I remember when she asked that. It was back in late 2003. I included the quote and the context in my column at American Issues Project today.
In late 2003, when economic growth surged “at the fastest pace in nearly two decades” with the gross domestic product (GDP) growing at a 7.2 percent rate, those in Congress hoping to convince voters that George Bush’s policies were failing pointed to the unemployment numbers. To draw attention away from the incredible growth numbers, Democrats pointed to the job market which lagged behind other economic indicators.
In August 2003, reacting to a July unemployment rate of 6.2 percent, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi asked “Where are the jobs, Mr. President.” With the current unemployment rate at 9.8 percent and many predicting it will go higher over the coming months, House Speaker Pelosi should be asking that question even more emphatically than she did six years ago.So, where are the jobs, Mr. President? Remember that President Obama warned the country that we could see a 9 percent unemployment rate next year if his $787 billion “stimulus” wasn’t passed. (Again, in case you missed it above, last month the unemployment rate hit 9.8 percent.)
A few months after Pelosi asked about jobs in 2003, they materialized in a big way. Here is an excerpt from the Reuters story from 2004 which indicates just how fast the political winds shifted.
The shift in political rhetoric from the “jobless recovery” lament of the Democrats to “nearly a million jobs in 100 days” of the Bush administration appears to have reached consumers, whose confidence levels hit the highest level in two years in June, according to a Conference Board report this week.
I hope for the sake of all those looking for work that the job market rebounds as wonderfully as it did in 2004, but I fear the kinds of jobs we are going to see in the short term will be temporary ones resulting from government stimulus spending. If the unemployment situation does not improve significantly between now and Election Day 2010, those currently in power could be in serious trouble. If the unemployment rate continues to rise, exceeding 10 percent as many experts are predicting, 2010 could be a very bad year for Democrats.
Update: This kind of stuff (via the NRSC) is not going to help Democrats:
At a White House meeting today to discuss “job creation efforts,” Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) took time to praise the so-called “stimulus” package for “making a real difference.”
This remarkable statement comes nearly eight months after Reid railroaded the nearly trillion dollar “stimulus” package through the Senate, promising it “would create three and a half million jobs across the country, including 34,000 in Nevada.”
Since then, however, unemployment rates in Nevada and across the country have continued to rise, recently reaching a 30-year high in the Silver State over the summer, while soaring to a 26-year high point nationwide last week.
Update II: More on the issue from Mark Tapscott.
