One of the most galling examples of Republican double-speak this year is their assertion on one hand that the government cannot create jobs — which is demonstrably false; states and cities hire private contractors to build and repair roads all the time, just as one example — and then on the other hand their habit of blaming Pres. Obama for the high unemployment and excoriating the government for not creating more jobs. Which is it?
“Bush … shows the worst track record for job creation since the government began keeping records.”
-Wall St. Journal
The GOP will keep making these mutually exclusive arguments until a) the corporate media catches on (so don’t hold your breath) or b) they take control of Congress in three weeks, at which point their corporate masters had better start hiring or Speaker Wanna-Be Boehner will find himself with an approval rating even lower than his current rating of 22 percent — a full 11 points lower than Speaker Pelosi’s.
Despite the high unemployment rate caused by the Bush Recession — and Republicans’ refusal to invest in state and local budgets to prevent teachers, police officers and other public sector employees from being laid off — Pres. Obama is doing a better job at job creation than Republicans and the corporate media will acknowledge, especially when compared with his predecessor, George Bush.
As of the end of September, Obama had created 863,000 private sector jobs this year:
Private-sector payroll employment increased in September for the ninth straight month (every month this year). The increase of 64,000 jobs last month brings the total number of private-sector jobs added this year to 863,000, which is the largest 9-month gain in private payroll employment since the summer of 2007 (see top chart above).
Obama’s record so far is more than double the 375,000 jobs created by Bush on average each year during his eight years in office. Here’s how the ultra-right wing Wall St. Journal described Bush’s record in job-creation:
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