Hoyer: Stimulus Slow to Create Jobs, But Time is Not Ripe for New Package

The House's No. 2 Democrat said Sunday that he is not satisfied with the results of the stimulus so far, but it's too soon to consider a second package since not all of the $787 billion has been released yet.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the Obama administration inherited an economy that saw 2 million jobs lost in the three months before President Obama took office.

He said only 130 days have passed since the stimulus was enacted and it needs more time to work.

"I don't think anybody can honestly say that we're satisfied with the results so far of the stimulus. But we believe the stimulus was absolutely essential," Hoyer said on "FOX News Sunday."

"We have to get the money that is already in the stimulus bill out, and we're looking at that. ... We certainly want to see how this develops over the next few months."

Obama said last week that the recovery act was designed to make sure that local districts didn't lay off teachers, firefighters, police officers and others, and the stimulus has succeeded in that.

But House Minority Leader John Boehner said the president had pledged to stop unemployment before it rose above 8 percent. Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the jobless rate is now 9.5 percent, with more than 14 million people out of work.

"The real question is where are the jobs. You can't spend $800 billion of taxpayer money and not create jobs when you say that's what the goal was. We haven't seen the jobs yet," said Boehner, R-Ohio, who appeared with Hoyer.

Boehner said his home state hasn't seen one contract yet as a result of infrastructure spending. He added that Republicans had proposed a plan that would have cost half the money and created 4 million jobs, not 2 million that the administration hopes will result.

"This was supposed to be about jobs, jobs, and jobs. And the fact is it turned into nothing more than spending, spending and more spending on a lot of big government bureaucracy," Boehner said.

Hoyer said the GOP plan was the same as the one in 2001, which he claimed created less than 2 million jobs. Boehner said it created 5 million.

The two also bickered about the best way to create jobs. Hoyer said investment in health care and education is key, while Boehner advised trust in small businesses and the American people to reinvest their own money.