below 8 percent. ????

Pence, the chairman of the House Republican Conference, said in the GOP's weekly address that Obama had promised that the $787 billion economic stimulus package would keep unemployment, now at 10.2 percent, below 8 percent. Yet, Pence said, the administration insists the stimulus plan is working.

"In the city and on the farm, as millions of American families struggle to balance their checkbooks this holiday season, they watch in astonishment as Washington spends billions of dollars it doesn't have," he said.

"And what is the White House's answer to our struggles? Another meeting next week. A 'jobs summit,' and most likely another proposal to grow government, raise taxes and place more debt on the shoulders of our children and grandchildren."

Pence said Obama and the Democratic Congress have taken the economy "from bad to worse with their failed economic agenda and big government plans" and now want the government to take over the nation's health care system.

"The way to stimulate this economy and help working families is to let Americans keep more of their hard-earned money, not taking more from their wallets," he said. "Republicans have proposals to get our economy moving again, to achieve energy independence and lower the cost of health care."