Obama considering another stimulus
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AP
2009-10-19
President Barack Obama is considering all options to create jobs, including another stimulus package, while trying to pull the US economy out of a deep recession and deal with a record deficit, White House advisers say.
With more than half of the $US787 billion ($A855.3 billion) recovery package yet to be spent, Obama aides said the administration is not ready to commit to additional measures.
"Everything is on the table," senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said on Sunday.
"You've got this huge national deficit and we've got to do what we can to bring that down. At the same time, it's important to stimulate the economy," Jarrett said. "Let's wait and see. Let's let the recovery bill do its job."
Unemployment stands at 9.8 per cent, with more than 4 million jobs lost this year. The deficit has reached $US1.4 trillion ($A1.52 trillion) and the national debt $US11.9 trillion ($A12.9 trillion).
Adviser David Axelrod cited progress on reviving the economy, with expectations for growth in the third quarter this year. But he warned that the government should not make the mistake of ending its recovery initiatives too early at the risk of sending the economy back into recession.
"That doesn't mean that we don't look to the mid- and long-term for deficit reduction," Axelrod said. "We have a stimulus program in place, an economic recovery program in place, that is not even 50 per cent through. We have to see that through. And we'll see what other measures we need to take."
In appearances on the Sunday news programs, the advisers criticised those Wall Street firms that are paying huge amounts in compensation and benefits after accepting taxpayer assistance. Goldman Sachs, for example, has said it has set aside $US16.7 billion ($A18.2 billion) for compensation so far this year, more than $US500,000 ($A543,000) per employee. Citigroup is paying $US5.3 billion ($A5.76 billion) in bonuses to its employees and Bank of America $US3.3 billion ($A3.6 billion).
"I think the American people have a right to be frustrated and angry," said Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff.
Emanuel and the chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut, said the compensation issue comes as banks and other financial institutions oppose efforts by the president and Congress to put in place regulations designed to prevent the kind of financial meltdown that began last year.
"They have a responsibility to the whole system," Emanuel said. "And it starts with not fighting the financial regulatory system and the reforms that are necessary to protect consumers, homeowners and others."
Dodd criticised banks for failing to make more credit available to small businesses and others.
"When you see these bonuses being paid out, it's a source of outrage in the country, and it should be. What are these people thinking about at these companies?" he said.
Dodd said he hoped Kenneth Feinberg, the Treasury Department's point man on compensation, could take action that would lead the firms to reconsider their compensation plans.
Jarrett and Dodd appeared on NBC television's Meet the Press program, Axelrod on ABC's This Week and Emanuel on CNN's State of the Union.
Douglass K Daniel
