PROGRAM SUCCESS – JULY 2011 PAGE 19
President Obama Expresses Concern About Slowing Economy
President Barack Obama expressed concern about the sudden slowdown in the economy but said he is not worried about a second recession and the nation should “ not panic .” percent . When Obama took office , it was 7.8 percent . Most economists think the rate will be above 8 percent at election time next year . Since World War II , no president has been re-elected with unemployment higher than 7.2 percent .
This statement resulted from news in May about the new economic trouble and job growth slow down . President Obama tried to reassure Americans worried about high unemployment and expensive gas that the nation is on a slow , if not steady , path to recovery .
“ I am concerned about the fact that the recovery that we ’ re on is not producing jobs as quickly as I want it to happen ,” Obama said . “ We don ’ t yet know whether this is a onemonth episode or a longer trend .”
Either way , there appears to be little Washington can do about it . Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke , speaking in Atlanta on Tuesday , acknowledged the economy has lost momentum but said nothing to suggest the Fed was about to take any bold new action to further shore it up .
And with lawmakers fighting over the nation ’ s budget deficit and long-term debt , there is no political appetite for a second major federal stimulus bill like the one passed by Congress in 2009 .
At the same time , the president is confronted with a slate of figures presenting challenges to both the economic recovery and his own re-election prospects . Just as the field of Republican challengers begins to take shape , a Washington Post-ABC News survey found that public disapproval of Obama ’ s handling of the economy has reached a record high , 59 percent .
The poll found that Obama and former Massachusetts Gov . Mitt Romney are tied among all Americans in a hypothetical race for president . It gave Romney a slight edge , less than the margin of error , among registered voters .
Seventeen months before the election , unemployment is 9.1
The news brought the latest in a stream of downbeat economic news , a government report that said businesses advertised fewer job openings in April than in March . There were 4.6 unemployed people , on average , for each available job in April . In a healthy economy , the ratio is more like 2- to-1 .
Even if all the open positions were filled , 10.7 million people would still be unemployed . That compares with 7.7 million who were unemployed when the recession began in December 2007 . The recession ended in June 2009 .
Obama ’ s early Republican presidential challengers have seized on the economy to try to take advantage . One of them , former Minnesota Gov . Tim Pawlenty , accused Obama of being satisfied with a second-rate economy “ produced by his third-rate policies .”
The former Minnesota governor proposed cutting taxes on business by more than half and simplifying the tax code to just three tiers , with a top marginal rate for individuals of 25 percent . The top marginal rate now is 35 percent . Pawlenty would also eliminate taxes on capital gains .
President Obama and his advisers have mainly played down the souring economic news . Recoveries are often uneven , they note , especially after severe downturns like the Great Recession . The president noted that hiring had been robust for three straight months before the bleak jobs report for May .
He promoted steps the administration has already taken , such as tax breaks for business investment , and a long-term agenda of debt reduction and spending on education , infrastructure and energy research .
At a time of high public concern about the economy , discouraging data can make people wonder , “ Well , are we going to go back to this terrible crisis ?” Obama said . “ And that affects consumer confidence , and it affects business confidence , it affects the capital market . And so our task is to not panic .”