Democratic Rep. Yarmuth: Obama Flubs Jobs

Republicans aren’t the only ones who think President Barack Obama hasn’t handled the jobs issue well. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., feels the same way, The Hill reports.

It was ridiculous of the Obama administration to claim that the stimulus package would help push the unemployment rate down to 8 percent, he said in an interview Wednesday with Louisville’s NPR station WFPL. The jobless rate now stands at 9.1 percent.

“I think if you asked them now, they will say that was the stupidest thing that basically any administration probably ever said because that’s not something they can necessarily control,” Yarmuth said.

To be sure, he doesn’t view the stimulus package as a failure. “It actually did what it was supposed to do," he said. "Without it there’d be, most economists agree, about 3 percentage points more in unemployment rate. But he needs to believe in his plan, and he needs to get out and sell it forcefully.”