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Economy

Obama Says U.S. Must Reduce Debt, Spur Job Growth

2009-11-03

(Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said the U.S. economy has pulled "back from the brink" and the government must now "get serious" about reducing debt and helping spur job growth.

Oh, now he wants to cut debt ...

Addressing a panel of economists and business and labor leaders, the president said the government and private industry must take "bold, innovative action" to bring the unemployment rate down and lay the foundation for future growth. "We just are not where we need to be yet," Obama told his Economic Recovery Advisory Board, headed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. Along with helping promote job growth, "The government is going to have to get serious about reducing our debt levels."

This was the second time the full board has met to brief the president on ways to create jobs and encourage economic growth. Obama formed the advisory panel in February to provide an "independent voice on economic issues." Today's meeting focused on creating jobs through innovation.

Obama said if "entrepreneurship" and "dynamism" are encouraged by the government "there's no reason why we're not going to be able to not only create jobs, but the kind of sustainable economic growth that everybody is looking for."

Private Investment
Still, he said, government spending can't replace business investment and the recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s "has to be led by the private sector."

That's not what he really believes, that's just what Mr. Axelrod told him to say ahead of the election tomorrow.

I work and I slave on behalf of you racist peons and what do I get? I'm stuck with a business sector that doesn't pull its weight.

The recommendations made today, Obama said, would be reviewed over the next two to three weeks by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, White House chief economist Christina Romer and economic adviser Larry Summers.

Along with Volcker, board members include former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William Donaldson; Robert Wolf, chairman and chief executive officer of UBS Americas; Penny Pritzker, who led Obama's campaign fundraising effort and is chairman of Pritzker Realty Group; Jeffrey Immelt the chief executive of General Electric Co.; Caterpillar Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jim Owens; and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

There is "vigorous discussion" among panel members about the "regulation of the financial system and other elements of ensuring that we never return to the fiscal disaster, the financial disaster that we had beginning in 2007," board member John Doerr, a venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, told Bloomberg Television in an interview this morning.

Reversing the Decline
"There's pretty clear evidence that the decline in the economy has reversed," said Doerr, citing the Commerce Department report that showed that gross domestic product grew at a 3.5 percent rate in the year's third quarter, which ended Sept. 30. Economic activity, though, "leads job creation, and jobs is our job No. 1," he said.

The U.S. economy has lost more than 7 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007. Even with the $787 billion stimulus plan passed in Frebruary, the employment rate rose to 9.8 percent last month.

"We anticipate that we are going to see some job losses in the weeks and months to come," Obama said today.

As opposed to the ~~millions~~ ~~thousands~~ ~~hundreds~~ ~~dozens~~ one saved so far ...

Immelt said during the panel's discussion that some jobs in the financial services and construction sectors "might not come back." He said the U.S. must increase exports and that clean energy industries will be a major source of job growth.

Exports
Immelt suggested doubling exports as a percentage of GDP over a certain time period, which would create three to five million jobs, he said. "There is growth to be had out there," he said. Trade policies should be clarified, "from the standpoint of making people understand that America is confident, that we're in business," Immelt said. "We're in business to sell, we've got the kinds of technologies and products that can be very important."

So how's about approving the free trade agreement with Colombia?

Organized labor is urging Obama to embrace an "ambitious, long-term public investment agenda" focusing on public work projects, Trumka said. "We're talking about mid-term and long-term things," he said. "After the recovery comes, we're still going to have jobs deficit, we're still going to have wage stagnation." "We can't go back to the bubble economy," Trumka said.

Posted by:Fred

#10 JohnQC, every word out of his (and his minions') mouth is a lie.

Including the words "a," "and," and "the." >:-(

Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-11-03 23:09

#9 I don't believe anything this guy says or does.

Posted by: JohnQC 2009-11-03 21:48

#8 Easy. The idiot in chief and his henchmen in Congress simply need to stop pissing money away like they can print it.

Oh wait, they can.

Screw them. All of em. They're putting my generation in debt forever. Republicans too for not having the balls to stand up and fight this hard and publicly.

For my generation just wait till all those koolaid drinking Obama backing fools realize we just got stuck with the bill for the biggest drunken spending binge in the history of the nation and we didnt get damn thing in exchange instead we lost freedoms and gained parasites.

The thiefs can consider themself lucky our generation other than veterans and a few conservatives has no backbone. That includes usleless doper libertarians who all smack talk and no whack walk. Otherwise they would have to worry about trials and a date with the hangman sooner rather than later. But when we wake up and when we get old enough to start running some things its going to change.

The leaders of this theft had better hope they die of natural causes, because if they live enough we will put them on trial for treason.

The day is coming we will wake up and there will be a reckoning.

Posted by: Daffy Chaiger7405 2009-11-03 20:24

#7 Social liberalism? Communism? What's the difference? Oh, that's right, with social liberalism you get another election. So we'll see how things go in 2010 and 2012. What I fear the most is a Chicago style election.

Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2009-11-03 12:57

#6 Allow people to keep their money. People will spend money, which redistributes wealth into business and stimulates the economy. Remove FU taxes.

Cap unemployment/welfare payouts. A person can only receive so much assistance within a certain period of time.

Forcing banks to make questionable loans removes the ability of banks to make loans to entreprenuers, small businesses. People and Businesses must prove they are worthy of such loans because banks must make a profit.

Reduce the role of government involvment in the US economy to being an impartial liason between business and consumer.

Government interference in the market artificially changes prices, making the necessary information for people and organizations to make purchases and investments at best unclear.

Dynanism, if that is a real word, can be encouraged by letting business fail. A failed business does not eliminate the demand which existed but allows others to compete for that business.

While people and businesses are cutting expenses, don't increase the federal spending limit. Create a formulat based on the average income with a 10% lower income and 5% highest income eliminated as outliers; based on the statistic 5 years in the past. A certain percentage of must be used to service debt and interest. Income gained above that budget prediction can be set aside for special government programs outside of the required function of federal government.

Posted by: swksvolFF 2009-11-03 12:51

#5 It is quite impressive how Obama! can say one thing and do another - but not in a good way. Three more years to go.

Posted by: SteveS 2009-11-03 12:37

#4 Stop printing money?

Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-11-03 10:02

#3 Personally, I think there's enough now to call for impeachment. However, by the time the majority shifts in both Houses next November, I believe it will not only be too late to stop the damage being created, but that Republicans won't have the stomach for it.
Stock your cellars...hard times a'comin...
Blame your liberal neighbor.
The endgame of all this MUST be to destroy social liberalism, or at least marginalized as much as communism was the past 25 years in this country.
On the positive, every day that passes is another discredit to the social liberal concept and counter-arguments coming from idiots.

Posted by: logi_cal 2009-11-03 09:59

#2 Your Honor, I ask for mercy for the crime of murdering my parents because I'm an orphan.

Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2009-11-03 06:52

#1 He will try to cut debt by raising taxes and gutting the military.

Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2009-11-03 04:17

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