(CNN) - President Barack Obama can't have it both ways on his economic stimulus package, the man he defeated in last year's election said Sunday.
Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, told the NBC program "Meet the Press" that Obama either got it wrong when he predicted the benefits of his $787 billion economic stimulus package in February, or he's wrong now in saying the stimulus is working as intended.
"He's either not leveling now or he wasn't leveling at the time they passed the stimulus package," McCain said.
He cited predictions by Obama earlier this year that the spending plan would hold unemployment to 8.5 percent or less, noting the figure is now at 9.5 percent and likely to continue rising.
McCain also complained that the stimulus plan has failed to deliver the job creation Obama pledged.
"What they promised us would be the result of the stimulus in the short-term has turned out not to be true," he said.
On the same program, Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York responded it was too soon to pronounce judgment on the stimulus plan.
"This is not a four-month plan - this is a two-year plan," Schumer said, noting that many Republicans also misread the situation earlier in the year because they opposed any stimulus package.
"It was very hard to read the economy. It was a whole new world," Schumer said of the economic crisis that started in the second half of 2008.
He praised Obama's "long-range perspective" on the economy, saying the measures in place will work as more of the stimulus money is allocated for projects around the country.
"I'm beginning to see in the last month … a lot of construction going on that I didn't see three months ago," Schumer said.
From CNN Politics
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Said by Mr bomb bomb Iran. Now that we have seen the faces of the courageous young people Mc Cain would have happily bombed, I am even more thankful that he was not elected.
a loosing station always pick loosers – John, Pa lin,
they open their mouth, this news media prints
John king interviews a rural area citizen criticising Obama , then it is a news in CNN. they might as well join Fox
Give it time?? 5 months and nothing has happened. Now Obama wants government to run health care. When I get sick, I don't want to wait 5 months and still have nothing happen – but that's the way government works.
What the Republicans always fail to mention is that this mess is and always will be a mess created under President Bush. Bush, like the Exxon Valdez spill, happened long ago but the effects will be felt for years to come and like the Exxon Valdez spill will take years to clean up.
I find it funny that both Pres. Bush and Oil have something in common, they're both slimy.
I hope nobody's surprised about what this schmuck of a pres is doing. How can people be so blind? I suspect alot of people in this country wouldn't know anything was wrong anyway, because what we're seeing is the intentional result of 40 years of lib propaganda from every culture-defining institution we have.
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Yup, McCain picked Palin, but, what in the world does that have to do with Obama's economic woes?
OBAMA PICKED BIDEN.
Nuff Said.
The first thing Obama did when he came into office was go on a spending spree and Congress bowed and went along with it. So what is the griping about now? Congress seems to be nothing more than a rubber stamp. Where are the checks and balances? Obama's presidency will turn out to be more symbol than substance, more gesture than legacy, more words than change.
More economic predictions from a sore loser who didn't know how many properties he and heiress wife owned, thought Sarah Palin was a brilliant VP choice and who (just before the collapse) claimed "The fundamentals of our economy are strong"
McSame sure has a lot of nerve!
@ b – Why are all the lefties so scared of Palin? Is it becasue she represents the average american or is it becasue she actually may have some morals.
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No, b, we are scared of Palin because, her IQ is way below the average American and because she actually has apparently no morals and no ability to govern!
I remember Obama saying it would go to 10%... over and over. I also remember him saying that the stimulus would keep us from going into a free fall like the great depression where the unemployment figure hit 22%. So far it has kept us from going into a free fall. That does not mean we will not hit 10% unemployment. What is for certain is that if we had not passed a stimulus we would have higher than 10% unemployment right this moment.
I can see what Senator McCain is saying. That President Obama can not say that his prediction is right and say that the stimilus bill is working now like it is supposed to. He was wrong one of the two times. But there is nothing wrong with being wrong with the economy, its hard to predict the economy. I would just like for Obama to admit he was wrong about it. Then no one could critize him about it.
Coming from the guy who picked Sarah Palin as his running mate and then "suspended" his campaign to approve the first bailout, I'd say Obama isn't losing much sleep over McCain's opinion.
As for the stimulus itself, hasn't something like 10% of it even been paid out so far? Oh, how badly the GOP must want our economy to fail right now. Anything to win!
Hey Chubby – Unemployment has not been this high since REAGAN was president.
Also, not companies have been taken over by the federal government that had not already been receiving government support on January 19th.
Isn't John the man who said he didn't know anything about Economics? Like all of the other "Leaders" in his party, John doesn't like any plan put out by the President, but he doesn't have a plan of his own.
There is essentially no stimulus because the beauracracy is so great that the money can't get out. For example, I run a research lab. NIH was given $10 Billion in stimulus funds. Very little of the money has gotten out because the NIH is not equipped to deal with this huge amount of money in such a short time. The question is not whether the stimulus is working or not. The question is whether the stimulus has even gotten out yet.
Strong words from a sore loser, who didn't know how many properties he and his rich heiress wife owned, who though Sarah Palin was a brilliant VP choice and who claimed "the fundamentals of our economy are sound" a few weeks before the 2nd biggest financial collapse in US history.
You have to admit, what McCain lacks in intelligence and knowledge, he'll compensate for with sheer hubris
Yeah we shoulda given even MORE tax cuts to the rich which DON'T reinvest in the creation of jobs, give them even more money to outsource.
If we had the GOP in charge, America would have allready collapsed, thank god we have somebody like Obama who's willing to try to put the average American first for once.
I slam mccain on everything! What a complete idiot, fool, senile "doesn't understand the economy" (his words) jerk! Thank God he wasn't elected with the other idiot palin.
Who cares what McCain thinks about the economy anyway? Didn't he admit that the economy was not his area of expertise?
He didn't believe there was anything wrong with it to begin with – and the comment (along with his selection of Palin) cast him in serious doubt and cost him the election.
ahhh...the Sunday morning couch potatoes who "know" what to do. Here is McCain's first choice as an official nominee: Pick Sarah Palin for VP. Yep, he picked a quitter. Pure and simple. It is easy to criticize when you yourself have no solution.
I seem to remember – QUITE CLEARLY – during the debates that McCain didn't even have a plan. Remember, "the fundamentals of the American economy are strong." He was wrong then...and he is wrong now. So glad that he and falin' Palin are not running our country right now! And I am a Republican (until I can get to the local elections office and change my affiliation)...
Obama is wrong about a lot of things but he still receives support from those who are hopelessly hopeful. Give him more time? We don't have time to experiment with what won't work. He's stalling in order to convince his followers that he needs another term to follow through with his (destructive) plans. Don't forget, He is a "citizen of the world"; so what is his priority?
Just look at all the PORK in the stimulus. any common businessman would know how to make jobs. You donot make jobs with socialists progrmas and giving taxpayer dollars for pet projects that do not crreate any jobs. What ajoke the stimulas is. Try making jobs out of the stimulus and not PORK. Democrats who voted for this are a JOKE and the public is laughing.
Folks,
To blame the debt on the war mongering Repulican's in Iraq and Afghanistan, okay. But please remember both parties voted for it.
Also:
World War 1 – Wilson (Democrat)
World War 2 – Roosevelt (Democrat)
Korea – Truman (Democrat)
Vietnam – Kennedy/Johnson (Democrat)
War on Terror – Bush (Republican).
Yep....those republican's always seem to go to war.
Obama DID ever so slightly misrepresent the stimulus plan and it's expected results. Now he's backpedalling. I don't think that McCain could have done any better, but frankly, all this is going to do is sink us further into debt. It sure as heck doesn't seem to be targeting the areas that create jobs and prosperity. Growing the government won't do it.