Rep. Kevin Brady, Vice Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, today released the following statement:

 “Today’s report tells us that the economy is standing still.  In testimony before the Joint Economic Committee, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke stated that overall,
the recent recession was ‘even deeper’ and the recovery even ‘weaker’ than many experts anticipated.”

 “After you factor out the gains of 45,000 jobs, resulting from an end to the Verizon strike, job creation remains below the level needed to bring the unemployment rate down in a meaningful way.”

 “The time is long past for the President and Congress to get the federal government out of the way.  We need to recognize that this administration is holding the economy back.  High taxes, excessive spending and regulations, and uncertainty about the increasingly intrusive federal government are killing any chance to get the economy moving.”

 “The unemployment rate remains stubbornly high at 9.1%.  When President Obama and Democrats rammed through their massive $1 trillion stimulus package, they told us that passage would bring the unemployment rate down to 6.7% by this point.  How they can now ask Congress to throw more of the American peoples’ hard earned money down the drain is inexplicable.”

 “What the economy most needs is for the federal government to get out of the way so that America can get moving again and more of its people working.”