In a June 9 editorial, The Washington Times falsely asserted that comments by two of President Obama's top advisers were contradictory. The Times wrote: “White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee promised on 'Fox News Sunday': 'It's going to take more than a few months to turn it around.' That contradicts White House economic adviser Lawrence H. Summers' promise in January that the economy would start improving 'within weeks' so long as the president's $787 billion stimulus was passed.” But the Times misrepresented what Summers said. He did not say the economy as a whole would start improving “within weeks.” Rather, on the January 25 edition of Meet the Press, Summers mentioned specific changes that he said would occur “within weeks”: "[T]he tax measures [in the recovery act] are going to change withholding checks within weeks after they're enacted," and “Cities across the country are going to see help so they don't have to lay off teachers or cops within weeks.” Indeed, Summers went on to state that “there is something else we have to recognize, which is these problems weren't made in a day or a week or a month or even a year, and they're not going to get solved that fast.” (A Media Matters for America search of the Nexis database did not turn up any other instances of Summers using the phrase “within weeks” when discussing the stimulus package in January.)

Moreover, Goolsbee did not say, “It's going to take more than a few months to turn it around” on Fox News Sunday. White House senior adviser David Axelrod made that statement on Face the Nation.

From the January 25 edition of NBC's Meet the Press:

DAVID GREGORY (host): Let's talk about what can be achieved this year, this calendar year. It's a big concern, you want that up-front stimulus to jump-start the economy. The CBO, the Congressional Budget Office, issued a report this week, and it was also echoed by a research report done by the investment bank Goldman Sachs. And we'll put a portion of that Goldman Sachs report on the screen: “Preliminary estimates imply that of the $825 billion Congress is considering, only $250 billion will make it into the economy in the current calendar year. This could still change as the package works its way through Congress, but these estimates highlight the political and practical challenges in enacting an effective fiscal package, particularly in 2009.” Only $250 billion worth of impact this year. Don't you want more of a jump-start?

SUMMERS: This is something we've been very focused on. There's certain adjustments that are taking place in the legislation. The president has committed, through a letter from his OMB director, Peter Orszag, that three-quarters of this $825 billion program will be spent out within the first 18 months. And we're doing everything we can. But, frankly, we're not going to rush things to the point of being wasteful. But the tax measures are going to change withholding checks within weeks after they're enacted. Cities across the country are going to see help so they don't have to lay off teachers or cops within weeks after this -- after the program is passed. So yes, speed is a crucial concern. But you know, David, there is something else we have to recognize, which is these problems weren't made in a day or a week or a month or even a year, and they're not going to get solved that fast. So even as we move to be as rapid as we can in jolting the economy and giving it the push forward it needs, we also have to be mindful of having the right kind of plan that will carry us forward over time. That's why the productive aspects of the investments the president's making -- doubling renewable energy, for example, modernizing 10,000 schools -- are so essential.

From the June 9 Washington Times editorial:

The Obama administration was out in full force defending the stimulus this weekend. The mantra is that the economy is getting better but Americans need to be patient to see progress. The problem is that, so far, there hasn't been any economic progress.

White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee promised on “Fox News Sunday”: “It's going to take more than a few months to turn it around.” That contradicts White House economic adviser Lawrence H. Summers' promise in January that the economy would start improving “within weeks” so long as the president's $787 billion stimulus was passed.

The stimulus actually has dampened economic projections. In January, before the stimulus was passed, 53 business economists and forecasters surveyed by the Wall Street Journal expected gross domestic product (GDP) for the third quarter (July through September) to rise by 1.2 percent at an annual rate. Predictions became gloomier after the stimulus passed in March. In May, these experts forecast only a 0.6 growth rate for the third quarter.