When Obama addressed Caterpillar last month he urged Congress to pass his stimulus package, stating that the Caterpillar CEO assured him passage would lead to rehiring laid off workers. Obama then urged the workers to call their representatives in Congress and urge them to pass the package, the workers, who evidently know more about their business than Obama, urged their representatives not to pass it. The CEO disputed Obama’s claim that Obama’s stimulus would mean rehiring workers and yesterday laid off even more workers.

Caterpillar Inc, the world’s largest maker of construction and mining equipment, notified an additional 2,454 workers in three states on Tuesday that they were losing their jobs as the company continues to try to bring production in line with plummeting demand.
The bulk of the job cuts — nearly 1,600 in all — will come in Illinois at the company’s plants in East Peoria, which makes track-type tractors and pipe layers, and Aurora, where it makes hydraulic excavators and wheel loaders.