John Spratt: “I think it is a widely held view that all of those actions have had positive effects on the economy.”

When President Obama was sworn into office at the beginning of this year, the economy was in deep contraction and jobs were being lost at a rate of 741,000 per month.

The moral of the story is, if the leaders of both parties don't want a commission to succeed, if the leaders of both parties aren't willing to put both parts of the budget, taxes and spending, on the table, the chances that it is going to…

I think it is a bit irresponsible to at least articulate to the American people, to the Congress, why you think we need a new policy direction.

Under Democratic leadership, the 111th Congress moved swiftly to enact the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which has jump started economic activity.