CBO Credits Recovery Act for Up to 2.8 Million Jobs Already

For those considering a walk on the wild side by voting Republican this November, I’d encourage them to check their bank account and see whether or not they can afford to be unemployed.

The politically neutral Congressional Budget Office (CB0) has estimated that if the job growth pace continues like it is, Obama will have created more jobs in 2010 than Bush did in all eight years of his so-called Presidency.

The latest report on the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office shows that in the 1st quarter of 2010, the Recovery Act:

1. Raised the level of inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) by between 1.7 percent and 4.2 percent

2. Lowered the unemployment rate by between 0.7 and 1.5 percentage points

3. Increased the number of people employed by between 1.2 million and 2.8 million

While more must be done to create and save jobs, this is even better than earlier CBO estimates for this time period. Looking ahead, CBO projects up to 3.7 million American jobs could be attributed to the Recovery Act by the end of the September.

In January 2009, before Congress enacted the Recovery Act, Americans lost 779,000 jobs in just one month. A year later, job losses have turned to jobs gains of 290,000 in April—the largest gain in four years and a 1 million job swing from the end of the Bush Administration. This marks the fourth month of job growth with 573,000 American jobs added since December—84% in private sector. This is a sharp reversal from the job losses and deep economic crisis President Bush left behind. If job growth continues at this pace, the Obama Administration will create more jobs in 2010, than the Bush Administration created in eight years:

What’s truly sad is that the Republicans voted en bloc against the stimulus. Ever since, they have been hoping that the economy would not improve. It looks like their cynical gamble will backfire, and they will look like fools for voting against the stimulus. Talk about unintended consequences. It’s just too bad that the Republicans have put themselves in a position in which what is good for America, is bad for Republicans, and what is good for Republicans is bad for America.

With this complete lack of political acumen, I see a Sarah Palin/Rand Paul ticket for the GOP in 2012.

The Gavel - Blog Archive - CBO Credits Recovery Act for Up to 2.8 Million Jobs Already.

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