Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today named Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) October Porker of the Month for exaggerating the effect of the failed economic stimulus program, making dubious claims about jobs numbers, and misleading the American people about the true economic picture.
Rep. Wasserman Schultz made the following claim about job creation, "On the pace that we're on with job creation in the last four months — if we continue on that pace — all the leading economists say it is likely that we will — we will have created more jobs in this year than in the entire Bush presidency."
According to an October 12, 2010 article in National Review by Veronique de Rugy, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, "During the Bush presidency, net total employment went up by 1.08 million jobs. So far, during the Obama presidency, total employment has been reduced by 3.3 million jobs."
"Rep. Wasserman Schultz is one of the 'say-anything' crowd; she and her ilk never let the facts get in the way of a good story," said CAGW President Tom Schatz. "Instead of spinning the facts to create a fairy tale of economic recovery, she ought to be working to cut wasteful government spending and decrease the tax and regulatory burdens on American businesses. Maybe the country then can experience a real recovery, not Rep. Wasserman Schultz's fantasy recovery," said Schatz.
CAGW's Porker of the Month can also be viewed on video, which is co-produced with reason.tv, the video website of Reason Magazine. CAGW's Porker of the Month is available on both CAGW's homepage and at reason.tv.
For making false claims about job creation, and her mendacious attitude toward the facts of our economic crisis, CAGW names Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz its October 2010 Porker of the Month.
Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government. Porker of the Month is a dubious honor given to lawmakers, government officials, and political candidates who have shown a blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers.
Contacts:
CAGW
Leslie K. Paige, 202-467-5334
or
MacMillin
Slobodien, 202-467-5305
