Obama’s Job Initiatives Will Do Little to Boost Growth
William Galston, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said such measures will do little to boost growth of the $14 trillion U.S. economy but will enhance the image of Obama as an economic leader.
From The Americano
President Barack Obama continues to talk to Americans about his job initiatives but unemployment is still a large and painful issue among voters. The President has taken a campaign mood as he spent several days this week on a tour of electorally vital western states on Wednesday.
With 14 million Americans out of work, the economy is struggling to gain momentum amid fears that an intractable European debt crisis may tip the United States back into recession.
Opinion polls showed Obama’s approval ratings stuck near record lows, although a new survey by Gallup detected a tiny improvement in confidence.
The president, declaring last month that the United States faced an economic “emergency,” unveiled a $447 billion jobs plan. When that was blocked by Republicans in Congress, he set about using the powers vested in him as chief executive to bypass lawmakers.
Republicans blocked Obama’s jobs bill because it raised taxes on Americans making $1 million a year or more to pay for it.
Obama tries to present that opposition as an example of Republican obstruction, polishing a central part of his 2012 re-election campaign playbook that they are the party of the rich, while taping into public anger over gridlock in Washington.
On Monday Obama deployed an executive order to help homeowners while in Las Vegas, the center of the collapse of the U.S. housing bubble since 2006.
On Tuesday his administration issued a “challenge” to community healthcare centers to hire 8,000 military veterans over the next three years.
On Wednesday Obama announced in Denver that he is changing the rules to ease the growing burden of student loans.
William Galston, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said such measures will do little to boost growth of the $14 trillion U.S. economy but will enhance the image of Obama as an economic leader.
Obama is also attacking Congress and presenting himself as the outsider. “Steps like these won’t take the place of the bold action we need from Congress to boost our economy and create jobs, but they will make a difference,” Obama said in a statement.
“Until Congress does act, I will continue to do everything in my power to act on behalf of the American people,” he added.
Recently President Obama said Washington’s current preoccupation with the deficit and debt was really all about job creation, as he sought to assure the public that whatever abstract debate they’re hearing, he’s focused on their top economic concern heading into his re-election campaign.
The Americano
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