Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today I rise to note some good news about the state of our American economy. Hard work clearly remains. We are still recovering from the deepest slump since the Great Depression. But I think it is time to appreciate our recent progress. Over the past few days and weeks, there has been plenty of positive economic news. Listen to some of these headlines. From the New York Times: ``Jobless Rate Dips to Lowest Level in More Than 2 years.'' From CNN: ``Dow closes with largest gain since March 2009.'' From Reuters: ``Private-sector jobs soar, payroll forecasts rise.'' From the Wall Street Journal: ``Online Sales Reach Record $1.25 Billion on Cyber Monday.'' I know it is far too early to start to celebrate, but I want to tell you a little bit about some of the details of this news. I know back in my State of Alaska, just like everywhere else in this country, people are still struggling to balance their checkbooks; that they face tough decisions about the cost of groceries, basic health care, college tuition for their kids, and just the basic expenses to live. Yet the recent news about our economy is very encouraging. I want to give those specific examples. On unemployment and jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says total payrolls increased by 120,000 jobs in November as the unemployment rate dropped to 8.6 percent--as the headline said, the lowest level in more than 2 years. Also, the latest news also marked 21 consecutive months of private sector job growth.…”