Schakowsky's Big Lie About Jobs

July 1, 2010 - Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky lied? The wife of convicted felon Robert Creamer telling untruths? Really? Joel Pollack, the Republican running against Mizz Schakowsky in the 9th Congressional District of Illinois, released a hard-hitting statement this afternoon: On FOX News today, my opponent, Jan Schakowsky, stated: “This administration, this Congress, is set to create more jobs in 8 months than net jobs created in the last 8 years of the Bush administration. I know a lot of people say that’s not true. Check it out.” (See "Schakowsky Defends Dems' Handling of the Economy" on FoxNews) So I did. In the last 8 months, the U.S. economy created 1.2 million net jobs. In the 8 years of the Bush administration, the U.S. economy created 4.4 million net jobs. (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) So Ms. Schakowsky is wrong. Furthermore, since the Obama administration took office, the U.S. economy has lost 2.8 million net jobs. And since Nancy Pelosi took over Congress in 2007, the U.S. economy has lost 6.6 million net jobs. So Ms. Schakowsky is wrong, again. If we measure private sector jobs alone, we find that the U.S. economy lost nearly 700,000 net jobs under the Bush administration (after gaining nearly 4 million before the recession began). Under the Obama administration, the U.S. economy has lost 3.4 million private sector jobs. So Ms. Schakowsky is wrong, again. In the 8 months since October, the low point of the recession, our economy has added about 500,000 private sector jobs. But comparing that number to net jobs under Bush is worse than comparing apples to oranges. We might as well simply count the 4 million private sector jobs created under Bush and ignore the fact that those jobs disappeared. Ms. Schakowsky’s argument is therefore dishonest. Perhaps Ms. Schakowsky is basing her numbers on rosy projections from the Obama administration, or Pelosi’s talking points. The American people have quickly learned that we cannot trust those numbers. In February 2009, for example, Ms. Schakowsky promised that the stimulus bill would boost jobs in Illinois by 148,000. Since then, Illinois has actually lost over 144,000 jobs. The people of the 9th district know that Ms. Schakowsky’s claims about jobs are simply false. Perhaps she believes in the “big lie” theory--that if you tell a lie big enough and often enough, people will believe it. Well, we aren’t buying it. We are tired of the big lies on jobs. And it is becoming clear that the only way to create jobs in our district is to vote out Jan Schakowsky, and vote for a fresh start.