MR. GREGORY: Governor Romney, why is it that companies are not investing, that they're not hiring?

FMR. GOV. MITT ROMNEY (R-MA): Well, companies are going to hire if there's additional purchases that require them to, to staff up and to beef up and to start their production lines. People have to be buying things. And unfortunately, what the president created with this $780-plus billion stimulus plan was something which grew government but did not grow the private economy. In fact, in some respects, the, the work that's been done by The Washington Post recently points that out. It shows that there's, there's 10 times as much spending per person in the Washington, D.C., area as there is in the nation at large. This is not going to be a jobless recovery. The economy will come back, the private sector will grow again. But it has been a jobless stimulus. And, and that's unfortunate, because the president had an opportunity to focus on the economy, to create jobs; but instead, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid created something that, that stimulated government.

MR. GREGORY: You know, it's interesting. I mean, some people would, would hear that and say that's a partisan view, Jim Cramer. But the reality is that there are people who say, "Well, what if you got this stimulus to take effect sooner, you got more than 20 percent of the money actually paid out?" The president this week said that Republicans seem to be rooting for failure; and yet, it was Republicans who, at the outset of the stimulus debate, said, "What about a payroll tax holiday? Let's do something to prime the economy faster."

MR. JIM CRAMER: I don't think that--when I talk to CEOs, and I talk to dozens of them for my show, no one has seen it. I keep asking, "Where's the money? Have you seen any money coming from Washington?" Even companies that are involved with road building, the most elementary aspect of any sort of stimulus, are saying, "No, this is the first quarter that we may have seen a trickle." So I agree with you, David, this--the stimulus is not helping create jobs. And that's not Republican or Democrat. I just don't see anything beyond municipal and state worker compensation.

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Filed under: * Economics, Politics • Economy • Corporations/Corporate Life • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • Stock Market • The Banking System/Sector • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • The Fiscal Stimulus Package of 2009 • The U.S. Government • The National Deficit • Politics in General • Office of the President • President Barack Obama

1. Chris wrote: very ominous for Obama that sycophants like David Gregory are no longer buying the Administration’s line on job creation and the stimulus. December 13, 7:35 pm | [comment link]

2. Dilbertnomore wrote: Greenspan and Cramer had very good comments for any wise enough to take it aboard. Of course, if one’s true intent is to wreck our economy, the path being followed by the Obama administration is right on point to take us there. December 13, 9:15 pm | [comment link]

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