With little progress and no firm new initiatives on the economy, President Obama on Monday blamed foes for politicizing the nation’s problems and returned to his promise to set “a better tone” in Washington.
“The rhetoric and the politicizing of so many decisions that are out there has to be toned down,” Obama said at a town hall meeting sponsored by CNBC. “We’ve got to get back to working together.”
In an hourlong event broadcast from the Newseum, Obama signaled a willingness to make changes in his economic team and consider moves such as a payroll tax holiday or other incentives to get businesses hiring and restore confidence in his administration.
Obama also expressed frustration at the emergent Tea Party movement, saying it’s not enough to demand spending controls — his opponents should go further and say what they would cut.
“I think it’s important for you to say, you know, ‘I’m willing to cut veterans’ benefits,’ ” Obama said. “What you can’t do, which is what I’ve been hearing a lot from the other side, is saying, ‘We’re going to control government spending, we’re going to propose $4 trillion of additional tax cuts,’ and that magically somehow things are going to work.”
The president expressed little sympathy for Americans making more than $250,000 who could lose their Bush-era tax cuts under his watch, saying that extending them would cost the Treasury $700 billion in revenue.
The largely friendly audience gathered by the cable network gave Obama repeated applause — but also lobbed a few uncomfortable questions.
A mother of two daughters who said she voted for Obama told him she was tired of defending his administration, had hoped in vain that her days of hot dogs and beans were over, and asked, “Is this my new reality?”
Obama told her, “My goal here is not to try to convince you that everything’s where it needs to be. It’s not.”
A 30 year-old law school graduate fretted to Obama that he can’t find a job, buy a home or afford to marry. He asked, “Is the American dream dead for me?”
Less sympathetically, a hedge fund manager asked Obama when his administration would stop treating Wall Street like a “pinata”. The question reflected a growing concern in banking and other sectors that Obama’s policies are anti-business.
Obama, in campaign mode, defended his record — touting his business tax cuts and reminding the audience he arrived in office to find “I had a $1.3 trillion deficit wrapped in a bow waiting for me.”
“I have been amused over the last couple of years, this sense of somehow me beating up on Wall Street,” Obama said. “I think most folks on Main Street feel like they got beat up.”
Still, the event served to amplify the rampant frustrations Americans have about the economy, and the persistent sense of pessimism influencing the midterm elections.
A new poll by CNBC found 90 percent of Americans were concerned about the economy, while 55 percent said Obama’s economic initiatives have made the situation worse.
