(MYSTIC) - Rob Simmons, candidate for U.S. Senate, made the following statement on today's announcement that the national unemployment rate had increased to 9.7 percent:

Today's unemployment numbers continue to demonstrate the failure of the nearly $800 billion so-called stimulus package which has contributed to a national deficit of $1.6 trillion, the highest since World War II.  Some 90 percent of the stimulus spending has not been spent, and some will not be spent for years, and as much as 62 percent of funds allocated to Connecticut will be used to fund state government, not the job-creating private sector. 

Rather than helping our economy, the exploding national deficit is putting the United States on an economic collision course and dooming future generations with crushing debt.  The deficit is crowding out private investment, frightening off foreign investors, alarming our creditors and will ultimately lead to high interest rates and significant inflation.  

Sen. Dodd has suggested the possibility of yet another stimulus package, but with every passing day it becomes more and more evident that it was seriously counter-productive for the federal government to try and spend our way out of recession.  Far from needing a second dose of bad medicine, it is time to take unspent stimulus dollars and dedicate them toward deficit reduction and pro-growth tax cuts.

FACTS:

The Unemployment Rate Jumped To 9.7% In August.  "Nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline in August (-216,000), and the unemployment rate rose to 9.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today."  (Bureau of Labor Statistics, "The Employment Situation - August 2009," released 9/4/09) 

CBO Projects A $1.6 Trillion Deficit For FY 2009, The Highest Since WWII.  "The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the federal budget deficit for 2009 will total $1.6 trillion, which, at 11.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), will be the highest since World War II." (Congressional Budget Office, "The Budget and Economic Outlook: An Update," August 2009)

Nearly Ninety Percent Of The $787 Billion In Stimulus Funds Have Not Been Spent.  The federal government's own web page that tracks stimulus spending shows only $88.8 of billion of the $787 billion package has been paid out.  (Recovery.gov, accessed 9/4/09)

Sixty-Two Percent Of Funds Allocated To Connecticut Will Be Spent On State Government.  "About 62 percent of the stimulus funding (not including tax breaks) allocated to Connecticut will 'supplant' or replace existing state funds, meaning it will have no job creation impact (although it may prevent job losses)."  (Understanding the Stimulus: A Primer for Connecticut Citizens on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009," Yankee Institute, June 2009)

Sen. Chris Dodd Has Suggested A Second Stimulus Package.  "Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) has joined Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) in publicly declaring that a second stimulus is 'probably needed,' telling ABCNews.com that Congress will probably need to act before the end of the year."  (Glenn Thrush, "Whitehouse: Second Stimulus Needed," Politico.com, 7/6/09)