Economic Policy Is Working, Obama Says
In public appearances this week, President Obama will attempt to regain the initiative on the economy after what one senior administration official called several "rocky" weeks of declining support for the president and his major policy efforts.
He and his Cabinet advisers will fan out across several swing states to declare that the recovery has moved from the rescue stage to rebuilding, even though unemployment continues to increase and his advisers have been making contradictory statements about whether the administration may need to consider a tax increase for middle-class Americans.
Obama's insistence that the first phase of the recovery is over amounts to a strong defense of his intervention in the private-sector economy -- and of the administration's overall competency -- as lawmakers head into their August recess with the fate of health-care and energy reform still undetermined. But many Republicans and some Democrats say the administration may be misreading the pace of the turnaround and, in effect, celebrating too soon.
"Is this what economists call an inflection point? Probably," said William A. Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who served as a domestic policy adviser in the Clinton White House. "To what extent has administration policy contributed to this? I would say substantially in the case of rescue, but not much, if it all, in slowing the rate of decline."
Galston warned that "the administration is sailing into some pretty stiff headwinds," citing the still-sluggish credit markets and, more important, the fact that "households have experienced a shock, even more to their wealth than to their income, that will take some time to get over."
Only a few weeks ago, Vice President Biden acknowledged that the administration had "misread" the depth of the recession upon taking office. Quarterly gross domestic product numbers have since been revised to show a more severe economic slide than was known at the time, but an administration that prefers playing offense has been forced to defend the effectiveness of its $787 billion stimulus measure in the face of rising unemployment.
But on Sunday even Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Obama's general-election rival, conceded on CNN that the legislation has brought "short-term improvement in the economy." The most recent GDP figure showed the economy contracting at 1 percent over the most recent quarter, better than most forecasters anticipated.
"The GDP numbers validated our strategy," said Rahm Emanuel, Obama's chief of staff, sharpening the point made by the administration's top economic policy advisers on weekend talk shows. "If you think about it, the first six months were spent rescuing the economy. Now the president is laying the groundwork for rebuilding the economy."
Obama began making that case Monday when he told an audience of student veterans in Virginia that the tuition aid contained in the new G.I. Bill is "not simply a debt that we are repaying to the remarkable men and women who have served -- it is an investment in our own country."
On Wednesday, the president will travel to Elkhart, Ind., for a repeat visit to the nation's RV manufacturing capital, which he described in his weekly radio address as "hard-hit not only by the economic crisis of recent months, but by the broader economic changes of recent decades."
Emanuel said Obama will highlight the billions of dollars in stimulus grants that will go toward battery cell research for the next generation of electric cars, a sector of the economy he has highlighted for its potential to create jobs.
The stimulus measure contains $21.5 billion for basic research -- the largest one-time spending ever in that area -- and $60 billion for such projects as extending broadband's reach, computerizing health records and creating a smart grid, among other programs the administration has deemed important to developing a new economy.
Source: Washington Post
« Back to US News
Related News
-
THE INFLUENCE GAME: Bill Gates' sway on ed policy Aug 4, 2009 @ 03:00 AM
WASHINGTON — Not content with shaping education directly through schools, the biggest player in the school reform movement has an eye on moving education policy.
-
Obama Gets 'Incomplete' as Decisions on War, Joblessness Loom Aug 4, 2009 @ 03:00 AM
Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- L. Sonny Young usually hosts up to 20people on Sundays at his Springfield, Ohio, barber shop to makecalls for President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul. Lastweek, only three people showed up.
-
Obama Remarks at DNC Fundraiser Aug 4, 2009 @ 03:00 AM
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Nancy Pelosi! Hello, San Francisco! (Applause.) Hey! How are you? Hello. It's good to see all of you. Thank you. Thank you. Just a couple of quick special thank yous. I love all of you. (Applause.) But there are a couple people I want to make sure to acknowledge.
-
Checks for Seniors Aug 4, 2009 @ 03:00 AM
The Post asked economists, pollsters and politicians whether Congress should fulfill President Obama's request that it provide a one-time payment of $250 to Social Security recipients to offset the absence of a cost-of-living adjustment this year. Below are contributions from Rudolph Penner, Harry Reid, Diane Lim Rogers, Douglas E. Schoen, Mark Zandi, John Boehner, Newt Gingrich, Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Diana Zuckerman.
-
Stagnant Prices Prevent Social Security Increase Aug 4, 2009 @ 03:00 AM
President Obama on Wednesday attempted to preempt the announcement that Social Security recipients will not see an increase in their benefit checks for the first time in three decades, pressing Congress for a one-time payment of $250 to help seniors and disabled Americans weather the recession.
