The Murray campaign has been going after Jim Moran on a couple of recent statements. Let’s examine.
“We are not in a recession.” — Jim Moran’s chief of staff Austin Durrer, Asian-American Candidate Forum, 9/21/2012
Technically, this is true. If you’re an economist, you agree. The technical definition of a recession is two or more consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. By that definition, the recession ended in the summer of 2009. But let’s look at the definition that actually matters – how the economy has affected regular people like you and me.
Unemployment is currently at 8.1%, and the “real unemployment rate” (regularl unemployment rate + rate of people working part-time when they want to work full-time) is around 14%. (When the $837 billion stimulus package that Jim Moran avidly supported and voted for was being pushed on the American people in February 2009, we were promised that if the stimulus was passed, unemployment would not rise above 8%. Not only did it rise above 8%, it rose to 10%.) WTOP’s latest “Pain in the Gas” survey puts the average price of gas in the D.C. area at $3.92 per gallon, and many gas stations in Alexandria and Arlington are above $4.00 per gallon. Are we still in a recession? Look at your wallet, and think about how your friends and family in other areas of the country are doing in this economy, and decide for yourself.
“We [Democrats] want to move forward. This is still a wealthy country, we’re not broke.” – Jim Moran on MSNBC’s Martin Bashir.
(We’ll humor Jim Moran and pretend like his spewing of partisan talking points to a partisan hack on TV actually mean something.)
One look at the debt clock shows that his statement is utterly and outrageously false. The national debt is over $16 trillion, the federal budget deficit is $1.1 trillion. As if that wasn’t enough evidence, take a look at the unfunded liabilities counter at the bottom – that’s the amount of money the U.S. is going to have to pay for Social Security and Medicare – nearly $121 trillion. The GDP of the entire world is $70 trillion. That’s right, even if the U.S. took over the entire world economy, we’d barely have half the money we’re liable to owe.
“We’re not broke”?
The “Retire Moran” site should be absolutely clear about the GOP Candidate that can accomplish this goal and provide 8th District taxpayers with a extraodinary Representative in Congress. Retire Moran should include “Elect Patrick Murray” !!!! Patrick will bring quality and ethics to the legislative process and improve comunication and accomplish real and meaningful legislation for his constituents. Moran had over-extended his stay on the hill and his credibility. Moran is more fluff than substance.
Pingback: 21 Reasons to Retire Jim Moran #1: He lives in a fantasy world | Retire Jim Moran