Ryan says jobs report evidence 'we need a new president'

Paul Ryan said Friday that a disappointing August jobs report was further evidence of the need to change presidents during a rally at a truck company in Sparks, Nev.

"This is no where close to an economic recovery – we need a new president and a real economic recovery," Ryan said at an afternoon rally.

In Nevada, where the unemployment rate tops 12 percent — far outpacing the national average — the vice presidential hopeful mocked the Obama administration's prediction that stimulus spending would keep the national unemployment rate under 8 percent.

"We just learned unemployment rate has bee over 8 percent for 43 months," Ryan said, emphasizing the "three" to note that August's 8.1 percent had added to that total.

"If want the next four years to be any different than the last four years, then we need a new president," Ryan said.

Ryan, donning a polo shirt and khakis, rallied supporters while flanked by a row of semi-trailer trucks. Playing to the local crowd, Ryan slammed Democrats for failing to pass a budget in the U.S. Senate.

"You guys heard of this guy named Reid in the Senate?" Ryan asked, referring to the Democratic Senate majority leader who hails from the state. "They haven't bother to pass a budget in three years."

He also offered faint praise for President Obama's acceptance speech Thursday night at the Democratic National Convention.

"President Obama is not a bad guy. He's good at giving great speeches, he's just really bad at creating jobs," Ryan said.

In a statement circulated to reporters, Obama spokeswoman Lis Smith questioned some of the arguments Ryan made about the president's handling of the economy.

“What does Congressman Ryan have against the truth?" Smith said. "His speech in Nevada today followed a similar and troubling pattern of misrepresenting both the President’s and Mitt Romney’s records. He blamed President Obama for the credit rating downgrade last summer, even though Standard & Poor’s identified political brinkmanship—driven by Congressional Republicans under the leadership of Congressman Ryan—as the cause for it. And he said that Mitt Romney cut spending in Massachusetts, even though state spending increased every year under Romney’s watch."

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