Minnesota GOP: Bummer of Recovery: Biden to Defend Obama’s Awful Economic Record

ST. PAUL, Minn., Oct. 5 -- The Minnesota Republican Party issued the following news release:

Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Tony Sutton and Deputy Chairman Michael Brodkorb today set the record straight on the failed economic record of President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. Since the Obama administration passed its "stimulus" package, over 2,512,000 American workers have lost their jobs.

"Today Joe Biden will attempt a defense of Barack Obama's awful economic record. But no matter how much happy talk Minnesotans hear from Biden about the wonders of the 'stimulus,' the fact is the Obama/Biden agenda of bigger government, bigger taxes and bigger deficits just isn't working. Now Biden is trying to convince Minnesotans that our state should vote for a failed senator like Mark Dayton who promises Washington-style spending and higher taxes at the state level. If you like the record deficits and endless spending spree we've seen in Washington, you're going to love Dayton's plan to raise taxes and kill jobs," said Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Tony Sutton.

"Mark Dayton and Tom Horner both voted for Obama and they both support Obamanomics. In a race against the two tax-increasing career political insiders Mark Dayton and Tom Horner, Tom Emmer is the only candidate who knows that raising taxes on Minnesotans is the last thing we should we doing during these tough times," said Republican Party of Minnesota Deputy Chairman Michael Brodkorb.

BUMMER OF RECOVERY: OBAMA/BIDEN ECONOMIC POLICIES HAVE FAILED

Unemployment Has Soared Under Obama/Biden

Obama Administration Has Spent $537 Billion Of The Stimulus Funds Thus Far; Unemployment Rate Has Risen To 9.6%. ("Overview Of Funding," Recovery.gov, Accessed 10/4/10; Bureau Of Labor Statistics, "The Employment Situation - August 2010," BLS.gov, 9/3/10)

2,512,000 Workers Have Lost Their Jobs Since Stimulus Passage. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, "The Employment Situation - August 2010," BLS.gov, 9/3/10)

Obama Promised Stimulus Would Create 3.5 Million Jobs By The End Of 2010; Economy Must Add 6,012,000 Jobs By The End Of Year For Obama To Keep Promise. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, "The Employment Situation - August 2010," BLS.gov, 9/3/10)

* That Would Mean Creating 1,503,000 Jobs Per Month, An Unprecedented Number. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, "The Employment Situation - August 2010," BLS.gov, 9/3/10)

42.0% Of Unemployed, 6.25 Million Workers, Have Been Looking For Work For Over 27 Weeks. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, "The Employment Situation - August 2010," BLS.gov, 9/3/10)

* Average Time It Now Takes For A Worker To Find A New Job: 33.6 Weeks. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, "The Employment Situation - August 2010," BLS.gov, 9/3/10)

* 57.0% Of All Unemployed Workers Have Been Looking For Work For Over 15 Weeks. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, "The Employment Situation - August 2010," BLS.gov, 9/3/10)

Minnesota Has Lost Jobs

Minnesota Has Lost 35,000 Jobs Since Obama's $814 Billion Stimulus Was Passed. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 9/20/10)

Average Family's Tax Increase With Dems' Tax Hike Is Over $1,600

As A Result Of The Dems' Tax Hike, The Average Middle Class Family In Minnesota Will See A Tax Hike Of $1,653. ("Effect of Expiration of Bush-Era Tax Cuts on Average Middle-Income Family, By State and Congressional District," Tax Foundation, 8/1/10)

Cap & Trade Will Kill Jobs

Minnesota Could Lose As Many As 57,000 Jobs Due To Cap-And-Trade; Would Cost Families Up To $1,500 A Year. (Press Release, "Economic Impact On The State From The Waxman-Markey Bill, H.R. 2454 Proposed Legislation To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions - Minnesota," National Association Of Manufacturers (http://www.accf.org/media/docs/nam/2009/Minnesota.pdf), 2009)

ObamaCare Hurts Minnesota

Citing ObamaCare, 3M Will Stop Offering Retiree Health Benefits. "3M Co. confirmed it would eventually stop offering its health-insurance plan to retirees, citing the federal health overhaul as a factor. . . . The St. Paul, Minn., manufacturing conglomerate notified employees on Friday that it would change retiree benefits both for those who are too young to qualify for Medicare and for those who qualify for the Medicare program. Both groups will get an unspecified health reimbursement instead of having access to a company-sponsored health plan." (Janet Adamy, "3M To Change Health-Plan Options For Workers," The Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703859204575526953379583836.html?mod=googlenews_wsj), 10/4/10)

LifeScience Alley CEO Don Gerhardt: "Minnesota Is Going To Take About 25 Percent Of The Hit On The Total Tax Levied Against The Medical Technology Industry ..." (Annie Baxter, "Excise Tax Has Local Medical Device Makers Concerned," Minnesota Public Radio (http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/03/29/medical-excise-tax/), 3/29/10)

* MassDevice.com's Brad Perriello: Medical Device Tax Will Cause More Pain For "Mid-Sized And Smaller Companies," Pushing Some "From Black To Red." "I think the real impact is going to be on the mid-sized and smaller companies, where profit margins are a lot more narrow, and in some cases are so narrow that the effect of the tax will push a small minority of the companies from black to red..." (Annie Baxter, "Excise Tax Has Local Medical Device Makers Concerned," Minnesota Public Radio (http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/03/29/medical-excise-tax/), 3/29/10)

Due To ObamaCare, Assurant Health Laid Off 130 Workers On Oct. 1st, Including Those In Plymouth. "Assurant Health is eliminating 130 jobs at its offices in Milwaukee and Plymouth, Minn., by Oct. 1 as the health insurer prepares for changes under federal health care reform. The company, which sells health insurance for individuals and small employers as well as short-term policies, faces an onslaught of new federal health care reform regulations, including the requirement that it spend 80% of premiums on medical care." (Guy Boulton, "Assurant Health To Eliminate 130 Jobs," The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (http://dev.www.jsonline.com/newswatch/101101889.html), 8/19/10)

Minnesota Tanning Salon Owner: "Our Business Will Go Down." "Tanning salon owners, meanwhile are feeling burned. 'Our business will go down,' said Don Nelson, who owns nine Totally Tan salons in the northern metro. 'Some people just don't want to pay extra.'" (Jackie Crosby, "Salons Seeing Red Over Federal Tanning Tax," Star Tribune (http://www.startribune.com/politics/89744557.html?page=1&c=y), 4/2/10)

Stimulus Waste In Minnesota

Stimulus Provided $6 Million For Snowmaking Facility In Duluth, The 15th Snowiest City In The Nation "The other third of the stimulus, government infrastructure spending, has been the most controversial from the start. Some proposals have been criticized as wasteful, such as a $6 million snowmaking facility in Duluth, Minn." (Sudeep Reddy, "The Challenge in Counting Stimulus Returns," The Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125659862304009151.html#printMode), 10/28/09; "Top 101 Cities With The Highest Average Snowfall In A Year," City Data (http://www.city-data.com/top2/c464.html), Accessed 10/4/10)

Stimulus Funds Used To Build A $1.2 Million Bicycle Trail To Target Field. "Does a bicycle trail to a professional baseball stadium count as a sports project? It's a question being asked in Minnesota, as an extension of the Cedar Lake bike trail that will bring cyclists to the plaza outside the new Minnesota Twins stadium will be paid for with $1.2 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. Under the ARRA law, federal stimulus money may not be used for certain types of projects. For instance, educational institutions may not use the money for stadiums or other facilities primarily used for athletic contests or exhibitions or other events for which admission is charged to the general public." (Brian Johnson, "Critics Question Use Of Stimulus Funds For Bike Trail In Minnesota," Finance And Commerce Daily (http://www.allbusiness.com/government/government-bodies-offices-regional-local/12590039-1.html), 7/25/09)

Biden In Denial About Failed Stimulus

Biden: "In My Wildest Dreams, I Never Thought It Would Work This Well ..." (Elizabeth Williamson, "Biden On Stimulus: 'Never Thought It Would Work This Well,'" The Wall Street Journal's "Washington Wire" (http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/09/24/biden-on-stimulus-never-thought-it-would-work-this-well/) Blog, 9/24/09)

* $111 Million In Stimulus Funds For Los Angeles Created 55 Jobs. "Two Los Angeles departments have received $111 million in federal stimulus funds yet have created only 55 jobs so far, according to a pair of reports issued Thursday by City Controller Wendy Greuel. The reports conclude that the agencies, Public Works and Transportation, moved too slowly in spending the federal money, in part because of the time it takes to secure approval of government contracts." (David Zahniser, "Two L.A. Agencies Get $111 Million In Stimulus Funds But Have Created Only 55 Jobs," The Los Angeles Times (http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/17/local/la-me-stimulus-audit-20100917), 9/17/10)

Stimulus Dollars Devoted To Highway Projects Have Been Slow To Make An Impact. "More than a year and a half after Congress passed a massive plan to stimulate the economy and get Americans working, California has yet to start 41 percent of its highway projects, according to a McClatchy analysis of the most recent federal data." (Chris Adams, "Stimulus Spending On Highways Isn't Delivering On Job Promises," McClatchy Newspapers (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/09/26/101055/stimulus-spending-on-highways.html), 9/26/10)

* "While some states have put their money to work quickly, others chose projects that have been slower to produce jobs, and so the nation is far from fulfilling President Barack Obama's prediction that the highway stimulus dollars would create or save 150,000 jobs by the end of this year." (Chris Adams, "Stimulus Spending On Highways Isn't Delivering On Job Promises," McClatchy Newspapers (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/09/26/101055/stimulus-spending-on-highways.html), 9/26/10)

AP: Biden's Stimulus Assessment "A Collection Of Rosy Projections That Ignore Many Of The Challenges, Pitfalls And Economic Realities In All Those Areas." "The Obama administration claimed this week that $100 billion invested in innovative technologies under the economic stimulus law is 'transforming the American economy' by putting the nation on track for technological breakthroughs in health care, energy and transportation. But an examination of details in the 50-page report unveiled Tuesday by Vice President Joe Biden reveals something a bit different: a collection of rosy projections that ignore many of the challenges, pitfalls and economic realities in all those areas." (Frederic J. Frommer, "FACT CHECK: Stimulus Assessment Overly Optimistic," The Associated Press (http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=11484630), 8/26/10)

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