the exception of February and March 2011, it has been at 9 percent or higher ever since. It was 9.1 percent in August -- a month in which the economy created no new jobs. In addition, economic growth has slowed nearly to zero, raising fears that the country is entering another recession.
Zero: The number of new jobs added in the month of August…
9.1%: The [official] unemployment rate for the month of August… From March 2009 (the month after the failed $1.2 trillion “stimulus” was signed) through August 2011, unemployment has averaged 9.4 percent. Prior to President Obama taking office, unemployment had not been above 9 percent in 28 years.
31: The number of consecutive months the unemployment rate has been at or above 8 percent — the level the president said unemployment would never reach if the “stimulus” was approved. …
13,967,000: The number of unemployed Americans looking for work in the month of August, an increase of 36,000…
2,431,000: The number of net jobs the economy has shed from February 2009 — when the Democrats’ “stimulus” was signed into law — through August 2011. …
45,183,931: The number of Americans receiving food stamps as of June 2011, only the second month in history with more than 45 million food stamp recipients. Today, 14.5 percent of Americans receive food stamps, an increase of 40 percent since President Obama took office.
The total cost for Obama’s “stimulus” will reach $821 billion per the Congressional Budget Office, plus at least $347 billion in interest for a grand total of $1,168,000,000,000.00 — a number too large even to comprehend. It is likely to bankrupt America, which in return for the money received essentially nothing.