President Obama and VP Biden spoke on the limits of government to business leaders and the American public.
President Obama indicated yesterday that he will use funds from the Troubled Asset Relief program (TARP) to offer financial aid to small businesses as part of an effort to spur jobs.
The TARP funds, also known as the federal bailout, were originally intended to bolster large banks banks struggling under the weight of bad investments, but the Obama administration has hinted that it will use about $150 billion of the $700 billion TARP funds to “offer some form of wage subsidies or tax credits to companies that create new jobs — a proposal favored by some businesses,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
Obama spoke about the initiative yesterday during a high profile jobs at the White House attended by Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, Fred Smith, CEO of FedEx and David Cote, CEO of Honeywell, as well as economists and union leaders.
“I am not interested in taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to creating jobs,” Mr. Obama told more than 100 economists, business and union leaders gathered at the White House. But any steps to address the soaring jobless rates, he cautioned, “have to face the fact that our resources are limited.”
Obama administration officials say they are considering the idea of using at least some of the TARP money to pay for jobs programs now under consideration. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said as recently as Wednesday that he preferred to use much of the TARP money to pay down the national debt.
President Obama said he was in listening mode today with business leaders, but also cautioned that the government’s role in job creation is constrained by two wars, high unemployment insurance claims and a tough business climate, said the WSJ.
(Image by The White House via Flickr CC 3.0)
More on job creation:
- Congress Putting Together Job-Creation Bill
- American Express CEO Chenault Challenges Congress on Jobs
- Goldman Sachs Giving $300M to Small Business Initiative
- Where the Jobs Will Be at the Beginning of 2010
Discussion
No comments for “Obama Hints at Using TARP Funds to Spur Job Creating at Small Businesses”