indication is that it will climb even higher when July 's unemployment report is released Friday . In total , more than 2.6 million jobs have been lost since Obama took office . But what has the president 's stimulus bill brought us , if not the jobs he promised ? Wasteful spending , such as $ 18 million to redesign Recovery.gov , the very government Web site used to monitor stimulus spending , or $ 3.4 million for an `` eco tunnel '' in Florida designed to provide safe passage for turtles looking to cross the street . This is not the economic stimulus that the American people expected . The second of Obama 's grand experiments on America was his massive so-called cap-and-trade bill that was rammed through the House of Representatives this past June so fast that congressmen were n't given the chance to read it . This bill is nothing more than a national energy tax , plain and simple . Its sole purpose is to increase the cost of energy so that Americans might use less . The Heritage Foundation estimated that it would end up costing the average American family up to $ 1,870
Editor 's note : Michael Steele is chairman of the Republican National Committee . Michael Steele says it 's becoming clear that the Obama administration is spending money recklessly . -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Friday marks President Obama 's 200th day in office , and in most respects , his second hundred days as president have been worse than the first 100 . Obama campaigned on bringing `` change '' to America , and during his first 200 days as president , his real definition of change is becoming absolutely clear to Americans . Obama and congressional Democrats are determined to conduct their reckless and costly liberal experiments on the American people without any regard to the consequences . Whether a $ 787 billion stimulus bill , a `` cap-and-trade '' scheme that is nothing more than a huge national energy tax on every American family and business , or a $ 1.6 trillion government-run health care plan , more and more Americans are rightfully concerned about Obama 's change for this country . Since Obama and Democrats rushed through Congress a $ 787 billion stimulus package , unemployment in America has risen close to 9.5 percent , and every