The Private Sector Is Doing Fine

The truth of the matter is that, as I said, we created 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months, over 800,000 just this year alone.

From Taranto:

The night before the jobs report came out, Timothy Egan of the New York Times wrote that "the verdict is still out" on the president's economic record. "Because he got hit with the Bush hangover, his overall job numbers show a net loss of about 850,000, from January 2009 to the present," Egan writes. "But if you start a year into his presidency, Obama has added almost four million jobs."

The verdict is also still out on the 2012 Chicago Cubs. Sure, if you count the whole season, they have one of the worst records in the Major Leagues. But if you ignore their losses, they're an impressive 18-0.

Back to Obama:

The private sector is doing fine. Where we're seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government. Oftentimes cuts initiated by, you know, Governors or mayors who are not getting the kind of help that they have in the past from the federal government and who don't have the same kind of flexibility as the federal government in dealing with fewer revenues coming in.

By funneling more money from the feds who have flexibility in dealing with lower revenues does he mean more stimulus? And by flexibility does he mean borrowing and printing? Those are two things state governments can't do.

And so, you know, if Republicans want to be helpful, if they really want to move forward and put people back to work, what they should be thinking about is how do we help state and local governments and how do we help the construction industry? Because the recipes that they're promoting are basically the kinds of policies that would add weakness to the -- to the economy, would result in further layoffs, would not provide relief in the housing market, and would result, I think most economists estimate, in lower growth and fewer jobs, not more.

Says he.