Romney campaign says Fed action reflects Obama's failure

By Vicki Needham - 09/13/12 02:30 PM ET

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's campaign pounced on the news of the Federal Reserve's next round of stimulus on Thursday, saying its candidate would enact policies leading to more robust economic recovery.

Less than two months before the election and a day after the presidential campaigns shifted to foreign policy, the central bank's announcement turned the debate back toward the economy, giving the GOP a rallying point from which to lob attacks on President Obama's failure to invigorate the economy.

"After four years of stagnant growth, falling incomes, rising costs, and persistently high unemployment, the American economy doesn’t need more artificial and ineffective measures," sand Lanhee Chen, policy director for Romney's campaign.

"We should be creating wealth, not printing dollars. As president, Mitt Romney will enact bold, pro-growth policies that lead to robust job creation, higher take-home pay, and a true economic recovery.”

The campaign's comments echoed sentiments from lawmakers on Capitol Hill who said the central bank's latest actions prove that the Obama administration has been unsuccessful in its goal to hold down persistently high unemployment.

While acknowledging that the nation's economy is growing, the Fed conceded that it is too weak, especially the sluggish labor market, and said it would embark on an open-ended bond buying program until the labor market improves "substantially."

The central bank will make $40 billion in new monthly purchases, and combined with existing efforts, will be purchasing $85 billion in bonds each month through the rest this year.

"The Federal Reserve’s action today is a scathing indictment of this administration’s economic policies which, after almost four years, have failed to produce a sustainable recovery or put Americans back to work," House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) said in a statement. "The Federal Reserve cannot rescue the administration from the consequences of failed economic and regulatory policies."

Bernanke has repeatedly called on Congress to quickly dispense with the looming fiscal cliff issues of expiring tax rates and spending cuts.

While businesses argue that the policy uncertainty is hampering their ability to hire, lawmakers signaled that a broad agreement on a package would be delayed until 2013 with only a short-term solution in the lame-duck session.