"Twenty-two million jobs were created when he [Bill Clinton] was in office. [Republicans under George W. Bush, including Pat Toomey] created none. We're going to Scranton to talk about jobs," Sestak said.
"We've controlled the damage. We've taken some steps but not enough," said Sestak, who hammered what he said is the fundamental difference between himself and Toomey.
The problem in Sestak's logic should be obvious - that Bill Clinton governed largely with a Republican Congress (including two years that Toomey served in Congress), and the current recession only began after Democrats took control of Congress, years after Toomey left.
Now, I would never ascribe the performance of our county's economy to the government, much less one person - even the President. The economy is millions of individual actors, and while government policy has a significant role in economic performance, government doesn't create jobs or wealth.
Nonetheless, since Sestak raised the point, I thought it would be interesting to compare job creation while Toomey was in Congress - during which time Republicans controlled the House - and while Sestak has been in Congress - during which time Democrats have controlled the House.
Indeed, while Toomey was in Congress from 1999 to 2004, the nation added 5 million jobs. Whereas since Sestak was elected, and Democrats took control of Congress, in 2006, the country has lost 6.6 million jobs. Perhaps this is not the comparison he wants to make.
| Party Control of Congress | Job Growth (Loss) | Percent Change | |
| Toomey (Jan 99-Dec 04) | Republican | 5,094 | 4% |
| Sestak (Jan 07-July 10) | Democrat | (6,631) | -5% |
Toomey vs Sestak on Jobs
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