Following his recent vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, President Obama took some time away from his preparations for a “very specific” jobs speech, due sometime next week, to sit down with NBC’s Brian Williams and discuss his economic agenda.
Obama: Well, look, we anticipated that the recovery was slowing. The economy is still growing, but it’s not growing as fast as it needs to. I’ve got things right now in–before Congress that we should move immediately, and I’ve said so before I went on vacation and I’ll keep on saying it when I–now that I’m back. We should be passing legislation that helps small businesses get credit, that eliminates capital gains taxes so that they have more incentive to invest right now. There are a whole host of measures that we could take, no single element of which is a magic bullet, but cumulatively could start continuing to build momentum for the recovery.
Pretty familiar talking points, yes? Which is why this clip is so fascinating — it was filmed on August 29 of last year. Feeling that “recovery” “momentum” yet? Obama did speak today, though, to announce his new choice for chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Here’s what he said:
Obama: Next week, I will be laying out a series of steps that Congress can take immediately to put more money in the pockets of working families and middle-class families, to make it easier for small businesses to hire people, to put construction crews to work rebuilding our nation’s roads and railways and airports, and all the other measures that can help to grow this economy. These are bipartisan ideas that ought to be the kind of proposals that everybody can get behind, no matter what your political affiliation might be. So my hope and expectation is that we can put country before party and get something done for the American people.
Same talking points. Same crummy economy. Can’t wait for the speech!