Obey: Economy needs more work

UNDATED (WSAU) House Appropriations Chairman David Obey of Wausau says the government needs to do more to boost the U-S economy, in spite of new growth.

The Gross Domestic Product grew three-and-a-half percent in the last three months. That’s the first gain in over a year. Much of it was attributed to government programs like “Cash for Clunkers” which boosted car sales.

Obey called it welcome news. But he sees little evidence that the private economy is strong enough to sustain the new growth without more government help.

Republicans say the government is not helping much at all, despite the billions in economic stimulus dollars spent. Janesville House Republican Paul Ryan calls the stimulus program a “failure.” He says it’s done nothing to put people back to work – and two-point-seven million jobs were actually lost during that period.