Walsh, followers need to get the facts

Before I attended the Joe Walsh rally and debate with Melissa Bean and Bill Scheurer, I looked over Mr. Walsh's website to familiarize myself more with his views. It didn't take long to realize that he was not particularly happy with either the Republicans or Democrats, and views himself as sort of a revolutionary leader of the angry, very, very angry, scared, and confused.

One topic that brought on ridicule and scorn was the stimulus bill. Mr. Walsh has said that it has not stimulated the economy and job losses mount. Really? I started asking myself where I could go to find some unbiased information about the stimulus. Of course, the Congressional Budget Office!

I did the Googles and there I found a report entitled Estimated Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Employment and Economic Output from April 2010 through June 2010. That part of the report noted that the stimulus policies raised real GDP by between 1.7 percent and 4.5 percent, lowered the unemployment rate by between 0.7 percent points and 1.8 percentage points, increased the number of people employed by between 1.4 million and 3.3 million, and increased the number of full-time-equivalent jobs by 2.0 million to 4.8 million.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, private employers have added 863,000 jobs this year. That's not a robust number by any stretch but plus just can't equal minus.

I have some suggestions for Mr. Walsh and his followers. Chill out. Enroll in an anger management class. Take the next couple of years off and really study the issues that have and will affect all our lives. After that, come back with all your passion. However, next time also come armed with some facts and figures so you can offer some reasonable and responsible solutions as to how to grow the economy and create jobs in the near term, while tackling the unsustainable debt in the longer term.

Robert Mount

Grayslake