Wednesday, 9 December 2009, 3:57 pm Press Release: The White House
President Obama Announces Proposals to
Accelerate Job Growth and Lay the Foundation for Robust
Economic
Growth
Today, the
President laid out some of the broad steps that he believes
should be at the heart of our efforts to help put Americans
back to work and get businesses hiring again. This
announcement is part of the President’s ongoing effort to
take every responsible step to accelerate the pace of job
growth. The President views every bill through the prism of
job growth and will continue to explore additional
approaches as well. These measures are part of the overall
policy designed to not just create jobs in the short run but
also shift America away from consumption-driven growth to a
focus on enhancing the competitiveness of America’s
businesses, encouraging investment, and promoting
exports. The bold and difficult steps the President took
to stabilize the financial system have reduced the cost of
TARP by more than $200 billion, providing additional
resources for job creation and for deficit
reduction.
I. THREE KEY AREAS FOR
ACCELERATING JOB GROWTH
1.
Helping Small Businesses Expand Investment, Hire Workers and
Access Credit • Tax cuts to support
additional business investment next year – with a
particular focus on struggling small businesses – with
much of the cost recouped over time. • Zero
capital gains for small businesses: To encourage investment
by small businesses and improve their access to capital, the
Administration is calling for a one-year elimination of the
tax on capital gains from new investments in small business
stock. The Recovery Act allowed a 75% exclusion from capital
gains taxes on small business investments. • Extension
of enhanced expensing provisions for small businesses: The
Administration is also calling for the extension through
2010 of the Recovery Act provision that allows small
businesses to immediately expense up to $250,000 of
qualified investment. • Extension of Recovery Act bonus
depreciation tax incentive: To give businesses an incentive
to invest, the Administration is calling for extending the
Recovery Act provision that accelerates the rate at which
business can deduct the cost of capital expenditures. This
provision will put more than $20 billion in the hands of
businesses in 2010, while enabling Treasury to recoup much
of the funding as business regain their
strength. • A new tax cut for small businesses to
encourage hiring in 2010. Although the economy is now
growing again, many businesses remain reluctant to hire. In
this economic environment, an employment tax cut for small
businesses has the potential to accelerate the pace of
hiring. The Administration believes it is important to
provide a short-term tax incentive to encourage small
business hiring and support employment, and will work with
Congress to design a provision that accomplishes these
goals. • Eliminating fees and increasing guarantees
for small businesses that borrow through major SBA programs
in 2010. The President called for the elimination of
fees and an increase in guarantees for loans through the
Small Business Administration, a measure that extends
provisions in the Recovery Act through the end of 2010. In
addition, the President called for continued Treasury
efforts to use the TARP to support small business
lending.
2. Investing in America’s Roads,
Bridges and
Infrastructure
• Additional
investment in highways, transit, rail, aviation and
water. The President is calling for new investments in a
wide range of infrastructure, designed to get out the door
as quickly as possible while continuing a sustained effort
at creating jobs and improving America’s
productivity. • Support for merit-based
infrastructure investment that leverages federal
dollars. The Administration supports financing
infrastructure investments in new ways, allowing projects to
be selected on merit and leveraging money with a combination
of grants and loans as was done through the Recovery Act’s
TIGER program.
3. Creating Jobs Through Energy
Efficiency and Clean Energy
Investments
• New incentives
for consumers who invest in energy efficient retrofits in
their homes. Smart, targeted investments in energy
efficiency can help create jobs while improving our energy
security and saving consumers money. The President today
called on Congress to consider a new program to provide
rebates for consumers who make energy efficiency retrofits.
Such a program will harness the power of the private sector
to help drive consumers to make cost-saving investments in
their homes. • Expansion of successful
oversubscribed Recovery Act programs to leverage private
investment in energy efficiency and create clean energy
manufacturing jobs. The Recovery Act included historic
investments that have helped to build the foundation for a
clean energy economy. The Administration supports expanding
programs for which additional federal dollars will leverage
private investment and create jobs quickly, such as
industrial energy efficiency investments and tax incentives
for investing in renewable manufacturing facilities in the
U.S.
II. A FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE APPROACH TO
JOB CREATION THROUGH STEWARDSHIP OF TARP AND OVERALL FISCAL
DISCIPLINE
These steps are part
of the President’s overall approach to fiscal discipline.
This includes: • Freeing up resources from
stabilizing Wall Street and putting them to work on Main
Street. Because of the Administration’s stewardship of
the TARP program – combined with our broader efforts to
revive the economy – we now expect the cost to be at least
$200 billion less than anticipated as recently as August.
Indeed, since the Obama Administration has taken office,
only $7 billion has been provided in assistance to banks,
compared to $114 billion in capital that banks subject to
the “stress test” have raised from the private sector.
These savings will allow us to pay down the deficit faster
than was anticipated while also investing funds that would
have gone to banks in job creating efforts
instead. • An overall approach to fiscal discipline
in the budget. Although additional resources are needed
in the short-run to address the unemployment crisis, the
Administration is committed to doing what we need to bring
the medium-term deficit under control – and is exploring a
range of steps to take as part of the FY2011 budget process.
An additional important component of returning to fiscal
responsibility is passing health reform legislation that not
only reduces the deficit but also reduces the long-term
growth rate of health care costs.
III. AN
ONGOING FOCUS ON JOB CREATION
In
addition to the proposals outlined above, the Administration
will be working with Congress to ensure that those hit
hardest by this economic crisis continue to receive the
support they need. This includes: extending unemployment
insurance for Americans who are struggling to find jobs,
extending the Recovery Act provision that helps out-of-work
Americans keep their health insurance through COBRA,
providing an additional $250 Economic Recovery Payment to
our seniors and veterans, and taking steps to ensure that
state and local governments are not forced to lay-off
teachers, police officers and other key personnel at this
critical time. These steps will build on the efforts that
the Administration has already taken to accelerate the pace
of job growth, including tax cuts for struggling businesses,
an expanded homebuyer credit, additional unemployment
insurance to one million Americans, and the Cash for
Clunkers program. The Administration is also continuing to
pursue efforts to increase the competitiveness of U.S.
businesses and strengthen their capacity to export to
overseas
markets.
