White House defends jobs plan

White House senior adviser David Plouffe on Sunday urged swift passage of President Obama’s jobs bill.

“The American Jobs Act is aimed squarely at providing the jump-start the economy needs right now,” Mr. Plouffe told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“If you don’t act right now, the economy’s going to be in a deeper hole, so we have to do things now to immediately jump-start the economy.”

The stimulus bill, which would cost $447 billion, is touted as creating 1.9 million jobs, adding 2 percentage points to the gross domestic product and reducing the 9.1 percent unemployment rate by 1 percentage point.

Mr. Plouffe called for “immediate action” and said the vote could come as early as October.

“I think it’s got a very good chance” of passing, he told ABC’s “This Week.”

Critics, however, are framing the bill as a last-ditch effort to show voters that Mr. Obama is focused on fixing the economy.

“The president is clearly in very desperate political shape,” Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, told CNN. “It seems more clear every day.”

For the first time, a majority of Americans blame Mr. Obama for the nation’s economic problems, a number that continues to rise. In a recent Gallup poll, 53 percent said he is responsible for the struggles.

Still, more voters — nearly seven out of 10 Americans — continue to blame former President Bush for the economy’s problems.

“The American people understand it took us a long time to get to this point,” said Mr. Plouffe, adding “and it’s going to take us a long time to get out.”

But congressional Republicans aren’t letting the president off the hook so easily. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky painted the bill as a political ploy for re-election.

“The president made the same promises when he was selling his first stimulus,” Mr. McConnell said on the floor last week.

The American Jobs Act would offer payroll-tax cuts and small-business tax credits, along with infrastructure spending, to encourage companies to hire. But it would take a bite out of the wallets of big corporations and wealthier individuals to pay for the stimulus, something Republicans oppose.

Nearly $400 billion would come from limiting the itemized deductions for wealthier taxpayers. While an additional $40 billion would come from oil and gas companies by closing tax loopholes.

Economists are not convinced this plan will help the economy in the long term. Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, indicated the initial positive effects could fade away within several years after the stimulus money runs out.

But Mr. Plouffe said the president doesn’t want to sit back and watch that happen.

“What are we supposed to do?” he asked. “Nothing? So the economy will be worse over the next year or two?”

Instead, Mr. Plouffe said the plan is the jump-start America needs to get going, something that could help reverse the president’s declining poll numbers.

“This economy will eventually begin to recover,” he said, “and this is going to be a very important part of it.”

The president’s re-election chances could revolve around the economy, something Mr. Plouffe is focused on.

Meanwhile, the White House already seems to be narrowing its list of potential Republican opponents for the 2012 presidential race. Mr. Plouffe said he thinks it is now a two-man race: Rick Perry and Mitt Romney.

“One of those is going to be the Republican nominee in all likelihood,” he said.

Mr. Daniels agreed.

“I think the two governors, Romney and Perry, seem to be getting the most attention,” he said, “and for the moment seem to be the dominant personalities in the race.”