WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama met with his economic advisers Saturday after he asked Americans to support his economic package as a way to better schools, lower electricity bills and health coverage for millions who lose insurance.
The two-hour session focused on the proposed $825 billion economic stimulus package that Congress is considering. The group also discussed the upcoming federal budget, Obama’s first chance to shape the country’s spending amid a recession that lost 2.6 million jobs last year.
“Our economy could fall $1 trillion short of its full capacity, which translates into more than $12,000 in lost income for a family of four. And we could lose a generation of potential, as more young Americans are forced to forgo college dreams or the chance to train for the jobs of the future,” Obama said in a five-minute address released Saturday morning by radio and the Internet.
House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said his party would continue to push for immediate tax cuts — “not slow-moving government spending programs” — in the weekly GOP address.
“We let families, entrepreneurs, small businesses and the self-employed keep more of what they earn to encourage investment and create millions of new private-sector jobs,” he said. The Associated Press
