Rep. Cantor Repeats False Claim That GOP Plan Would Create "Twice As Many Jobs" - For The Second Time In Two Days

Rep. Cantor Repeats False Claim GOP Plan Would Create "Twice As Many Jobs At Half The Cost"

Rep. Cantor: "We Republicans, as the Leader said, are continuing to offer solutions. We will offer the President once again to sit down with us. We tried before and were not listened to and ignored and when we said that the stimulus effort could be a lot better, we could produce twice as many jobs at half the cost." [GOP.gov, 6/9/09, emphasis added]

Reality: As Media Matters Action Network Has Previously Noted, This Statement Is Just Plain Wrong.  In Estimating The Effect Of Their "Jobs Plan," Republicans Admitted They Misused A Formula Published In An Academic Paper They Weren't Able To Understand In The First Place.

Far From "Substantive," GOP Admitted Jobs Figure Was "Speculative" And "Dictated By Assumptions." In a document released to explain the mathematical reasoning behind the "6.2 million jobs" claim, Republicans on the House Ways & Means Committee wrote: "Efforts to quantify the extent to which even large spending increases or tax cuts will impact future economic growth and employment are largely speculative, and the conclusions are generally dictated by the assumptions made by the authors." [House Ways and Means Republican Staff via TPM, 1/28/09; emphasis added]

GOP Said Source Document Used "Lacks Critical Details Necessary To Fully Understand." In a document released to explain the mathematical reasoning behind the "6.2 million jobs" claim, Republicans on the House Ways & Means Committee wrote, "they use a multiplier that suggests tax cuts equal to 1% of Gross Domestic Product (or 'GDP' which is a measure of national output) have a less than 1% effect on output, while spending increases of the same size have a greater that 1% effect.  The Romer-Bernstein paper lacks critical details necessary to fully understand their reasoning..." [House Ways and Means Republican Staff via TPM, 1/28/09; emphasis added]

Half The Cost? The Deficit Would Remain Nearly The Same

The GOP Budget Was Different In That, Despite Extreme Cuts, It Resulted In Nearly The Same Yearly Deficit.  The New York Times reported: "Even with the spending reductions and other changes proposed by the Republicans, their plan would still leave annual deficits of about $500 billion, not much lower than the Democratic plans." [New York Times, 4/02/09]

Outside The Beltway, It's Clear The Stimulus Is Saving Jobs

AP: "At The White House, Where Saving Jobs Always Was As Much A Priority As Creating Jobs, The Bus Industry Is A Success Story." As reported in the Associated Press, "At the White House, where saving jobs always was as much a priority as creating jobs, the bus industry is a success story. But it also shows how hard it is to account for that success, especially in an industry that keeps shedding jobs despite the stimulus." [Associated Press, 6/7/09]

Business managers can vouch for the success of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:

Patrick Scully, chief commercial officer at Daimler Buses North America Inc.: "The stimulus has been a plus, but it's just, how do you do the math... You could say, without it things would be worse... I would guarantee you, without this stimulus bill, we would have to curtail our operation." [Associated Press, 6/7/09]

Joseph Gibson, senior vice president for sales at North American Bus Industries: "It helps preserve the jobs that we have... We don't have plans for any massive hiring. Right now we're just trying to maintain stability." [Associated Press, 6/7/09]

Mark Land, spokesman for Cummins Inc.: "It will certainly help... To the extent the stimulus is successful helping get the economy in the right direction, to the extent it helps the economy, helps our market, that's where we're going to benefit... If that allows us to bring a few people back, then it will be fair to say then the stimulus was part of the solution." [Associated Press, 6/7/09]

May Saw 175,000 Fewer Jobs Lost Than Expected, The Lowest Job Loss Numbers Since September 2008.  The Washington Post reported: "With companies in no mood to hire, the unemployment rate jumped to 9.4 percent in May, the highest in more than 25 years. But the pace of layoffs eased, with employers cutting 345,000 jobs, the fewest since September." [Washington Post, 6/5/09; emphasis added]

• "Economists Were Expecting 520,000 Job Losses In May." According to the New York Times: "The economy lost an average of more than 700,000 jobs per month during the first three months of the year as shocks from the credit crisis surged through the broader economy. But the pace of job losses eased to a revised 504,000 in April, a welcome sign that the decline in the job market would not continue forever...Economists were expecting 520,000 job losses in May, and predicted the unemployment rate would reach 9.2 percent." [New York Times, 6/5/09]