Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman, claimed yesterday to MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell that “when Democrats had the majority in the House, we passed legislation [and] sent it to the Senate that improved the economy.”
That might give one the impression that the economy actually improved over the Democrats’ tenure. Between 2006 and 2010, the unemployment rate increased from 4.5 percent to 9.8 percent.
In fairness, congressional Democrats probably deserve only a small share of the credit for this turnaround. (It is worth noting that since Republicans took the U.S. House in 2010, unemployment has fallen to 9.1 percent.)
When confronted with a poll showing that a majority of Americans believe Obama has “no clear plan for the economy,” Israel responded by blaming Republicans. “Quite honestly, the [Republican] strategy to do nothing hasn’t created jobs and it should be no surprise that people hold the president, of either party, responsible for that.”
Israel also said that Obama has “made a clear and convincing case” to the American people, despite the fact that the poll’s respondents seemed so unconvinced.
Israel fell back on his party’s strong fundraising numbers compared to the Republicans, and also the number of Democratic candidates for the U.S. House. He said this amounted to “a vote of confidence” that Democrats will retake the House.
You can Israel talking about Obama and the House Republicans below.
