GOP: Obama made weak economy worse

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama "inherited a weak economy" from a Republican administration, but isn't making it better, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said Saturday.

In the party's weekly media address, Toomey said the president's Democratic strategies had made a bad situation worse.

"President Obama inherited a weak economy, but by nearly every measure, he has made the economy worse," Toomey said. "Over two years ago, his administration told us that passing his $787 billion stimulus bill would keep unemployment below 8 percent.

"Instead, since the stimulus was enacted, our economy has lost more than 1.3 million jobs and the unemployment rate has averaged over 9 percent."

Toomey is one of three Republican senators in a so-called supercommittee evenly divided by party, charged with devising an economic plan for the United States to cut $1.5 billion from the federal budget and control national debt. There are six senators and six House members on the special panel, which is to present a plan to Congress in the fall.

Under last-minute legislation early this month, default spending cuts will kick in if the supercommittee's recommendations aren't approved.

Toomey, a freshman to the upper chamber, said he was "very optimistic" about a turnaround.

"Americans are still the hardest working, most industrious and innovative, most entrepreneurial people in the world," he said.