by Mark Silva
President-elect Barack Obama is upping the ante of jobs promised with the $800-billion-or-greater economic stimulus program that he is proposing.
This week in Virginia, promoting his plan with an address about the urgency of taking action in dire economic straits, he said that 3 million new jobs are possible within the next few years under the "Recovery and Reinvestment Plan'' he proposes.
Today, in his weekly radio and Internet address, the president-elect said an analysis of his proposals shows that between 3 million and 4 million jobs could be saved or created by 2010, nearly 90 percent in the private sector.
That would be a welcome number in a week in which unemployment was posted at 7.2 percent in December, with the total number of jobs lost last year - 2.6 million - the largest number since 1945. Three quarters of those jobs disappeared in the last four months.
The chair of Obama's council of economic advisers, Christina Romer, and Vice President-elect Joe Biden's chief economic adviser, Jared Bernstein, advanced the analysis on which Obama is basing his forecast. See their jobs report here.
Obama had previously said his American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan would create or save 3 million jobs, but said the new anaysis puts the prediction in a range of 3 million to 4 million.
"The jobs we create will be in businesses large and small across a wide range of industries," Obama said in his address today. "And they'll be the kind of jobs that don't just put people to work in the short term, but position our economy to lead the world in the long-term."
See the rest of this report and a transcript of the address below:
Obama is eyeing 500,000 new jobs with an investment in clean energy, committing to double the production of alternative energy in the next three years and improve the energy efficiency of 2 million American homes.
"These made-in-America jobs building solar panels and wind turbines, developing fuel-efficient cars and new energy technologies pay well, and they can't be outsourced," he said.
The plan, on which his analysts have placed a price tag of about $800 billion -- will put nearly 400,000 people back to work repairing infrastructure, crumbling roads, bridges and school and laying down miles of broadband line, he says. Obama has conceded that the price could grow larger as Congress starts working on the proposal.
""Finally, we won't just create jobs, we'll also provide help for those who've lost theirs, and for states and families who've been hardest-hit by this recession," he said. ""That means bipartisan extensions of unemployment insurance and health care coverage; a $1,000 tax cut for 95 percent of working families; and assistance to help states avoid harmful budget cuts in essential services like police, fire, education and health care."
Recovery will not come overnight, he warns.
"But we have come through moments like this before," he said. "I am confident that if we come together and summon that great American spirit once again, we will meet the challenges of our time and write the next great chapter in our American story."
Without the plan, Obama has warned, unemployment could reach double-digits and the recession could linger for years.
The last time the nation's unemployment rate topped 7 percent was in 1993.
Economists expect this recession, which officially began in Dec. 2007, to be the longest since the Great Depression. The two longest recessions of the post-World War II era - in 1973-75 and in 1982-83 - each lasted 16 months.
Here is a transcript of Obama's radio and Internet address:
Saturday, January 10, 2008
Washington, DC
"We start this new year in the midst of an economic crisis unlike any we have seen in our lifetime. We learned yesterday that in the past month alone, we lost more than half a million jobs - a total of nearly 2.6 million in the year 2008. Another 3.4 million Americans who want and need full-time work have had to settle for part-time jobs. And families across America are feeling the pinch as they watch debts mount, bills pile up and savings disappear.
These numbers are a stark reminder that we simply cannot continue on our current path. If nothing is done, economists from across the spectrum tell us that this recession could linger for years and the unemployment rate could reach double digits - and they warn that our nation could lose the competitive edge that has served as a foundation for our strength and standing in the world.
It's not too late to change course - but only if we take immediate and dramatic action. Our first job is to put people back to work and get our economy working again. This is an extraordinary challenge, which is why I've taken the extraordinary step of working - even before I take office - with my economic team and leaders of both parties on an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that will call for major investments to revive our economy, create jobs, and lay a solid foundation for future growth.
I asked my nominee for Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Dr. Christina Romer, and the Vice President-Elect's Chief Economic Adviser, Dr. Jared Bernstein, to conduct a rigorous analysis of this plan and come up with projections of how many jobs it will create - and what kind of jobs they will be. Today, I am releasing a report of their findings so that the American people can see exactly what this plan will mean for their families, their communities, and our economy.
The report confirms that our plan will likely save or create three to four million jobs. 90 percent of these jobs will be created in the private sector - the remaining 10 percent are mainly public sector jobs we save, like the teachers, police officers, firefighters and others who provide vital services in our communities.
The jobs we create will be in businesses large and small across a wide range of industries. And they'll be the kind of jobs that don't just put people to work in the short term, but position our economy to lead the world in the long-term.
We'll create nearly half a million jobs by investing in clean energy - by committing to double the production of alternative energy in the next three years, and by modernizing more than 75% of federal buildings and improving the energy efficiency of two million American homes. These made-in-America jobs building solar panels and wind turbines, developing fuel-efficient cars and new energy technologies pay well, and they can't be outsourced.
We'll create hundreds of thousands of jobs by improving health care - transitioning to a nationwide system of computerized medical records that won't just save money, but save lives by preventing deadly medical errors. And we'll create hundreds of thousands more jobs in education, equipping tens of thousands of schools with 21st century classrooms, labs and computers to help our kids compete with any worker in the world for any job.
We'll put nearly 400,000 people to work by repairing our infrastructure - our crumbling roads, bridges and schools. And we'll build the new infrastructure we need to succeed in this new century, investing in science and technology, and laying down miles of new broadband l
ines so that businesses across our nation can compete with their counterparts around the world.
Finally, we won't just create jobs, we'll also provide help for those who've lost theirs, and for states and families who've been hardest-hit by this recession. That means bi-partisan extensions of unemployment insurance and health care coverage; a $1,000 tax cut for 95 percent of working families; and assistance to help states avoid harmful budget cuts in essential services like police, fire, education and health care.
Now, given the magnitude of the challenges we face, none of this will come easy. Recovery won't happen overnight, and it's likely that things will get worse before they get better.
But we have come through moments like this before. We are the nation that has faced down war, depression and fear itself - each time, refusing to yield; each time, refusing to accept a lesser fate. That is the spirit that has always sustained us - that belief that our destiny is not written for us, but by us; that our success is not a matter of chance, but of our own courage and determination. Our resources may be finite, but our will is infinite. And I am confident that if we come together and summon that great American spirit once again, we will meet the challenges of our time and write the next great chapter in our American story.''.
Comments
BUT: will these 4 million jobs be filled by immigrants, working for pennies on the dollar? will they be filled by outsourced hindus working for chits on the penny? will they filled by amateur celebrity senators working for sultans on bill's donor list? liebeman uber alles!
http://politiqs.tommyjonq.com
Posted by: tommy jonq | January 10, 2009 9:37 AM
Problem with Obama's boast is that it's really a step back to campaign speak on his part. How will the stimulus create 3 million jobs? Are these glorious jobs permanent? Does his total include jobs that will be saved due to bailouts or other federal assistance?
We've gotta get the details on this...
http://www.political-buzz.com/
Posted by: matt | January 10, 2009 9:41 AM
If he's going to say jobs created "OR SAVED", why doesn't he just take credit for 5,000,000, or 50,000,000? Surely the media will be more than willing to give him credit for whatever he wants to claim.
Posted by: Jeff Clark | January 10, 2009 10:09 AM
The democratic congress quickly embraced the first 700 bail out and promptly dispersed half that money. So far nobody appears to know where that money went and most agree nothing good came from those funds. Congress rushed into that crisis and it appears they made a huge mistake with billions of dollars. Now we are rushing into another stimulus plan that touts the ability to save or create millions of jobs. In order to do so, we are digging a huge hole for the future generations with absolutely no assurances that spending this money will help. I was opposed to the first bail out and so were many Americans. We were right. I am opposed to printing money again with a plan that gets altered every single day upping the job creation to satisfy the masses. This is a global crisis which makes recovery much harder. We all went down at the same time which in the past has not been the scenario. This time personal debt and government debt is at a record high - again not going to be helped by printing money. The truth is that nobody wants to speak about is that it will take years to go through excess of just about everything that was brought on by living in a credit bubble. The last thing we need to be doing at this point is printing money and then asking consumers to go back to spending when they should be saving and paying off debt.
Posted by: Susan | January 10, 2009 10:20 AM
Note to liberals; no outrage over Obama"s Sect. of Defense quietly requesting 70 billion supplemental to fund the wars in Afghan. and Iraq on Jan. 1st.?
How about reports; Defense dept. requesting budget increase of approx. 10% for fiscal 2009? Obama not "likely" to oppose for fear of loss of high paying jobs associated with defense industry in many Democratic districts and negative impact on economic recovery. Geez, do I recall something about "wasteful " spending? Not a cough out of Harry "the war is lost" Reid or Grandma "save the world, my way" Pelosi either. What happen to my anti-war vote?
Posted by: Bubba Porter | January 10, 2009 10:29 AM
Sounds good-
But won't work that easy with foreign competition and the American wage scale unless Obama intends to subsidize the workers salary.
Posted by: Inky | January 10, 2009 11:21 AM
A simple calculation shows this to equate to $214,000 per "job" created - yet another failed tax and spend liberal brainstorm idea gone bad.
Posted by: Todd | January 10, 2009 11:38 AM
God help the president.
Posted by: Pândego | January 10, 2009 11:41 AM
Do you want fries with that?
Let's face it, America couldn't work its way/self out of a wet paper bag any longer.
To many illiterates, too many illegals, too many gangs, too many corrupt political hacks, too many unethical people...
Will the last one out please blow out the candle and flush the toilette?
Posted by: Double Cheeseburger | January 10, 2009 11:50 AM
I didn't know there was a demand for solar panels, wind turbines, or energy efficent cars. Why not let the marketplace determe what is needed, and where the jobs will be. Government can"t create jobs. All government can do is create an environment that fosters job creation. He is an idiot.
Posted by: Bart Myers | January 10, 2009 1:18 PM
As many economists could point out, the Obama proposal will hike taxes and spending, and destroy job creation.
Posted by: Change you can believe in | January 10, 2009 1:31 PM
Did he promise unicorns, too?
Posted by: Jeff | January 10, 2009 4:03 PM
I believe, Bubba Porter, that Gates is currently Bush's Secretary of Defense; and I think Susan is missing the fact that it is Hank Paulson, not Congress, determining where that bailout money is going. Let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Posted by: Flo | January 10, 2009 5:44 PM
The trouble with Obama's plans is that there is no guarantee that the jobs will be within the US.
Looking at the Auto stimulus, all of the big 3 have plants and partnerships around the world. So when you give them money to build something like the Chevy Volt, not all or even most of the components would be built in the US.
In the IT industry, if IBM, Accenture or even CSC were to win a bid, there is a high probability that they would on-shore workers via H1B or will off-shore the work altogether. Note CSC is a French company.
The point is that while the stimulus package may create jobs, there will be some leakage and many of those jobs created may not be high paying jobs.
Posted by: Ian M Gumby, Chicago, IL | January 10, 2009 6:43 PM
Do you want fries with that?
Let's face it, America couldn't work its way/self out of a wet paper bag any longer.
To many illiterates...
--------------------------------------------
That's all I need to see from the burger boy to know his opinion is worthless.
Posted by: tried and true American | January 10, 2009 9:37 PM
Just about everything that he said is wrong, but I thought I'd pull one thing out:
"We'll create hundreds of thousands of jobs by improving health care - transitioning to a nationwide system of computerized medical records that won't just save money, but save lives by preventing deadly medical errors."
Normally, to make something more efficient, you'd want fewer jobs. In this case, wouldn't computerizing records make it more efficient??
It's amazing how backwards liberals are.
Posted by: Alz | January 10, 2009 10:34 PM
How will BO define that a job has been "saved"? How do you prove that someone was going to lose their job until the effects of the Trillion dollar stimulus "saved" it? Watch for some fuzzy public school math on this one.
Posted by: Terry | January 10, 2009 11:10 PM
How will BO define that a job has been "saved"? How do you prove that someone was going to lose their job until the effects of the Trillion dollar stimulus "saved" it? Watch for some fuzzy public school math on this one.
Posted by: Terry | January 10, 2009 11:13 PM
The trouble with Obama's plans is that there is no guarantee that the jobs will be within the US.
Looking at the Auto stimulus, all of the big 3 have plants and partnerships around the world. So when you give them money to build something like the Chevy Volt, not all or even most of the components would be built in the US.
In the IT industry, if IBM, Accenture or even CSC were to win a bid, there is a high probability that they would on-shore workers via H1B or will off-shore the work altogether. Note CSC is a French company.
The point is that while the stimulus package may create jobs, there will be some leakage and many of those jobs created may not be high paying jobs.
Posted by: Ian M Gumby, Chicago, IL | January 10, 2009 6:43 P
Well put,probably create more foreign jobs as Americans are going to buy the best value, not union labels.
Posted by: Inky | January 11, 2009 4:55 AM
Yep, unicorns were promised in one of the debates along with an unlimited supply of the joy juice. Suprised that you missed it but the joy juice was kind of slipped in.Oh, not God help him, as we know who he is, help us obammy! Pleeeease!! hehehe
Posted by: jfr | January 11, 2009 8:14 AM
What happen to my anti-war vote?
Posted by: Bubba Porter | January 10, 2009 10:29 AM
Don't worry...your anti-war vote is a myth anyway. There is no doubt you were one of those disasterous Iraqi war supporters. Who for years called all who opposed the war every name in the book. Who's brainless defense of your testosterone pay back driven war cut the flow of blood to your unused mind. Proof is always in the pudding. Problem is......this ain't pudding you put us in.
Posted by: bill r. | January 11, 2009 8:33 AM
All he will do is make them Federal employees and give them "do nothing jobs" like they do in the cities. Just what we need, more worthless Federal employees.
Posted by: TP | January 11, 2009 8:50 AM
I don't understand the math: $1 trillion divided by 3M jobs = government spending of around $1,000. So where does the remaining money come from? That can't be the salary for those jobs, so what has to happen to get us to jobs of significance?
Posted by: T Shah | January 11, 2009 10:40 AM
Go big or go home! The problems that Obama faces on Jan 20 are beyond my comprehension, and I would guess beyond most of the people posting "thoughts" here as well!
So, to all you experts out there...chill! Take a valium! Give the man a chance to show us what he is made of!
Remember...Obama is walking into the deepest pile of crapola than any other President before him. We are not all going to agree with everything he does but I am confident that, unlike his predecessor, Obama will think his decissions through completely before acting.
He is probably the most intelligent man elected to the Presidency in modern history!
Posted by: Mr. Wright | January 11, 2009 11:00 AM
T Shah,
Go back to that public school you came from and thank your math teach teacher for your wonderful math skills.
Posted by: Terry | January 11, 2009 1:08 PM
Eliminate the word "teach" in that last post
Posted by: Terry | January 11, 2009 1:10 PM