WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama promised at a White House jobs forum Thursday to take “every responsible step to accelerate job creation,” including some ideas he said could be put into action quickly. He cited an expanded program to help make more U.S. homes energy-efficient as an example.
He also mentioned trade measures and possible new tax incentives among ways to stop job losses that are the worst since the 1930s.
“This has been a tough year, with a lot of uncertainty,” Obama said as he wrapped up the half-day brainstorming session with more than 100 chief executives, academics, small-business and union leaders and local officials. “There’s no question that it’s difficult out there right now.”
The president said there were some ideas that could be put to work almost immediately and others that will become part of legislation for Congress to consider. He listed “moving forward on an aggressive agenda for energy efficiency and weatherization” as a prime candidate for quick action.
With unemployment above 10 percent, Obama said, “We cannot hang back and hope for the best.”
But, mindful of growing anxiety about federal deficits, Obama also tempered his upbeat talk with an acknowledgment that government resources could go only so far and that it is primarily up to the private sector to create large numbers of new jobs.
He said while he’s “open to every demonstrably good idea … (we) have to face the fact that our resources are limited.”
Obama spoke a day before the Labor Department was to report unemployment figures for November. The unemployment rate is expected to stay at 10.2 percent.
Obama opened the session by challenging participants to help him come up with innovative ideas for putting millions of Americans back to work, saying he wants the “biggest bang for the buck.” Then the guests broke into working groups to brainstorm with administration officials.
He cited the success of the administration’s Cash for Clunkers program, noting that car companies carried much of the marketing responsibilities that helped make the effort so popular. Home-improvement companies such as Home Depot would be key partners in any future jobs program focusing on energy efficiencies, Obama told company chairman Frank Blake.
