Speaking to reporters Thursday, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif, claimed that "over 170 million" jobs would be lost if the sequester cuts go into place without a deal, The Blaze reported.
“If sequestration takes place, that’s going to be a great setback. We don’t need to be having something like sequestration that’s going to cause these job losses — over 170 million jobs that could be lost,” she said.
Although Waters said the cuts would need to take place “over a long period of time,” her estimated number of lost jobs totals more than all the jobs currently in the country.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are only 134 million jobs in the country.
"Waters apparently took the 750,000 jobs lost figure she got from US Progressives and multiplied that by over 226 in the interest of accuracy," Doug Powers wrote at Michelle Malkin's website.
Jason Howerton wrote at The Blaze that nothing in the data suggests that the "$85 billion in automatic sequestration cuts during FY2013 (about 2.4 percent of annual federal budget) would cause 170 million people to lose their jobs."
Eric Orner, Waters’ deputy communications director, told National Review Online's Charles W. Cooke that Waters misspoke, and intended to say 170,000 jobs would be lost, not 170 million.
Orner also scolded Cooke for posting a video of Waters' comments.
"I think this was below your standards, and hope you’ll reconsider the post," he added.
But as Howerton wrote, once something like this is said, it can't be "unsaid."
"Never mind," Cooke wrote in response to Orner's email. "When the very fabric of the republic collapses at 11:59 p.m. tomorrow, this will all be rendered moot."
Video of her comments can be seen here.
Related:
- Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison melts down on Hannity, causes trend on Twitter
- Bob Woodward: 'Very senior' WH person 'warned me' on sequester criticism
- Administration warns sequester will cut budget of non-existent agency
- Space-time continuum to end and other ideas for demagoguing sequester cuts
- Democratic strategist: GOP, sequestration to blame for violence in Chicago
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