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Partisans on Capitol Hill are going back and forth in recent days on whether the federal stimulus bill is actually improving the economy.
This week, various media outlets cited a letter from Larry Summers, director of the National Economic Council, which aims to counter criticism from House Republican Leader John Boehner about the effectiveness of the stimulus bill.
An ABC News report quotes Summers as writing that with help from the stimulus package, "we have walked a substantial distance back from the economic abyss and are on the path toward economic recovery." The network also cited Summers as noting a "substantial change in the trend of job loss."
The letter is a response to remarks Boehner made at the beginning of the month when the U.S. unemployment rate rose from 9.7 percent to 9.8 percent. The House Republican Leader specifically singled out a pending climate change bill and healthcare reform legislation for criticism, denouncing such proposals as a "job-killing agenda."
Economists have widely predicted that unemployment will actually exceed the 10 percent mark before heading back downward as the recovery supposedly gets more fully underway.
By Steve Monfort
Partisans trade shots over unemployment
Partisans on Capitol Hill are going back and forth in recent days on whether the federal stimulus bill is actually improving the economy. This week, various media outlets cited a letter from Larry Summers, director of the National Economic Council, which aims to counter criticism from House Republican Leader John Boehner about the effectiveness of the stimulus bill.
An ABC News report quotes Summers as writing that with help from the stimulus package, "we have walked a substantial distance back from the economic abyss and are on the path toward economic recovery." The network also cited Summers as noting a "substantial change in the trend of job loss."
The letter is a response to remarks Boehner made at the beginning of the month when the U.S. unemployment rate rose from 9.7 percent to 9.8 percent. The House Republican Leader specifically singled out a pending climate change bill and healthcare reform legislation for criticism, denouncing such proposals as a "job-killing agenda."
Economists have widely predicted that unemployment will actually exceed the 10 percent mark before heading back downward as the recovery supposedly gets more fully underway.
By Steve Monfort
