Caterpillar CEO Says, Stimulus or Not, Jobs not Coming Back

As he seeks to sell an increasingly skeptical nation on the merits of his proposed economic stimulus plan, President Obama has taken to relating a conversation he says he had with Caterpillar CEO Jim Owens. According to Obama, Owens told him that his company would be able to rehire workers recently laid off if the stimulus bill passes. The president has used the anecdote as an example of the difference he says the massive $789 billion, before interest, bill could have on the economy. Trouble is, President Obama's recounting of the convesation is not true. That is according to Owens himself.

Ownes told reporters at an Obama event yesterday, immediately after President Obama recounted his version of the conversation, that the president was wrong.

"I think, realistically, no. The truth is we're going to have more layoffs before we start hiring again.

It is going to take some time before the stimulus bill [has an impact]. [The bill] is a little light on the heavy construction."

President Obama's rhetoric in selling the stimulus bill has become more and more negative as the bill approaches passage in Congress. He has warned of an economic "catastrophe" if the bill is not sent to his desk quickly. But Owens's correction of the record with respect to the prospect for the stimulus resurrecting hiring underscores the fact that the bill is not intended to create private sector jobs as much as it is designed to increase spending on favorite liberal priorities. President Obama's use of the alleged conversation between himself and the Caterpillar CEO was meant to lend legitimacy to his Administration's argument that the dramatic increase in federal spending contained in the stimulus bill would ultimately be a direct benefit to the economy. Instead, it appears that Obama's version of Owens' comments was nothing more than an exaggerated sales pitch by an inexperienced salesman.