As Senate Votes On Multi-Trillion Dollar Bill, Pennsylvania’s Unemployment Continues To Rise

Friday, 20 November 2009 16:00

In the News

As U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA) prepares to cast his vote in favor of the Democrats’ $2.5 trillion government-takeover of health care tomorrow night, it’s worth keeping in mind three important and related numbers:

8.8 percent: That is the October 2009 unemployment rate in Pennsylvania, according to preliminary numbers released by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics today. Since Specter and his Democrat primary challenger, U.S. Representative Joe Sestak (D-PA), voted for the trillion dollar stimulus package more than nine months ago, the unemployment rate in their state has steadily risen, from 7.5 percent in February to 8.8 percent in October 2009.

$1.42 trillion: The federal budget deficit for 2009 alone totals $1.42 trillion - a number higher than the total national debt for the first 200 years of the United States. During the month of October 2009, the deficit increased by $176.4 billion, setting another all-time record.

$100 million a day: While Senate Democrats brag that their health care bill "reduces the deficit by $130 billion over the next decade," they leave out the fact that interest payments on their so-called stimulus bill total $347 billion over the next decade - an average of $100 million a day.

"Unfortunately for Pennsylvanians, the federal deficit has soared to record highs and unemployment has steadily risen ever since Arlen Specter and Joe Sestak voted for the so-called ‘stimulus’ package in February," said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokeswoman Amber Wilkerson Marchand.

"Now as his constituents struggle through this economic downturn, Specter is supporting another massive $2.5 trillion government-run health care bill just one week after Sestak voted for similar legislation in the House," Wilkerson Marchand continued. "Obviously Specter and Sestak haven’t learned anything from the Democrats’ failed stimulus debacle, but no matter who reaches the General Election, Pennsylvanians won’t forget their tax-and-spend records next November."

Background Information

Pennsylvania’s Unemployment Rate Was 7.5% In February 2009. (U.S. Department Of Labor’s Bureau Of Labor Statistics Website, www.bls.gov, Accessed 11/20/09)

Pennsylvania’s Unemployment Rate Was 8.8% In October 2009. (U.S. Department Of Labor’s Bureau Of Labor Statistics Website, www.bls.gov, Accessed 11/20/09)