News
WHITE ERRS ON ECONOMY AND HEALTHCARE, TERRY SAYS
Two new reports bring ‘devastating’ news to opponent’s flawed positions
August 19, 2010
U.S. Rep. Lee Terry today said a U.S. Labor department report out this morning on new jobless claims shows the federal stimulus program, supported by his opponent Tom White, has been wholly ineffective in creating new jobs.
The report said requests for jobless benefits hit a record 500,000 last week indicating that the nation will actually lose more private sector jobs than it gains when the August numbers are reported early next month. “Initial requests for jobless benefits jump to 500,000,” The Associated Press, news article, August 19, 2010
“On creating jobs, Mr. White just has it all wrong. New claims for unemployment benefits jumped 500,000 in the past week—the highest level since last November. This shows the $800 billion stimulus program that my opponent hails to be a complete and total failure,” Terry said.
The stimulus law was sold to the public last year on the basis that it would hold unemployment to eight percent. The rate is now 9.5 percent and many economists predict it could soon hit 10 percent.
Terry also said a report released yesterday by Gov. Dave Heineman on new unfunded costs of the federal healthcare program, another initiative supported by Mr. White, means “incredibly bad news for the taxpayers of Nebraska.”
The report concludes that the law’s mandate to expand Medicaid coverage will cost Nebraska between $526 million and $766 million over the next decade, and increases the proportion of individuals receiving benefits from one in nine Nebraskans to one in every five.
“On the healthcare law, Mr. White is equally wrong. Unfunded mandates like this will require massive tax increases, massive cuts to education or a combination of both—at the worst possible time,” Terry said.
“I want to create real private sector jobs and expand healthcare through competition in the marketplace. My opponent’s solution is to simply throw $2 trillion more in government spending and debt at the problem. This is a big difference between us,” Terry said.
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