Priceless: Obama claims credit for shredding state and local government payrolls

On May 8, 2012, President Obama claimed he has reduced government employment.

And it's worth noting, by the way -- this is just a little aside -- after there was a recession under Ronald Reagan, government employment went way up.  It went up after the recessions under the first George Bush and the second George Bush.  So each time there was a recession with a Republican President, compensated -- we compensated by making sure that government didn't see a drastic reduction in employment.

The only time government employment has gone down during a recession has been under me.  (Applause.)  So I make that point just so you don't buy into this whole bloated government argument that you hear.  And frankly, if Congress had said yes to helping states put teachers back to work and put the economy before our politics, then tens of thousands more teachers in New York would have a job right now.  That is a fact.  And that would mean not only a lower unemployment rate, but also more customers for business.

The truth is Federal Government employment has increased by over 6% under Obama. 

Employees: The number of federal employees grew by 123,000, or 6.2%, under President Obama, according to the White House's Office of Management and Budget.

Even liberal PolitiFact called Obama's claim false.The reduction in government employment Obama was taking credit for was on the state and local levels.

The federal government has been one of the few areas that's grown during the economic downturn. The private sector remains down 1.1 million jobs from the start of 2009, while state and local governments have shed 635,000 positions.

The irony of Obama taking credit for costing 635,000 state and local government employees their job is priceless.