Obama’s job plan won’t “add a dime to the deficit”, says White House
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President Barack Obama has delivered Congress the American Jobs Act, urging them to pass the latest attempt to bring down unemployment from its current level of 9.1%.
At a joint session of Congress yesterday, Obama outlined plans to encourage hiring, extend unemployment benefits and cut payroll taxes for working and middle class Americans.
The act contains plans to put as many as 28,000 teachers back to work, along with veterans and construction workers, through investment in projects “chosen by need and impact, not earmarks and politics”.
The speech also reflected on the importance of sustaining any repairs to the economy.
“As I’ve argued since I ran for this office, we have to look beyond the immediate crisis and start building an economy that lasts into the future – an economy that creates good, middle-class jobs that pay well and offer security,” says Obama.
The White House claims the act would not “add a dime to the deficit”. Instead the the plan would be paid for by a “balanced deficit reduction plan” through the elimination of corporate tax loopholes and “asking wealthy Americans to pay their fair share”.
The US president has come under considerable pressure to rectify what is being viewed as a stagnating employment market in the US. The US employment situation remained unchanged in August as the economy failed to add any new jobs.
His approval rating, having reached a high of 69% on taking office in 2009, has sunk dramatically to 42% – well below the 51% average for his term.
Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, issued a scathing response to the speech, attacking a lack of “reliable leadership”.
“Instead of offering bold proposals to free job creators from excessive regulation and burdensome mandates, President Obama underwhelmed the country with empty rhetoric and calls for ineffective half-measures. Despite one failed stimulus, the President wants even more deficit spending,” argues Preibus.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, issued a speech of his own yesterday where he once again hinted at the “range of tools” at his disposal without specifying what might be used to rectify the current economic situation.
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