Running Out of Dollars: Obama Wants Jobs But Options Are Limited, Politico\'s Gordon Says
Posted Nov 12, 2009 03:30pm EST by Aaron Task in Newsmakers, Recession
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Panic is a strong word but the fact President Obama gave a hastily scheduled speech Thursday about jobs before heading to Asia shows the administration is very, very worried about unemployment, says Craig Gordon, Politico.com\'s White House editor.
The economic growth we\'ve seen has not yet led to the job growth that we desperately need, Obama said in the speech. We all know there are limits to what government can and should do...But we have an obligation to consider every additional, responsible step we can.

The problem is the White House has pretty much used up all their options and fired a lot of bullets in their gun, according to Gordon, referring to the $787 billion stimulus package passed last February. The problem is [Obama\'s] just running out of dollars.

The White House has talked about additional infrastructure projects, extending unemployment benefits and possibly even tax credits for businesses that hire. But they will shy away from calling it a second stimulus...because they feel the word has gotten a negative connotation these days, Gordon says. A lot of people are asking ‘What did we get for all that money besides a 10% unemployment rate?\'

At Thursday\'s event, Obama pledged to hold a Jobs Summit in December and said he\'s open to any ideas of how to spur jobs growth, regardless of the source. But I don\'t think you\'ll see the Republicans and Democrats come together, Gordon says. There is not a meeting of the minds on this.

Yep, it\'s probably too much to hope for bipartisan agreement on jobs, given the two parties\' stark differences on health care, Wall Street reform, energy policy, conduct of the war in Afghanistan, and just about everything else.