U.S. economic recovery should be more export-oriented, environmentally oriented, bio and software-engineering oriented, and middle-class oriented, said Lawrence Summers, Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, Friday. (0:28)
“Unemployment is substantially higher and job loss has been greater than most observers predicted last winter…unemployment is likely to rise in coming months,” said Lawrence Summers, Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy Friday. He claimed, however, that “this does not provide a basis for concluding that the Recovery Act is falling short of its goals,” since the peak impact of the stimulus on jobs is not projected to be achieved until the end of 2009. (0:30)
By Mariko Lamb-Talk Radio News Service
Lawrence Summers, Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, discussed the progress that the Obama administration has made thus far in economic recovery and voiced his confidence that the U.S. will be able to overcome the current economic challenges.
“Substantial progress has been made in rescuing the economy from the risk of economic collapse that looked all too real six months ago,” Summers said.
He reported that “many private forecasters expect to see positive growth in the second half of this year.” Additionally, reports have indicated improved consumer and business sentiment, a 33% decrease in investment grade corporate bonds, and a slower pace of GDP contraction.
A slight pause in Summers’ optimism ensued upon the mention of the high unemployment rate facing the U.S. “Unemployment is substantially higher and job loss has been greater than most observers predicted last winter…unemployment is likely to rise in coming months,” he admitted.
He claimed, however, that although the high unemployment rate is a significant problem, it “does not provide a basis for concluding that the Recovery Act is falling short of its goals.” He advised Americans to be patient since the “peak impact of the stimulus on jobs” is not projected to be achieved until the end of this year.
“While unemployment continues to contract, the available indicators suggest that GDP is on close to a level path with prospects for positive growth to commence during this year,” Summers concluded.
“The reality is not that Barack Obama has a tax-cut, or even a plan to make jobs. The reality is that he has a plan that is riddled with bad incentives, full of targeted handouts, and fundamentally based on redistribution of wealth, and stands in sharp contrast to John McCain’s approach.” This was stated by Doug Holtz-Eakin, Senior Policy Adviser for the McCain-Palin campaign, in response to Senator Barack Obama’s (D-IIll.) tax reform plan. Nancy Pfotenhauer, Senior Policy Adviser for the McCain-Palin campaign, said Obama’s tax plan “punishes achievement”.
The campaign advisers claim Obama’s tax reforms amount to “sending checks to individuals, many of whom may not be working, and who certainly do not have a tax liability”. They added that Obama’s tax cuts for job creation in American businesses are “too little too late”, and too small to offset the supposed damages his own policies would do. Pfotenhauer said, “if this is his prescription for our economy, at a time when we’re already ailing, I cannot think of any kind of medicine that could be worse”.
“Barack Obama’s overall economic policy can be characterized as the Europeanization of the american economy, because it is effectively a high tax, high spending protectionist approach,” Pfotenhauer said, “and it doesn’t work. All you need to do is look at the economies in say Germany or France, where you have, even in our tough economic time, unemployment rates that are significantly higher, growth rates that are significantly lower, and a quality of life or living that is about a third lower than in the United States.” Holtz-Eakin and Pfotenhauer were participating in a conference call on Obama’s tax plan, which according to the McCain advisers, includes approximately a trillion dollars of new spending and increased tax credits for Americans that do not pay income taxes.
Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Doug Holtz-Eakin from Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) campaign team offer a rebuttal to Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) earlier speech. Burr and Holtz-Eakin explain McCain’s economic policy, saying that McCain is the presidential candidate with the better track-record, refuting Obama’s false claims. (22:00)
Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) economic policy advisor Jason Furman and fellow economist Austan Goolsbee hold a conference call on Obama’s economic policy for the 2008 presidential campaign. They compare and contrast Obama’s proposals with those of fellow presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), saying how Obama’s main goal is to lower taxes for ordinary Americans. (40:00)
Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Doug Holtz-Eakin from Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) campaign team held a conference call to rebuttal some issues brought up in Sen. Barrack Obama’s (D-Ill.) campaign speech on economic policy held in Raleigh, North Carolina. Burr began by saying that if the American people focus on the campaign rhetoric they will find big differences between what candidates propose and what they have done. (more…)
Jason Furman, Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) economic policy advisor, along with Austan Goolsbee held a conference call as a preview for Obama’s speech to take place in Raleigh, North Carolina as part of his “Change That Works for You” campaign. The purpose of the call was to contrast the economic proposals of presidential candidates Obama and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). (more…)
At the Associated Press’s annual luncheon today, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) responded to his controversial and highly publicized remarks about “bitter” small-town voters that has led to an onslaught of criticism from opponents calling him “elitist” and “out of touch” with average Americans. Obama said Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is the one who is out of touch because of his economic policies that favor the wealthy. (0:38)
Today Senator John McCain’s (R-AZ) campaign held a conference call to discuss his stance on economic policy, and the housing crisis and mortgage foreclosures in particular. RNC Victory 2008 Chair Carly Fiorina and Senior Policy Advisor Doug Holtz-Eakin outlined McCain’s policy proposals on how to combat the crisis.
