Obama names outside economic experts to advisory panel
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By Michael Muskal and Mark Silva
The Los Angeles Times
11:26 AM PST, February 6, 2009
Reporting from Washington and Los Angeles -- President Barack Obama today named a panel of outside experts from academia, business and labor to advise him on the economy as he continued to press the Senate to move on his economic stimulus package.
The new Economic Recovery Advisory Board, to be headed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, is modeled on the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and is designed to give independent advice. The board is set to function for two years but could be extended.
His announcement came as the latest government statistics showed that the country lost almost 600,000 jobs in January, the most since 1974. The unemployment rate increased to 7.6%.
"I created this board to enlist voices that come from beyond the echo chamber of Washington, D.C., and to ensure that no stone is unturned as we work to put people back to work and to get our economy moving," Obama said.
But Obama again focused his attention on the Senate, where the debate on the stimulus package continued this morning.
"I am sure that at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, members of the Senate are reading these same numbers this morning," Obama said. "I hope they share my sense of urgency and draw the same, unmistakable conclusion: The situation could not be more serious.
"These numbers demand action. It is inexcusable and irresponsible to get bogged down in distraction and delay while millions of Americans are being put out of work. It is time for Congress to act," Obama said.
Just how quickly the Senate will move remained unclear, though Democrats were optimistic.
"The world is waiting to see what we're going to do in the next 24 hours," Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said this morning.
A bipartisan group of nearly 20 senators have been negotiating in hopes of cutting as much as $100 billion from the bill, now valued at more than $900 billion. The House's version of the bill was $819 billion, about the size of Obama's original request.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) circulated a roster this morning proposing $88 billion worth of net cuts from the measure, bringing it more in line with the House version.
Collins is one of three to five Republican senators Democrats hope to woo. Collins has been working with Ben Nelson (D-Neb.). Both met separately with Reid this morning.
But Republicans were standing fast today. They have argued that the bill should have more tax cuts. They have also questioned some of the spending, which they contend will not stimulate the housing market enough, and raised concerns over whether much of the spending will create or save jobs.
"The whole point, Mr. President, is to enact tax cuts and spending measures to truly stimulate the economy," Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate who lost to Obama last year, said on the floor of the Senate this morning. "There are billions and tens of billions of dollars in this bill which will have no effect in three, four or five years or ever."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said the GOP is ready to support a bill, but insisted that "putting another $1 trillion on the nation's credit card isn't something we should do lightly. We need to get a stimulus. But more importantly, we need to get it right."
In recent days, Obama has argued that the tax-cut approach was a failed policy. He has reminded senators that voters last November had a choice, and they picked the Democrat approach to dealing with the economy.
The president voiced this in tougher terms Thursday night, in addressing House Democrats at a retreat in Virginia, with pointed criticism for Republicans demanding more tax relief. But he reiterated the argument today.
"The bill before Congress isn't perfect, but it is absolutely necessary," Obama said this morning. "There may be provisions in the bill that need to be left out. There may some provisions that need to be added. But broadly speaking, it is the right size. It is the right scope."
Obama seemed in more of bipartisan mood this morning. In announcing the new panel, he pointed out that it will reflect "a broad cross-section of experience, expertise and ideology. We've recruited Republicans and Democrats; veterans of government and the private sector; advocates for business and labor. Not everyone is going to agree with each other, and not all of them are going to agree with me -- and that's precisely the point. Because we want to ensure that our policies have the benefit of independent thought and vigorous debate."
Among those named to the board are William H. Donaldson, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission; Penny Pritzker, chairman of Pritzker Realty Group; Charles E. Phillips Jr., president of Oracle Corp.; Laura D'Andrea Tyson, dean of the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley; and Martin Feldstein, professor of economics at Harvard University. |
