McConnell blasts Reid for claiming the private sector is ‘doing just fine’

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday attacked Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for having said that the private sector was weathering the recession "just fine." 

"For Democrats the solution [to the jobs crisis], apparently, is to increase the number of people who work for the government,” McConnell said from the floor. “My good friend the majority leader made this pretty clear yesterday when he said the private sector is ‘doing just fine’ and that the president's latest stimulus is focused on government jobs instead."

Reid suggested from the floor on Wednesday that Congress needs to worry about government jobs more than private-sector jobs, and that this is why Senate Democrats are pushing a $35 billion bill aimed at shoring up teachers and first-responders.

"It's very clear that private-sector jobs have been doing just fine; it's the public-sector jobs where we've lost huge numbers, and that's what this legislation is all about," Reid said.