Attacking Sen. Clinton, “Gunny” Bob falsely claimed U.S. has “the lowest unemployment rate in several decades”

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

“Gunny” Bob Newman falsely claimed that under President Bush, the United States has “the lowest unemployment rate in several decades.” In fact, the average unemployment rate in the United States was lower in 1998, 1999, and 2000 -- the last three years of the Clinton presidency -- than it was in June or any other month in 2006.

On his July 26 radio show, KOA host “Gunny” Bob Newman falsely claimed that under President Bush, the United States has “the lowest unemployment rate in several decades.” In fact, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, the average unemployment rate in the United States was lower in 1998, 1999, and 2000 -- the last three years of the Clinton presidency -- than it was in June or any other month in 2006.

Newman made his false statement while attacking Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-NY) July 24 criticism of Bush's handling of the economy. Clinton was in Denver to present the Democratic Leadership Council's (DLC) American Dream Initiative at the DLC's National Conversation. Referring to Clinton, Newman asked listeners: “Do you accept this theory of hers, though? Do you like her and the Democrats' plan? Are President Bush and the Republicans to blame for higher prices? Do you think the Democrats can deceive and trick the American people into believing that the lowest unemployment rate in several decades and 5.4 million new jobs are bad things that hurt America?”

According to the BLS, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for June 2006 was 4.6 percent, and the average unemployment rate for both the first and second quarters of 2006 was 4.7 percent. By contrast, in 2000 -- the last full year before President Bush took office -- the annual unemployment rate was 4.0 percent. The unemployment rate was 4.5 percent in 1998 and 4.2 percent in 1999.

As a June 2 press release from Republicans on the staff of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce stated, the current rate of 4.6 percent is “the lowest since July 2001,” the first year Bush was in office.

From the July 26 broadcast of Newsradio 850 KOA's The Gunny Bob Show:

NEWMAN: This lady named Hillary Clinton, perhaps you've heard of her -- whose lust for power and a higher place in history -- will run for president in 2008 and likely get the Democratic Party slot on the ballot -- well, she started it up. She revealed her party's platform foundation, which all parties trot out during election years as gimmicks, schemes, and scams, it's -- you know, they have to have a platform, so this is theirs. The Dems call it the “American Dream Initiative,” which has a very positive and uplifting sound to it for a change. She says -- Hillary Clinton, Senator Clinton -- she says that Americans want their dream back. And that they won't get it so long as Republicans are in power because the Republicans have bankrupted the country -- an obvious and demonstrable lie -- and have ignored the middle class -- the latter of which is a claim she offered no tangible proof of -- for that either. The so-called initiative claims it will help the middle class and poor with economic incentives because President Bush has forced gas prices, home prices, food prices and other prices up. As if they went down during her husband's administration. And consequently, savings are down. Do you accept this theory? That is what -- this is what the Democrats are going to be running on this year, this midterm election, and in 2008 -- this is it. The American Dream Initiative. Which, again, that's a good name. Do you accept this theory of hers, though? Do you like her and the Democrats' plan? Are President Bush and the Republicans to blame for higher prices? Do you think the Democrats can deceive and trick the American people into believing that the lowest unemployment rate in several decades and 5.4 million new jobs are bad things that hurt America. She says they are.