Valerie Jarrett, a senior aide to President Obama, argued the other day that unemployment benefits "stimulate the economy." The Romney campaign apparently didn't care for the remark.
"First they told us that borrowing $1 trillion from China was supposed to stimulate the economy," a campaign spokesperson said. "Then just yesterday, one of President Obama's top advisors said that unemployment stimulates the economy. That's like saying an iceberg stimulated the Titanic. Only in White House fantasy world do debt, unemployment and higher taxes stimulate the economy."
It's unsettling how easily confused Team Romney gets on these issues. The economy is supposed to be the former governor's signature issue.
For one thing, the stimulus (a) didn't cost $1 trillion; (b) wasn't financed by China; and (c) really did stimulate the economy. For another, Jarrett didn't say "unemployment stimulates the economy"; she said unemployment benefits stimulate the economy.
And third, whether the Romney campaign likes it or not, Jarrett was right. Paul Krugman had a column on this a while back that the former governor might find helpful.
When the economy is booming, and lack of sufficient willing workers is limiting growth, generous unemployment benefits may keep employment lower
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10 Revelations The White House Doesn't Want You To Read In This Book
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Harpers
The White House is clamoring to shoot down claims made in a new book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Suskind, which offers stinging insight into the Obama administration's dysfunctional handling of the economic crisis.
Confidence Men, released Tuesday, is an exposé on the bitter rivalries that divided and, at times, paralyzed Obama's economic team. It paints an unflattering portrait of an inexperienced president who lacks the leadership skills to get his staff in line.
The criticism couldn't have come at a worse time for Obama. Already under increased scrutiny about the administration's economic policies and the president's ability to lead, White House officials are pushing back hard against Suskind's book. In a media blitz this week, administration officials have listed over a half-dozen minor inconsistencies, factual errors, and spelling mistakes.
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner even provided an on-camera denial to one of the book's more shocking claims, and Press Secretary Jay Carney went so far as to acc
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Besides Obama himself, Emanuel sincere the overbearing to wicker the have an effect on bill passed.Illustration by Parliamentarian Risko
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