Nrsc To Democrat Richard Carmona: Are Economic And Diplomatic Failures Just “bumps In The Road”???

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is asking President Obama’s handpicked candidate Richard Carmona today to tell Arizonans whether or not he shares President Obama’s view that the serious problems we have seen on the economy and the recent turmoil in the Middle East are just “bumps in the road.”

Speaking on CBS’ 60 Minutes last night about the current problems in the Middle East, President Obama said:

“I was pretty certain and continue to be pretty certain that there are going to be bumps in the road…” (CBS’s “60 Minutes,” 9/23/12)

These are the same words he used about our economic problems in a speech last year:

“There are always going to be bumps on the road to recovery.” (President Barack Obama, Remarks, Toledo, OH, 6/3/11)

“It’s typical of President Obama and the Democrat leadership to dismiss serious problems as being ‘bumps in the road’.  While they might just be inconvenient to them, to everyone else, these ‘bumps in the road’ are real and they amount to some of the biggest diplomatic and economic challenges we’ve seen in our lifetime,” NRSC spokesman Jahan Wilcox said today.  “Given that Richard Carmona is the handpicked candidate of President Obama, he needs tell Arizonans whether he shares the President’s casual view of the position we’re in. Voters want and expect strong leadership from Government and real policy solutions, and these are things we are not seeing from Democrats in Washington these days.”

President Obama and congressional Democrats are dismissive of these problems even as evidence mounts about the scale of the challenges this country faces. On the economy, the recovery continues to be long, slow and hard for families across America:

• More Than Twenty-Three Million Americans Are Unemployed, Underemployed, Or Have Stopped Looking For Work. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, 9/10/12)

• The Latest Jobs Report Showed The “Economy Slogged Along For The 43rd Month In A Row With Joblessness Above 8 Percent.” “American employers added 96,000 jobs in August, the Labor Department reported Friday. The unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent as the economy slogged along for the 43rd month in a row with joblessness above 8 percent.” (Susanna Kim, “August Jobs Report: Unemployment Falls To 8.1 Percent,” ABC News, 9/7/12)

• In August, The Unemployment Rate Either Increased Or Was Unchanged In 38 States. “The Labor Department says rates increased in 26 states. They fell in 12 states and were unchanged in the other 12.” (Christopher S. Rugaber, “Unemployment Rates Rise In Half Of US States,” The Associated Press, 9/21/12)

• “A Record 46.7 Million Americans Received Food Stamps In June…” “A record 46.7 million Americans received food stamps in June, up 0.4 percent from the previous month, the government said. Participation was 3.3 percent higher than a year earlier and has remained higher than 46 million all year as the unemployment rate has stagnated just above 8 percent. New jobless numbers will be released Sept. 7.” (Alan Bjera, “Food-Stamp Use Climbed To Record 46.7 Million In June, U.S. Says,” Bloomberg, 9/4/12)

In the Middle East, commentators worry about the direction the Middle East is taking:

• The Wall Street Journal: “Mideast Turmoil Spreads” (The Wall Street Journal, 9/14/12)

• Bloomberg: “U.S. Officials Concerned Over What Follows Arab Spring”(Bloomberg, 9/12/12)

• The Associated Press: “Arab Winter? Spreading Anti-American Unrest Prompts Debate On US Policy In The Arab World” (The Associated Press, 9/14/12)

• The New York Times: “U.S. Is Preparing For A Long Siege Of Arab Unrest” (The New York Times, 9/15/12)

The post NRSC TO DEMOCRAT RICHARD CARMONA: ARE ECONOMIC AND DIPLOMATIC FAILURES JUST “BUMPS IN THE ROAD”??? appeared first on NRSC – National Republican Senatorial Committee.