Obama: Economy Is Moving in Right Direction
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is trumpeting private-sector job growth and lower unemployment, telling the public that "the trend is clear" on the economy - and it's encouraging.
The president used his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday to discuss the latest economic news and press for bipartisan action in the newly divided Congress on measures to spur growth.
He presented the December jobs report in a positive light, even though it fell short of what economists had been looking for and even though the drop in unemployment came partly because some people stopped looking for work.
The private sector added 103,000 new jobs in December and the unemployment rate fell from 9.8 percent to 9.4 percent.
"Now, we know that these numbers can bounce around from month to month. But the trend is clear," said the president, whose 2012 re-election prospects may well hinge on the condition of the economy.
"We saw 12 straight months of private sector job growth - the first time that's been true since 2006," he said. The economy added 1.3 million jobs last year. And each quarter was stronger than the last, which means the pace of hiring is picking up."
Mr. Obama attributed increasingly optimistic economic forecasts in part to the tax cut deal he negotiated last month with Republicans to extend Bush-era tax rates for all, along with unemployment benefits, a payroll tax cut and assorted other tax breaks. He urged businesses to take advantage of provisions including one that allows businesses to write off 100 percent of their capital investment expenses in 2011. And the president said that the deal stands as an example of how Washington should work as he confronts a Congress where Republicans just assumed the majority in the House and expanded their ranks in the Senate.
"What we can't do is refight the battles of the past two years that distract us from the hard work of moving our economy forward. What we can't do is engage in the kinds of symbolic battles that so often consume Washington while the rest of America waits for us to solve problems," the president said. "The tax cuts and other progress we made in December were a much-needed departure from that pattern. Let's build on that admirable example."
Republicans devoted their weekly address to spotlighting steps being taken by the new Republican House of Representatives majority, including trimming House members' operating budgets and, more importantly, moving to repeal President Obama's signature health care law. The Republican Party contends the law extending coverage to 30 million uninsured Americans is a budget-busting "job-killer," although the Congressional Budget Office said this week that repealing it would cost billions because the law's numerous taxes, fees and cuts in Medicare spending would be lost.
Although the repeal is not expected to pass the Senate and would certainly be vetoed by President Obama, new House majority leader, Republican Rep. Eric Cantor pledged that Republicans would try to replace it with "a new vision to improve our health care system without bankrupting our country."
"We will provide Americans with the mainstream solutions they were denied when Democrats used dubious procedural tactics to jam through the bill along strictly partisan lines," Cantor said.
"Looking ahead, the best boost that Congress can provide to the economy is to send a credible signal that we are serious about cutting spending and eliminating job-killing regulations," he said. "Our surging debt burden hangs over the economy like a dark cloud, waiting to unleash a storm of inflation, higher taxes and higher borrowing costs upon businesses and families. Only when the cloud is lifted can we get on the path to long-term growth."
© 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The president used his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday to discuss the latest economic news and press for bipartisan action in the newly divided Congress on measures to spur growth.
He presented the December jobs report in a positive light, even though it fell short of what economists had been looking for and even though the drop in unemployment came partly because some people stopped looking for work.
The private sector added 103,000 new jobs in December and the unemployment rate fell from 9.8 percent to 9.4 percent.
"Now, we know that these numbers can bounce around from month to month. But the trend is clear," said the president, whose 2012 re-election prospects may well hinge on the condition of the economy.
"We saw 12 straight months of private sector job growth - the first time that's been true since 2006," he said. The economy added 1.3 million jobs last year. And each quarter was stronger than the last, which means the pace of hiring is picking up."
Mr. Obama attributed increasingly optimistic economic forecasts in part to the tax cut deal he negotiated last month with Republicans to extend Bush-era tax rates for all, along with unemployment benefits, a payroll tax cut and assorted other tax breaks. He urged businesses to take advantage of provisions including one that allows businesses to write off 100 percent of their capital investment expenses in 2011. And the president said that the deal stands as an example of how Washington should work as he confronts a Congress where Republicans just assumed the majority in the House and expanded their ranks in the Senate.
"What we can't do is refight the battles of the past two years that distract us from the hard work of moving our economy forward. What we can't do is engage in the kinds of symbolic battles that so often consume Washington while the rest of America waits for us to solve problems," the president said. "The tax cuts and other progress we made in December were a much-needed departure from that pattern. Let's build on that admirable example."
Republicans devoted their weekly address to spotlighting steps being taken by the new Republican House of Representatives majority, including trimming House members' operating budgets and, more importantly, moving to repeal President Obama's signature health care law. The Republican Party contends the law extending coverage to 30 million uninsured Americans is a budget-busting "job-killer," although the Congressional Budget Office said this week that repealing it would cost billions because the law's numerous taxes, fees and cuts in Medicare spending would be lost.
Although the repeal is not expected to pass the Senate and would certainly be vetoed by President Obama, new House majority leader, Republican Rep. Eric Cantor pledged that Republicans would try to replace it with "a new vision to improve our health care system without bankrupting our country."
"We will provide Americans with the mainstream solutions they were denied when Democrats used dubious procedural tactics to jam through the bill along strictly partisan lines," Cantor said.
"Looking ahead, the best boost that Congress can provide to the economy is to send a credible signal that we are serious about cutting spending and eliminating job-killing regulations," he said. "Our surging debt burden hangs over the economy like a dark cloud, waiting to unleash a storm of inflation, higher taxes and higher borrowing costs upon businesses and families. Only when the cloud is lifted can we get on the path to long-term growth."
Popular in Politics
- Romney condemns "breach of trust" in Washington 171 Comments
- Officials on Benghazi: "We made mistakes, but without malice" 350 Comments
- IRS targeting overlooked biggest soft money groups 66 Comments
- For GOP, scandals could be an electoral plus - or minus 327 Comments
- Republicans use IRS scandal to tar Obamacare 36 Comments
- Ousted IRS chief: "I did not mislead" the American people
- Why Obama should worry that current scandals might impact 2016
- Immigration deal reached in House
I think people are going to look at it like this - 2011 rolls around, and Pres. Obama's racked up $2,000,000,000,000 of deficit ... what does he have to show for it?
Because he's embraced big business and done nothing about trade, so he's staked his Presidency on his stimulus. That's tantamount to him having embraced the idea by default that the fundamentals of the economy are strong - most people don't think that. So why shouldn't he be held accountable for not being responsive to the views of the electorate?
There's like a 40% of the electorate that always votes consistently, so both sides of the aisle can always count on them no matter what. But that 20% on the middle, like if they shifted Republican in 2010, why wouldn't they do the same in 2012?
c'est plut?t une bonne nouvelle pour les am?ricains
*******
it is rather good news for Americans. au revoir
We need to get our government moving in the right direction first.
1. No more lobbying
2. Term Limits
3. No Pet projects attached to bills.
any bill going through congress must stand aone and be voted on.
4. Flat tax. fair for everyone, NO IRS, EVERYONE PAYS FAIRLY.
5. Stop giving money to corrupt government in third world countries.
=====================================================
Sounds like you have given up on your Party of choice. Good for you.
Just change a little accounting practice so we no longer count those who are not applying for jobs and Presto! Erase .4 percentage points from the unemployed numbers, obamao can claim spending $830 billion two years ago has magically fixed the economy, time to take a vacation, whoooee.
===================================================
Indeed, why change a tradition of monkeying with the unemployment numbers that Reagan started.