(Source: Chicago Tribune)
WASHINGTON _ A few months into the federal government's attempt to stimulate the economy, with unemployment at a 26-year-high of 9.5 percent in June, Vice President Joe Biden, the Obama administration's point-man on the stimulus program, allows that they "misread" the severity of the problem.
"The truth is, we and everyone else misread the economy," Biden told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an interview that aired Sunday on "This Week."
Biden acknowledged officials were too optimistic earlier this year when they predicted that joblessness would peak at 8 percent.
"The truth is, there was a misreading of just how bad an economy we inherited," said Biden. "Now, that doesn't _ I'm not _ it's now our responsibility. So the second question becomes, did the economic package we put in place, including the Recovery Act, is it the right package given the circumstances we're in? And we believe it is the right package given the circumstances we're in."
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(c) 2009, Tribune Washington Bureau
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