Democrats Rip GOP For Dismal Jobs Numbers

Here's some Democratic reaction to the Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report released Friday, showing that the unemployment rate jumped to 6.1 percent in August, the highest level in five years. The report showed that 84,000 jobs have been lost in the last month, continuing the job slide for the eighth consecutive month. A total of 605,000 jobs have been lost since January and the jump in unemployment from 5 percent in April to the most recent 6.1 percent is one that many experts associate with a looming recession.

Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama

“You would think that George Bush and his potential Republican successor, John McCain, would be spending a lot of time worrying about the economy and all these jobs that are being lost on their watch. But, if you watched the Republican National Convention over the last three days, you wouldn’t know that we have the highest unemployment rate in five years.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

“While George Bush and John McCain continue to pretend this economy is on sound footing, the American people know better. Our economy has lost jobs every single month of 2008 while energy prices have gone up and home values have gone down.

“Bush-McCain Republicans seem determined to deny this reality, offering only the same failed economic policies that got us into this mess in the first place. But Democrats know America’s families cannot afford to let this streak continue any longer. That is why we will continue this month to try to turn around our weakening economy with comprehensive energy legislation and an economic recovery package that will create new jobs and strengthen the middle class.

“The Bush-McCain economy may be working for Bush and McCain, but it is failing the vast majority of Americans.”

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)

“The jobs report released today is only the latest in a long line of deeply troubling examples of economic mismanagement by the Bush Administration. With 84,000 jobs lost last month, the total number of jobs lost this year has topped 600,000. This Administration’s legacy will be the worst job creation record in 70 years, the largest budget deficits in history, a loss of income for middle class families, a skyrocketing unemployment rate, and the largest loss of manufacturing jobs in five years.

"It’s time we got back to economic stewardship that works, that creates jobs, that lifts up the middle class and makes it stronger… It’s time to end the failed, ideological policies of the past eight years and chart a new course.”

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

“Today’s figures underscore the dramatic failure of our current economic policies. Trade agreements that encourage outsourcing of U.S. jobs and tax cuts that favor the wealthiest Americans have amounted to a betrayal of our nation’s middle class. The definition of insanity is repeating the same action and expecting a different result. As unemployment rates climb higher the administration’s answer is more of the same. Changing course for our nation’s economic priorities isn’t just sound policy, it’s a moral imperative.

“Congress must help middle class workers find new jobs and provide for their families. We must extend additional unemployment insurance to those states like Ohio with the highest levels of unemployment. Middle class families have suffered long enough. It is time for Congress to act.”