WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- The leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties Sunday differed on whether last week's unemployment report was good news or bad news.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., hailed the July unemployment report, citing the first surge in manufacturing in more than a decade on ABC's "This Week," and saying the economy is moving in the right direction, while Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus said President Barack Obama has failed to live up to his promises, leaving Americans worse off now than they were "three or four years ago.
"Do we want to continue in that direction? Heck no," Priebus said.
Schultz blamed Republicans in Congress for unemployment remaining above 8 percent for refusing to adopt the American Jobs Act and chided GOP Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney for suggesting the Federal Reserve ought not to engage in another round of quantitative easing.
"The Federal Reserve is an independent financial institution. It's important that we not dictate from the White House, or certainly from candidates for president of the United States, what the Federal Reserve should be doing," Schultz said.
Priebus also defended Romney's opposition to releasing 10 years of his tax returns called it a "made-up issue." Last week, Senate Majority Leader Mitt Romney alleged Romney hadn't paid federal income taxes for a decade.
Schultz said Romney could make the issue go away if he would just release the returns.
