Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I wish to comment on something the President recently said that is very much in the news. Last Friday, the President of the United States said, ``The private sector is doing just fine.'' This is not taken out of context. He was talking about economically. His office leader explained what he was really talking about is the comparison between the public sector and the private sector, and I take him at his word there. The President said: Where we're seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government--oftentimes cuts initiated by governors or mayors who are not getting the kind of help that they have in the past from the federal government and who don't have the same kind of flexibility as the federal government in dealing with fewer revenues coming in. I think that is generally true. But here are the two key points I would make in response: First, everyone--not just government employees--is suffering. They are struggling in the Obama economy. Yes, the number of government jobs has decreased during the last 40 months since President Obama took office, but overall employment in government has increased on the whole in recent years, even with the reductions that have occurred in the last couple of years. For example, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, total government employees added up to 21,847,000--rounded off--in January 2006. That is just a little over 6 years ago--21,847,000.…”