Messaging the stimulus, one year later

Elected officials and political candidates re-waged the political battle over President Obama’s economic stimulus package Wednesday, as the one-year anniversary of the law saw Democrats seeking to frame it as having pulled the economy back from the brink and Republicans calling it just one more big-spending program.

Republican Pat Toomey’s Senate campaign seized upon remarks made by retiring Senator Evan Bayh, who said that “if I could create one job in the private sector by helping to grow a business, that would be one more than Congress has created” in recent months.

“It’s amazing how honest Washington politicians become once they leave office or declare their retirement,” Toomey spokeswoman Nachama Soloveichik said in a statement. Pennsylvania deserves a senator who will join the bipartisan efforts to put a stop to runaway Washington spending and encourage private sector job creation. Arlen Specter and Joe Sestak have proven beyond any doubt that they will side with the Reid-Pelosi one-party extremism in Washington.”

Democratic Senate candidate Joe Sestak credited the stimulus with saving the economy.

“Those who put us on the path to depression like to criticize the efforts that have put us on the path to recovery,” he said in a statement. “But the facts are clear. The recession—in economic terms—has ended. Our economy grew 5.7 percent last quarter, compared to a decline of 6.4 percent at the end of the Bush administration—a 12.1 percent swing and the strongest three-quarter improvement in almost 30 years. The unemployment rate is coming down and positive job growth is forecast in the months ahead.”

A Republican seeking to succeed Sestak in the 7th Congressional District, Pat Meehan, asked the simple question that Republicans plan to use throughout the country: “Are you better off than you were one year ago?” his campaign asked in an e-mail.

“Where are the jobs we were promised as a result of the $1 trillion stimulus bill?” he asked. “With 30 to 40 percent more people unemployed this year compared to last, it is clear that the stimulus bill is not having the desired impact.”

And the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sought to highlight Republicans who have taken credit for stimulus-funded projects in their districts even after voting against the bill.

Most independent analysts credit the stimulus package with preventing the layoffs of significant numbers of teachers and other public-sector workers.