Statement from Chairman DeWine on President Obama's Visit to Ohio

(Columbus) - Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine issued the following statement today regarding President Obama's visit to Ohio:

"It's fitting that on the day President Obama visits Ohio, the state unemployment rate reaches its third highest level in at least two decades.  We've now lost more than 355,000 jobs since Ted Strickland took office.  I'm sure the only reason the governor showed up to meet the president was to grovel for more federal bailout money in hopes of saving his political hide.  Otherwise, I can't imagine he'd want to be seen with him.

Ohio has lost 121,000 jobs since the president passed his so-called stimulus plan, and it's clearly done absolutely nothing to turn around our failing economy.  In fact, Ted Strickland and Barack Obama didn't give a single penny in stimulus funds to the Youngstown area, one of Ohio's hardest-hit economies.

The only thing the president has done for Ohio is commit generational theft to temporarily prop up Gov. Strickland's massive budget deficit.  Ohioans have had enough.  The one-party rule from Columbus to Washington has left us with nothing but record unemployment, massive deficits and hurting families.  Not even Barack Obama can save Ted Strickland from the wrath he's about to face for his failed leadership."

For the Record

Unemployment Is Two Points Higher Than Obama Predicted. 

Unemployment reached 10.2 percent this month, more than 2 points higher than Mr. Obama's economic advisers predicted it would if his $786 billion stimulus bill were passed. The Associated Press, in reporting on disappointing third-quarter economic numbers, noted some economists expect it to reach 11 percent by next summer. That would be the highest since the Great Depression." [Jack Kelly, Op-ed, Toledo Blade, 11/28/09]

Real Unemployment Is 17.3%. 

Although the national unemployment rate was unchanged, at 10 percent, there was a slight increase (of 0.1 percentage point) in a broader measure that includes those who have given up looking for work or can't find full-time employment. That measure hit 17.3 percent, worrisome in an economy now more dependent on wages to spur spending since the collapse of housing values, stock prices and savings. [Editorial, Akron Beacon Journal, 1/12/10]

Stimulus Had "No Effect on Local Unemployment." 

Ten months into President Obama's first economic stimulus plan, a surge in spending on roads and bridges has had no effect on local unemployment and only barely helped the beleaguered construction industry, an Associated Press analysis has found. [Associated Press, 1/11/10]

Youngstown Was Left Out of Stimulus Funding. 

U.S. Housing and Urban Development handed out $2 billion in economic stimulus funding nationwide -- $175 million to Ohio -- but not one cent for Youngstown, Warren or most of the Mahoning Valley.  [WYTV Channel 33, http://www.wytv.com/, 1/15/10]

Stimulus Job Claims Were "Bogus." 

The Obama administration announced this week it is dropping its controversial method for counting jobs supposedly saved or created by the $787 billion spent to stimulate the economy. Those job claims quickly were proved bogus in case after case nationwide. [Editorial, Columbus Dispatch, 1/17/10]