Libertarians blame Obama for prolonging recession

The jobless rate has jumped to 9.4% as of May, the highest in 26 years. More than 14.5 million Americans are out of work. The economic policies of Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats are prolonging the recession.

While the Republican Party has been largely ineffectual in stirring anger among voters, the Libertarian Party is taking almost daily shots at the failed presidency of Barack Obama.

From the Libertarian Party's latest release on the dismal job picture under Obama:

With unemployment exploding to 9.4 percent in May instead of decreasing as Obama promised with passage of his "stimulus" package, America’s third-largest party urges Congress to instead consider tax and regulatory relief to give the nation "the jobs Americans need."

"There is no doubt our economy will recover. Americans have always overcome adversity with our tenacity, creativity and optimism," said Donny Ferguson, Libertarian National Committee Communications Director. "But as unemployment continues to rise when it should be falling by now, it begs the question of how long will recovery be delayed by Obama's Big Government agenda?"

"The Libertarian Party seems to be the only party promoting a smart program of tax and regulatory relief aimed at freeing up capital," said Ferguson. "History shows it’s the most effective way to give those 14.5 million unemployed the jobs Americans need."

"Sadly, Obama instead chose to exploit this tragic situation to advance his personal agenda of bigger, more expensive government – which has unemployment now skyrocketing to its highest levels in a quarter-century," said Ferguson. "Because of Obama, our economic recovery has been seriously stunted and delayed."

Figures released Friday by the Labor Department show unemployment rose to 9.4 percent in May from 8.9 percent in April as the number of unemployed persons increased by 787,000 to 14.5 million. Unemployment is highest among blacks (14.9 percent) and Hispanics (12.7 percent.) The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) increased by 268,000 over the month to 3.9 million according to the Labor Department.

"Unfortunately, it looks like the Libertarian Party was proven right when we said back in January that Obama's explosive growth of government and out-of-control spending would delay our economic recovery. We should be further along in our recovery, but Republican and Democrat spending and bailouts are delaying that," said Ferguson.

"History has proven time and time again that decreasing the size of government, cutting taxes and freeing up people to create jobs and business are the best way to stimulate growth," said Ferguson. "Libertarian urge Congress and the White House to take these real, proven measures, instead of exploiting people's misfortune to inflate the size of government."

For more information on the Libertarian Party, visit http://www.LP.org