Mitt Romney’s statement:
Today’s unemployment report represents the 30th straight month that the jobless rate has been above 8 percent. The administration promised with their $800 billion stimulus that they would keep unemployment below that number. When you see what this president has done to the economy in just three years, you know why America doesn’t want to find out what he can do in eight.
Tim Pawlenty’s statement:
Today’s dismal jobs report is a far cry from the hope and change that President Obama promised on the campaign trail. Since the President took office, unemployment has risen 17%, the federal debt has increased 37% and gas prices have doubled. In the last week, the stock market suffered its worst day in years, economic growth was revised down and consumer confidence dropped. Despite these clear and abundant signs that our economy is floundering, President Obama has still failed to deliver a concrete plan to create jobs and promote growth. This lack of leadership is inexcusable and driving our economy toward decline. It’s time for a new president to point us back in the right direction, and I am the only candidate who has proposed a specific economic plan that will create jobs and grow our economy.
Jon Huntsman’s statement:
The President has had 2.5 years to turn around the American economy and it is clear he has failed. In less than one day, Americans have witnessed a considerable drop in the stock market and yet another jobs report showing an unemployment rate above 9%. When President Obama should have been focused on creating jobs, he focused on a government-mandated health care system that the American people didn’t ask for and can’t afford. What we can’t afford now is to waste any more time. 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. America needs a President who knows how to create an economic environment that allows entrepreneurs to thrive and create jobs. This country will never realize its true economic potential until we enact tax cuts, implement regulatory reform and move toward energy independence.
Michele Bachmann’s statement:
Despite today’s jobs report showing a slight improvement, with 9.1 percent unemployment, it is still evidence that the President’s failed economic policies are digging us deeper into a hole. The President created twice as many donors for his campaign as he created jobs in the second quarter. This week the President was handed a $2.4 trillion blank check and in return the American people got a mere $21 billion in promised spending cuts, the erosion of their personal savings in the worst stock market drop since 2008, and the promise of higher taxes before the ink had dried on the budget deal. It’s time for the President to admit what the markets, the world, and the American people already know – his trillion dollar stimulus was a failure, the government can’t create jobs, and massive spending kills them.
This week the President announced that he would again pivot to focus his attention on jobs. We can only hope he will pivot away from his failed economic policies that have killed growth and put millions of Americans out of work. What the markets want and what the country needs is a fundamental restructuring in the way Washington spends taxpayers dollars that reins in unprecedented spending, gets our debt under control, and encourages pro-growth economic policies. The President can attempt to blame and spin away this week’s bad economic news, but you can’t fool the markets. Mr. President – the only way to dig us out of this hole your administration has gotten us into is to stop digging.
UPDATE: Statement from Ron Paul campaign manager John Tate:
At an alarming 9.1 percent, the July national unemployment rate confirms the suspicions of many Americans both employed and unemployed. People realize that our nation can no longer afford to stay on this same path of reckless spending and the status quo of Washington.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that unemployment since April is essentially unchanged, meaning that despite us being on the far end of ‘stimulus’ effects and with the cumulative effect of trillions of dollars in money printing, there is little cause for optimism.
America has been dealing with this severe economic crisis for years because we have failed to focus on the true issues at hand: a declining dollar and out-of-control spending.
Growing inflation, rising gasoline and food prices, and trillion-dollar budget deficits will all soon seem like minor issues if our nation does not immediately change our monetary and spending policies.
Establishment Washington told us the recession was over in 2009, yet the American people are still suffering and these effects are very real. “We must take bold actions to reduce out-of-control government spending, and get the federal government out of the way of small business and entrepreneurs so that they can start hiring again.
We must take a hard look at the reasons why our dollar has been devalued, and the consequences we are now dealing with because of the manipulation by the Federal Reserve.
Our focus should be on rolling back the unconstitutional growth and activism of the federal government, and moving to a truly sound-money system.
Ron Paul has pledged that if elected President, he will veto any spending bill that contributes to an unbalanced budget, and balance the budget in the first year of my term. He will also fight to strip away useless regulations and further taxes on businesses in the private sector.
These are the authentic solutions that will help people, help our economy, and get this country on the path to prosperity.