 US President Barack Obama knows his fate is tied to the fate of the US economy. AP photo |
His presidency tied to the fate of the U.S. economy, Barack Obama is revamping his economic policy team and signaling cooperation to ascendant Republicans and the business community.
The president is surrounding himself with veterans of the Clinton administration. Chief of staff William Daley, economic overseer Gene Sperling and recently confirmed budget director Jacob Lew form an inner circle with a history of bipartisanship and experience in the art of the deal.
"Our mission has to be to accelerate hiring and accelerate growth," the president declared Friday at a window manufacturing plant in suburban Maryland.
It is a mission facing political and economic crosscurrents, underscored Friday by a mixed bag of an unemployment report and a relatively upbeat but cautionary assessment of the economy from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
The Labor Department said unemployment dropped to 9.4 percent from 9.8 percent and private employers added a net total of 113,000 jobs last month. But the drop in unemployment was due partly to people who stopped looking for work.
Self-sustaining recovery
Bernanke told the Senate Budget Committee that there is rising evidence that a self-sustaining recovery is taking hold. "Overall, the pace of economic recovery seems likely to be moderately stronger in 2011 than it was in 2010," he said.
Continued high unemployment and slow growth into 2012 would certainly haunt Obama's reelection campaign. But the ability to shape an economic policy is complicated by a divided Congress where Republicans are demanding deficit reductions while many Democrats seek more spending to spur the economy.
With Daley, Sperling and Lew, Obama enters the second two years of his presidency counseled by Clinton era officials who have worked across party lines to reach economic deals. They recall a happier time, when unemployment was low, budgets were balanced and the economy was humming.
Sperling was a key player in the bipartisan negotiations in December that extended Bush era tax rates for all taxpayers, including the wealthy - a Republican priority - but also included Obama priorities such as an extension of a refundable earned income tax credit and a 2 percent, year-long payroll tax cut.
Daley, a member of the Chicago political family dynasty, brings his record as a banker and political insider to the White House. As Clinton's Commerce Secretary, he was a champion of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The president is surrounding himself with veterans of the Clinton administration. Chief of staff William Daley, economic overseer Gene Sperling and recently confirmed budget director Jacob Lew form an inner circle with a history of bipartisanship and experience in the art of the deal.
"Our mission has to be to accelerate hiring and accelerate growth," the president declared Friday at a window manufacturing plant in suburban Maryland.
It is a mission facing political and economic crosscurrents, underscored Friday by a mixed bag of an unemployment report and a relatively upbeat but cautionary assessment of the economy from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
The Labor Department said unemployment dropped to 9.4 percent from 9.8 percent and private employers added a net total of 113,000 jobs last month. But the drop in unemployment was due partly to people who stopped looking for work.
Self-sustaining recovery
Bernanke told the Senate Budget Committee that there is rising evidence that a self-sustaining recovery is taking hold. "Overall, the pace of economic recovery seems likely to be moderately stronger in 2011 than it was in 2010," he said.
Continued high unemployment and slow growth into 2012 would certainly haunt Obama's reelection campaign. But the ability to shape an economic policy is complicated by a divided Congress where Republicans are demanding deficit reductions while many Democrats seek more spending to spur the economy.
With Daley, Sperling and Lew, Obama enters the second two years of his presidency counseled by Clinton era officials who have worked across party lines to reach economic deals. They recall a happier time, when unemployment was low, budgets were balanced and the economy was humming.
Sperling was a key player in the bipartisan negotiations in December that extended Bush era tax rates for all taxpayers, including the wealthy - a Republican priority - but also included Obama priorities such as an extension of a refundable earned income tax credit and a 2 percent, year-long payroll tax cut.
Daley, a member of the Chicago political family dynasty, brings his record as a banker and political insider to the White House. As Clinton's Commerce Secretary, he was a champion of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
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