2012 candidates hammer Obama after jobs report
The Labor Department's jobs report was better than expected, showing that employers added 117,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate dipped to 9.1 percent. That didn't stop the Republicans after President Obama's job, however, from declaring that last month's modest jobs growth wasn't good enough.
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., said in a statement that Mr. Obama's economic policies are "digging us deeper into a hole."
Taking a jab at Mr. Obama's re-election campaign following his first night of fundraising events in a month, Bachmann added, "The president created twice as many donors for his campaign as he created jobs in the second quarter."
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman said in a statement the president should've focused on the economy earlier, rather than health care reform. "What we can't afford now is to waste any more time," he said. "We need to implement the type of pro-growth policies and free-market reforms that made Utah the top state for job creation when I was governor."
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney also said the president's had long enough to try and turn the economy around: "When you see what this president has done to the economy in 3 years, you know why America doesn't want to find out what he can do in 8."
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said it's time for a new direction, adding, "I am the only candidate who has proposed a specific economic plan that will create jobs and grow our economy."
CBSNews.com special report: Campaign 2012
The Democratic Party has promised to redouble its efforts to improve the economy, now that the fight over the debt ceiling is finished. In the meantime, the party's campaign arm isn't taking the GOP presidential candidates' critiques sitting down.
In a memo released this morning, the Democratic National Committee communications director Brad Woodhouse said the GOP candidates aren't offering any new ideas, particularly with respect to the economy.
"The field of Republican candidates simply offer the same failed Republican economic policies of the last decade that nearly drove our country into a second Great Depression," he said.
He slammed the Republican field for standing in opposition to the recently-signed deal to raise the debt ceiling, saying "these Republican candidates would have allowed America to default on its obligation and send our economy into a tailspin."
Mr. Obama will talk about the economy this morning and will specifically address helping unemployed veterans.
Austan Goolsbee, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said in a statement that the better-than-expected report "is welcome news, the unemployment rate remains unacceptably high and faster growth is needed to replace the jobs lost in the downturn."
He said bipartisan action is needed to pass stimulative measures, like extending both the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance.
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