g********d
发帖数: 4174 | 1 Obama to Push New Spending
By DAMIAN PALETTA, JONATHAN WEISMAN and LAURA MECKLER
Associated Press
President Barack Obama and GE's Jeffrey Immelt, left, with plant manager
Kevin Sharkey, visited a GE factory Friday to talk about green jobs.
President Barack Obama will call for new government spending on
infrastructure, education and research in his State of the Union address
Tuesday, sharpening his response to Republicans in Congress who are
demanding deep budget cuts, people familiar with the speech said.
Mr. Obama will argue that the U.S., even while trying to reduce its budget
deficit, must make targeted investments to foster job growth and boost U.S.
competitiveness in the world economy. The new spending could include
initiatives aimed at building the renewable-energy sector—which received
billions of dollars in stimulus funding—and rebuilding roads to improve
transportation, people familiar with the matter said. Money to restructure
the No Child Left Behind law's testing mandates and institute more
competitive grants also could be included.
While proposing new spending, Mr. Obama also will lay out significant budget
cuts elsewhere, people familiar with the plans say, though they will likely
fall short of what Republican lawmakers have requested.
More
Odd Couples Form in Seating for Speech President Tries the GE Way Obama
Hails New Jobs Council Durbin Seeks Delay on Spending Cuts In arguing that U
.S. competitiveness is at stake, Mr. Obama plans to use his nationally
televised speech to try to frame the spending debate with Republicans that
is expected to dominate Congress in the coming months. "We seek to do
everything we can to spur hiring and ensure our nation can compete with
anybody on the planet," Mr. Obama said Friday after touring a General
Electric Co. plant in Schenectady, N.Y. He cited clean-energy manufacturing,
infrastructure and education as keys to competitiveness.
Previewing the expected theme of his speech, Mr. Obama on Friday appointed
GE Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt to lead a new President's Council on Jobs
and Competitiveness.
Commenting on the new advisory panel, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
(R., Ky.) said that unless its "first recommendations are to reverse the
damage the policies of the last two years have done to the business climate,
job creation and the exploding national debt, I fear it will do more to
create good public relations for the White House than good jobs for
struggling Americans."
Republicans are casting the White House's pivot toward competitiveness as an
excuse for bigger government and more spending. They say a surge in federal
spending and a $1.3 trillion budget deficit are impeding job creation, and
dramatic spending cuts are needed immediately.
In the House, Republicans are pushing to cut $100 billion from the annual
budget as soon as this year. A coalition of House Republicans proposed
Thursday cutting $2.5 trillion in spending over a decade, pushing nondefense
discretionary spending down to 2006 levels for 10 years.
"Today's the day we finally stop kicking the can down the road," Rep. Jeff
Flake (R., Ariz.) said as the proposal was introduced Thursday.
White House officials have said that spending cuts of the magnitude proposed
by Republicans could stall the economic recovery. Still, Mr. Obama is
expected to pair his calls for investment with an admonition that the
country must embark on targeted spending cuts. Late last year, he called for
a two-year wage freeze for all federal civilian employees to save $5
billion. He's expected to push for spending cuts on Tuesday, particularly in
duplicative or dysfunctional federal programs.
Details of those cuts couldn't be learned Friday evening. Programs he has
gone after in the past include agricultural subsidies, defense programs such
as C-17 military transport planes, and an alternate engine for the Pentagon
's Joint Strike Fighter.
Tuesday's speech isn't expected to offer an extensive list of Mr. Obama's
competitiveness proposals but will cast the debate on spending as a series
of choices the country has to make regarding its future and its ability to
compete. More policy details will come when Mr. Obama releases his budget
for the next fiscal year, on Feb. 15.
The council replaces a panel that advised Mr. Obama on navigating the
financial crisis in his first two years in office.Competitiveness is a well-
worn political theme that opponents will likely try to dismiss, and so
adopting it could pose a risk for the White House.
A White House official said Mr. Obama's conception of competitiveness goes
beyond stripping away onerous rules and envisions stepping in where the
market fails. The official said areas such as renewable energy and
scientific research are underfunded by the private sector, because returns
are uncertain. These areas are vital to the nation's long-term growth, the
official said, and the state must step in when businesses don't. The
administration is considering matching grants and other partnerships that
entice private-sector participation and keep federal investment to a minimum.
The White House calculates that there is enough public anxiety about the U.S
. slipping in competition with China, India and other emerging nations that
voters could rally behind calls for investing in future growth.
Republicans remain skeptical of the president's new focus.
He has tried to show his credentials as a deficit-buster with steps such as
a federal pay freeze and his embrace of a deficit-cutting report produced by
a bipartisan commission. But he hasn't produced budget proposals that make
deep cuts in outlays.
Even within his own party, trying to maintain credibility on both fronts is
difficult.
Some in the party have argued that Democrats should differentiate themselves
from Republicans by showing they want to invest in the economy, but
Democratic centrists and conservatives are calling for more spending
restraint immediately.
White House officials have touted achievements in recent weeks that they
believe build on the competitiveness theme. In December, the White House
extended the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which is expected to provide
tax breaks to the families of 9.4 million college students this year. It
also brokered a pending free-trade deal with Korea, applauded by | g********d
发帖数: 4174 | |
|
