From the office of Congressman Phil Roe (TN):
There’s no denying the fact our country is facing some of the toughest economic times many of us have ever seen. Unfortunately, the leadership in our country has fallen short and has taken us down the wrong path. With increasing poverty levels and high unemployment rates, the Administration’s response has been, “it could have been worse.” It’s time for the Administration and the Democratic leadership to start being honest with the American people and acknowledge that their policies have not worked so we can begin dealing with the challenges this country is facing and will face down the road because of the choices they have made.
Under the Obama Administration the unemployment rate reached a 26-year high of 10.2 percent (the current unemployment rate is 9.6 percent). Participation in the federal food stamp program has set records for 20 straight months. On average, 43.3 million people are expected to receive food stamps each month in the fiscal year that began October 1, 2010. Yet on September 30, 2010, Speaker Pelosi adjourned the Congress without taking any action to prevent a recovery-crushing $3.9 trillion tax increase on all Americans—the highest tax increase in history.
Since the Obama Administration has been in charge, the economy has lost nearly four million jobs. The Associated Press reports that the unemployment rate has been stuck above 9.5 percent for 14 consecutive months, the longest stretch since the 1930s. There are currently 15 million Americans unemployed.