GOP lawmaker: Signs of economic recovery not tied to Obama stimulus

Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) on Monday welcomed the current signs of economic recovery but said they could not be linked to President Obama's 2009 $862 billion stimulus package, as some Democrats are claiming.

"We saw the promises that were made, that unemployment wouldn't go above 2 percent, that millions of jobs would be created," said Duffy, speaking of assurances Democrats made regarding the stimulus package. "Three years after that money is spent, we aren't seeing any of that."

But a reporter for FOX55 News asked Duffy how he could say the stimulus was not working when "they're signs that it is?"

Duffy responded by arguing that the distance in time between the current positive signs and the 2009 bill show that the two are not related.

"Listen, let's be clear," said Duffy. "That money was gone a year ago. So any recovery today doesn't come from that." 

The congressman did acknowledge, however, that its possible the hundreds of billions in spending created at least a few jobs. 

"When you spend that much money, invest that much into something you are bound to get some positive impacts," he said. "[H]ow fast would that growth be if we didn't have all the rules and regulations, and the threat of uncertainty?"

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