Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Mayor and President Obama’s former chief of staff, advocated stimulus spending such as that proposed in Obama’s jobs bill as “the reinvention engine” for the American economy.
“Basically, about every six or seven years the American economy reinvents itself with a single engine,” Emanuel said on Meet the Press this morning. “Rebuilding our infrastructure, our roads, our bridges, our broadband for the new economy, is essential as that single engine . . . that should be the reinvention engine.”
Emanuel called such government spending “a stimulus for the economy.” He said that the 2009 stimulus “stabilized the economy” and that new government spending is necessary for “liftoff.”
Emanuel also defended Obama’s economic record, beginning with the auto bailouts:
Emanuel said that Obama pushed Obamacare and Wall Street legislation “because it was in America’s interest,” notwithstanding the opposition to the bills. “Today we’re stronger because of those leadership positions, and [Obama] hasn’t lost a fight,” said Emanuel, concluding his remarks on Obama’s major policies.
