Gridlock-tied Obama to play small ball in jobs talk
Reuters
President is expected to shy from proposing big measures to spur job creation in his much-touted jobs speech Thursday night before Congress.
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Viewers hoping for Hail Mary passes and all-out blitzes to battle the renewed economic slowdown should be advised to stay tuned to the NFL game that follows President Barack Obama’s speech Thursday night.
“I don’t believe we are going to be [left] slack-jawed by the speech,” said Larry Sabato, director of the Center of Politics at the University of Virginia.
Experts think Obama, constrained by political gridlock in Washington, is likely to play small ball in his highly anticipated jobs speech before Congress. House Republicans are not going to support a more dramatic approach to reducing the 9% unemployment rate.
“The Republican House is not going to do Barack Obama any favors,” Sabato said.
Obama, who last weekend sought to seize the initiative by urging Republicans to put country before party, will go before a joint session of Congress on Thursday to deliver his plan to combat the weak economy. The address is slated for 7 p.m to avoid conflicting with the NFL season’s opening game between the Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints.
That's 4PM out west. When most people aren't even home from work yet. Aww, no big deal. Westerners don't care about jobs.
With the political environment “highly dysfunctional,” most of Obama’s initiatives “are likely to receive an unenthusiastic response,” agreed David Greenlaw, an economist at Morgan Stanley.
Obama has already said he will propose an extension of the expiring payroll-tax cuts and push for new spending on roads and bridges. Reports suggest he will also propose a new jobs tax credit for business.
The price tag for the Obama jobs plan has been estimated at $300 billion.
Stocks opened higher on Wednesday in part on the report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/zigman/627449/delayed DJIA +1.95% was recently up 150 points at 11,290.
Big ideas — like a sweeping plan to allow homeowners to refinance mortgages even if they are underwater — are likely to be left on the shelf.
“We don’t believe that the president is ready to implement a streamlined refi program,” Greenlaw wrote in a note to clients.
Full story: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/obama-to-play-small-ball-constrained-by-gridlock-2011-09-07
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