As the nation grapples with the economic consequences of the massive stimulus bill passed by the House last week, the president is hoping to shift the focus to how it will affect the country’s working class.
Speaking at the American Action Forum, a conservative forum, on Tuesday, President Obama announced plans to push back on claims that the legislation will cause job losses and to explain the economic impact that the tax relief will have on American families.
The stimulus bill, passed by a margin of more than a dozen votes in the House and Senate, would give the government $85 billion in economic relief for low- and moderate-income households and $500 billion in additional stimulus for the middle class.
In the last week of November, the government’s economic growth rate rose from a historically low 0.3% to 1.6%.
But the recovery has been a slow one and it is not clear how the new tax relief, which includes the biggest boost to the middle-class, will affect that recovery.
While the stimulus package provides the first substantial boost to working families since 2009, the legislation is expected to increase the deficit by nearly $500.2 billion, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, and some experts have predicted that it will have the same economic effect on the economy as the massive recession of the 1980s and 1990s.
Many economists argue that the stimulus bill is designed to help the economy by stimulating economic activity that would otherwise take longer to ramp up and by providing a cushion to the financial system from the economic downturn.
“The stimulus act is designed as a temporary stimulus measure.
It does not create jobs and it does not pay for its costs,” said Peter Navarro, director of the White House Office of Economic Opportunity.
But the stimulus has been criticized for hurting the economy in other ways.
While Republicans have pushed for a permanent end to the unemployment benefits that expire in 2021, many economists believe the law’s benefits will be phased out as the economy strengthens and more jobs are created.
The measure would end the program on Nov. 18, 2022, but it would leave a permanent entitlement to the Treasury.
Critics of the stimulus say that the law will ultimately cause the economy to weaken and the economy will struggle to absorb additional government spending.
“If we’re going to have a strong economy, we need to have strong businesses, strong workers, and we need a strong middle class,” said Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, who attended the White the American action forum.
“It’s not about the money, it’s about the ability to create jobs,” he said.
“But that’s not to say that we can’t have a little bit of stimulus.
But we have to be mindful that there are other things we can do,” Perez added.
“We can also get back to basics.”
In an interview on Fox News, Perez said that although the stimulus will have an economic impact on families, he believes the bill will be better for the economy if the economy can keep its footing.
“I think the American people understand that this is not going to create a lot of jobs,” Perez said.
“It’s going to be good for the American economy.
But the bottom line is we can continue to grow the economy and create more jobs.”