Amid grim new deficit numbers attributed in part to his own spending programs, President Barack Obama pushed back at those blaming him for the continued bad economy.
“I love these folks who helped get us in this mess and then suddenly say, well, this is Obama’s economy,” he told supporters in Michigan. “That’s fine. Give it to me. My job is to solve problems, not to stand on the sidelines and carp and gripe.”
With massive federal spending programs coming up short on job creation and the federal deficit topping a record $1 trillion, the White House is trying to regain control of the economic debate — without much good news to shake up the message.
“We had a problem even before this recession, even during periods of economic growth, where the pace of job growth, wage growth, income growth was not moving as quickly as overall economic growth,” Obama said before leaving Washington.
He added, “We can’t repeat that approach.”
Even so, Obama can’t avoid some of the blame, since the deficit grew with the financial bailout he supported, along with his $787 billion stimulus and other spending. Contributing factors included funding two wars — inherited, but Obama has increased operations in Afghanistan — and declining tax revenue.
In the coming weeks, the administration is expected to release a revised set of budget projections that will factor in the persistent economic effects of the recession.
The figures will update earlier, rosy forecasts issued by the White House predicting growth would be 3.2 percent next year, on it’s way to 4 percent in 2011 and 4.6 percent in 2012.
Critics at the time said the administration was being overly optimistic. Christina Romer, chairwoman of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, told NPR that circumstances have simply changed.
“It’s important to realize that none of us has a crystal ball,” Romer said. “The way I described what happened back in December and January and February was we got a tremendous amount of new information.”
The Council of Economic Advisers this week released a new report predicting “robust” job growth on the heels of Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package, particularly in the health care industry.
Economists have warned that to get the deficit under control, the administration may have to raise taxes and drastically cut spending — two things Obama so far has been unwilling to do.
The alternative, however, could be inflation and higher interest rates. In any case, the president is faced with an array of politically unappealing options, as criticism from Republicans intensifies and polls show Americans starting to doubt.
On Capitol Hill Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called Obama’s stimulus spending “a failure.”
“I think that the American people are appalled to look up and find the government’s in the banking business, the insurance business, the automobile business, the student loan business and now want to be in the health care business,” he said. “The government needs to get out of these businesses as rapidly as possible.”
