President Obama’s plan to focus on job creation ahead of the 2012 elections has been stalled by the debt ceiling impasse, an issue voters see as far less critical than the rising unemployment rate, according to experts. As negotiations continue over raising the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, Obama has attempted to link deficit reduction to job creation, saying that reining in spending would help stabilize the economy and ultimately spawn more confidence in hiring.
But a wide segment of the general public has yet to embrace that connection, as more Americans are concerned about the consequences of raising the debt ceiling than the economic fallout from failing to do so, according to recent polls.
“We’re still going to have to have a strong jobs agenda, but [a debt deal] is part of a solution,” Obama said, reminding voters he is cognizant of an unemployment rate that has risen to 9.2 percent under his watch.
Republicans and Democrats alike have sought to seize the mantle of spending cuts, and though they disagree on the path to a bipartisan agreement, both sides say a failure to raise the nation’s borrowing capacity could lead to an economic catastrophe.
However, convincing the public that such a deal would produce jobs has remained elusive for both sides. And an increasing number of those on the left say the debt debate has so overtaken Washington that the need to create jobs has been dwarfed by an insatiable desire to stem the flow of red ink.
“Allowing the economy to slam into the debt ceiling will undoubtedly create an immediate economic shock that will in all likelihood have significant consequences for our economy and will certainly exacerbate unemployment,” said Heather Boushey, a senior economist at the liberal Center for American Progress. “But passing a debt ceiling increase alongside sharp spending cuts at this point in the fragile economic recovery will also harm our economy, both now and in the years to come. Neither of these two options will help the unemployment situation.”
And now Obama is using the GOP message against big-government spending, which Republicans rode to a takeover of the House in the midterm elections, against conservative lawmakers resisting his blueprint for long-term savings.
“They keep on going out there and saying, ‘Mr. President, what are you doing about jobs?’ ” Obama said. “[They say] we’ve got to get government spending under control and we’ve got to get our deficits under control. Where are they? So what’s the holdup?”
While pressing lawmakers to compromise on the debt ceiling, Obama has urged them to extend a payroll tax cut and investment in infrastructure, both of which the president says would lead to an uptick in job creation.
Still, Obama’s time has clearly been dominated by negotiations over the debt ceiling.
“He’s made clear that we’re going to meet every day until this is done,” said White House press secretary Jay Carney.
But as political analysts note and administration officials acknowledge, each moment Obama spends pressing for a debt agreement is time spent away from a dismal unemployment situation that means much more to voters.
