President Barack Obama’s economic policies have failed and are responsible for the dismal job growth occurring in the United States, Rep. Daniel Benishek, R-Mich., tells Newsmax.TV.
The congressman from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula was commenting on the most recent jobs report from the Labor Department that showed employers added 96,000 jobs in August and that the unemployment rate declined to 8.1 percent from 8.3. However, the unemployment rate declined because of people dropping out of the labor force.
“The president’s policies have failed, all right,” Benishek said. “The number one issue facing us in northern Michigan is jobs. The number 8.1 percent doesn’t mean much in northern Michigan. We all know that it’s much higher than that, people are underemployed and jobs is the main issue.
“The president keeps trying to distract us with different things he keeps brining up. But it’s the economy and jobs. Due to the fact really his policies have failed, he wants to have to have regulatory rule makers make onerous rules that make it very difficult to start a business … that’ what I’ve been hearing again and again.”
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The medical doctor and surgeon is currently locked in a tight re-election bid with former state representative Gary McDowell, who he defeated in 2010. Benishek’s district, Michigan’s 1st congressional district, covers a vast area and includes all of the state’s Upper Peninsula and part of the Lower Peninsula. Benishek was given a boost the other day when House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, held a fund-raiser for him.
“The Speaker realizes how important my ... campaign is,” he said. “I’m one of the top targets of the Democrats. … I took a seat that was held by the Democrats for the last 18 years. They think it belongs to them and they’re working hard to take it back.”
Despite recent polls showing GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney trailing Obama in Michigan, Benishek believes that “Romney has a good chance to win the state of Michigan.
“It’s going to be a referendum on Mr. Obama,” he said. “Let’s face it, Obama’s policies have failed. There are not enough jobs. The reason I ran for Congress in the first place is the fact that I want our children to be able to achieve the American dream. I want them to have the same opportunities I had growing up.
“I see that across the state. It’s difficult for people to find jobs in Northern Michigan. Our biggest export in Northern Michigan has been our children, who can’t find work. .. Mr. Obama can say all he wants but the results are much different than what he says.”
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