President Obama praised the monthly jobs report during his weekly address Saturday and called on Republicans to pass his budget when Congress reconvenes next month. He also threatened to veto any budget that did not increase spending.
“The unemployment rate dropped to 5.1%, the lowest it’s been in seven years,” Obama said, noting the August jobs report released on Friday. “This month, Congress has an opportunity to continue that progress. As always, the deadline for Congress to pass a budget is the end of September.”
“And if they don’t, they’ll shut down the government for the second time in two years,” said Obama. “If Congress wants to support working Americans and strengthen our middle class, they can pass a budget that invests in, not makes cuts to, the middle class. If they pass a budget with shortsighted sequester cuts that harm our military and our economy, I’ll veto it. If they make smart investments in our military readiness, our infrastructure, our schools, public health, and research, I’ll sign that budget.”
Critics have pointed out that the job growth figures are inflated due to declining labor force participation. The number of Americans who were not participating in the labor force reached a record 94,031,000 in August, an increase of 261,000 over July. As a percentage, the participation rate was 62.6 percent, the lowest since 1977.
Conservatives have argued that increasing the national debt whilst the economy is shrinking is unsustainable. President Obama’s budget proposal would increase discretionary spending again this year from $1.017 trillion to $1.091 trillion, a 6.4 percent increase split roughly evenly between domestic and military spending.
Congress passed the Budget Control Act in 2011, implementing sequestration. It allowed President Obama to spend $2 trillion immediately under the pretense that cuts would be made to offset the spending over the ensuing decade. However, Democrats say that the cuts are no longer feasible, which has led to annual autumn battles on the budget.
If Congress fails to approve a budget by September 30, some federal operations would shut down until a budget is approved. However, Republican congressional leaders are largely expected to go along with Obama’s plan.
