Bachmann: Obama has failed to deal with recession

By BRUCE SMITH
Associated Press

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. - Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has criticized President Barack Obama's handling of the recovery from the Great Recession as she brings her campaign back to South Carolina.

The Minnesota congresswoman said Thursday that during the recession, 7 million private sector jobs were lost. But she said that after Congress passed the stimulus bill hundreds of thousands of government jobs were added.

Bachmann said Obama has failed in dealing with unemployment and said there should be no more government stimulus programs and no more bailouts for big corporations.

Bachmann won a key Iowa straw poll earlier this month and has been campaigning frequently in South Carolina, the site of the first GOP primary in the South. She spoke Thursday at a town hall meeting hosted by U.S. Rep. Tim Scott.

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