Here's an updated look at Pelosi aide Karina Newton's famous chart on job growth under President Bush and the Republicans versus President Obama and the Democrats, focusing this time exclusively on private sector jobs:
My point here isn't to say the everything is okay in the economy. It obviously isn't. Even though we gained 83,000 private sector jobs last month, we lost over 200,000 overall thanks to the loss of Census Bureau employment.
But when Republicans decry the latest jobs report, as they surely will, remember that they are decrying the loss of government jobs. And even though they love to say that government jobs aren't real jobs, their outrage over this jobs report is their way of admitting they were wrong about that.
The thing is, it's the Republicans that have blocked Democrats at every stage in our efforts to accelerate this recovery. Ever since Bush left office and the Republicans lost power, things have been heading in the right direction. But it's true, the recovery needs to move more quickly, and the biggest thing slowing us down are the Republicans who are getting in the way, blocking Democratic efforts to extend unemployment benefits and deliver aid to states struggling to keep public servants employed.
Democrats can and should take credit for the recovery that we've had even while recognizing that it's not enough. We need more of what's gotten us this far, not less. And the Republicans are fighting that every step of the way.