(Politico).The rising unemployment rate may be politically perilous for Democrats right now, but Republicans don’t want to look like they're cheering for failure. So their playbook is: Downplay the effect of the stimulus and talk up its cost, and respond to positive economic signs by arguing that Republican solutions would have worked faster and cost less.
"The most important thing for Republicans is to differentiate between job creation and the economy growing,” said John Feehery, a longtime aide to former Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert.
“My constituents won’t be coaxed into accepting the notion that ‘less bad’ news is good news," said Illinois Republican Rep. Peter Roskam. "We were promised much better than this: better economic conditions and outlook and a new era of bipartisanship."
"You can't pump $1 trillion into the economy and not get some positive returns somewhere,” said Georgia Rep. Tom Price, an outspoken critic of the stimulus who chairs the conservative Republican Study Committee, referring to the lump sum of the stimulus and the extra borrowing costs to pay down the interest. "The problem is that it's $1 trillion we don't have.”
Republicans don’t want to downplay good news, but aren’t ready to give Obama, or his congressional allies, credit for turning things around.
“Look, no one is saying that they’re going to spend a trillion dollars and it won’t create a single job,” said Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner. “But the fact is that government spending is inherently slow-moving and wasteful.”
"We all share a common goal of turning the economy around and getting people back to work,” said Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). “But we just disagree on the best way to do that."
"The most important thing for Republicans is to differentiate between job creation and the economy growing,” said John Feehery, a longtime aide to former Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert.
“My constituents won’t be coaxed into accepting the notion that ‘less bad’ news is good news," said Illinois Republican Rep. Peter Roskam. "We were promised much better than this: better economic conditions and outlook and a new era of bipartisanship."
"You can't pump $1 trillion into the economy and not get some positive returns somewhere,” said Georgia Rep. Tom Price, an outspoken critic of the stimulus who chairs the conservative Republican Study Committee, referring to the lump sum of the stimulus and the extra borrowing costs to pay down the interest. "The problem is that it's $1 trillion we don't have.”
Republicans don’t want to downplay good news, but aren’t ready to give Obama, or his congressional allies, credit for turning things around.
“Look, no one is saying that they’re going to spend a trillion dollars and it won’t create a single job,” said Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner. “But the fact is that government spending is inherently slow-moving and wasteful.”
"We all share a common goal of turning the economy around and getting people back to work,” said Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). “But we just disagree on the best way to do that."
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