Boehner: ‘Mr. President, take it from me: The private sector is not doing well’

By Russell Berman - 06/08/12 02:30 PM ET

House Republican leaders responded curtly to President Obama’s statement on Friday that the private sector is “doing fine:” No, they said, it isn’t.

“Mr. President, I used to run a small business. Mr. President, take it from me: The private sector is not doing well,” Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said at a hastily arranged Capitol press conference to respond to Obama.

Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) chimed in: “The question from me to the president: Are you kidding me? When you see the jobs numbers that came out last week, the private sector is not doing fine.

“I would ask the president to stop engaging in the blame game. It’s not because of the headwinds in Europe,” Cantor added. “It’s not because of House Republicans. It’s because of the failed stimulus policies and the other items in his agenda that small businesses in this country just aren’t growing.”

The question of what impact the debt crisis in Europe is having on the U.S. economy has tripped up Republicans in recent days. On Thursday, Boehner said the recession in Europe “is affecting our economy today.”

After saying the recent slowdown was not, as the Obama administration has argued, partly the result of “headwinds” from Europe, Cantor was asked if he agreed with Boehner’s statement.

“Sure,” he replied. “Europe is a problem. There’s no question about that. It is providing a liquidity issue to the global economy. There is certainly a sense that governments in that continent are not addressing their problems, and it should be a signal to all of us that we’ve got to get serious. I agree wholeheartedly with the Speaker.”

For more on Boehner’s comments, click here.

 Boehner: ‘Mr. President, take it from me: The private sector is not doing well’ – The Hill’s Video.

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