The last three years are the worst on record for public sector job loss, and the 700,000 government jobs that no longer exist remain a large drag on the American economy.

Today, New Jersey Gov. and Mitt Romney campaign surrogate Chris Christie (R) said that those losses meant the country was moving in “the right direction,” and Romney himself backed that statement up later, criticizing President Obama for calling for the hiring of more teachers, the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent reports. From CNN’s report of the Romney event:

Romney said of Obama, “he wants another stimulus, he wants to hire more government workers. He says we need more fireman, more policeman, more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It’s time for us to cut back on government and help the American people.”

State and local governments have been forced to layoff mass amounts of teachers, firefighters, and police officers because budget crunches have led to school closures and the elimination of public safety departments. That has hurt the unemployment situation (which Romney also criticizes), considering the unemployment rate would be a full point lower without the 700,000 layoffs.

Romney’s honesty isn’t a new position for him or the GOP — he’s called for more government layoffs since the beginning of his campaign. But it’s yet another indication that Romney is more ...