Mitt Romney's campaign releases a statement, responding to Barack Obama's surprising comment today that "the private sector is doing fine."
"Today, President Obama inexplicably claimed that 'the private sector is doing fine.' But the 23 million Americans who are struggling for work are not 'doing fine.' Job creators and small businesses are not 'doing fine.'
The middle class is not 'doing fine.' There is no denying that President Obama has been fundamentally hostile to job creators and his policies have prevented our economy from rebounding. America needs a president who understands the economy and knows how to get our country back on track."
James Pethokoukis notes that the private sector GDP grew by just 1.2% in 2011 and 2.6% in the first quarter of 2012.
Private-sector jobs have increased by an average of just 105,000 over the past three months and by just 89,000 a month during the entire Obama Recovery.
In 1983 and 1984, during the supply-side Reagan Boom, private sector jobs increased by an average of 292,000 a month. Adjusted for population, that number is more like 375,000 private-sector jobs a month.
Romney is often accused of being out-of-touch, but this was a remarkably out-of-touch moment from the president and some steaming, piping hot ammunition for attacks ads going forward.
It might not be as damaging as Obama's comments about a "one-term proposition", but it fits snugly into Romney's contention that Obama is either oblivious, indifferent, or downright hostile to the private sector.
