President Barack Obama put a new meaning to Labor Day when he held a speech tackling the unemployment issue.
Obama stood in front of labor unions on Sept. 6 in Wisconsin, and touched on the fall of the working man and the dissipating middle class. After pulling troops out of Iraq and modifying health care plans, Obama is focused on this next big issue.
In his speech, Obama said he hopes that Congress will approve his stimulus package sometime before the Nov. 2 recess. He also plans to focus on 150,000 miles of roadwork, along with better rail and air travel infastructure included in his plan to stir up the economy and create jobs.
Education senior Patricia Miller said she sees this as an act of good will, and expects Obama to find the solutions to these problems.
“I put my trust in our president and our country. If he says it will help create jobs then I believe he will make the right decision,” Miller said. “As long as it doesn’t cost me anything I’m sure it will help.”
Obama did assure his audience and the world during the speech that this new project would not be built with their money. It will instead be raised in-house if the package is granted.
Obama said in a speech on Sept. 3 at the White House that he does see progress in the economy in terms of numbers.
“Now, the month I took office, we were losing 750,000 jobs a month,” Obama said. “This morning, new figures show the economy produced 67,000 private sector jobs in August -– the eighth consecutive month of private job growth. Additionally, the numbers for July were revised upward to 107,000.”
Obama also emphasized that still more needs to be done.
“Now, that’s positive news, and it reflects the steps we’ve already taken to break the back of this recession,” he said. “But it’s not nearly good enough.”
Obama put emphasis on the Labor Day weekend on his new “no we can’t” motto, when he mentioned the division between the two parties on Capital Hill.
Some students on campus feel as if the division between the two parties will prolong economic success.
Education senior Samantha Valadez said she feels the pressure build with this issue as she finishes her last year in school.
“ I don’t think it will take that long to find a job. I’m in a teaching program,” Valadez said. “But for those who aren’t in their profession I feel it would take a lot longer since there is a division in Congress.”
As mentioned before, Obama put emphasis on small businesses, which he said accounted for over 60 percent of job losses in the final months of last year.
“These steps are part of the reason about 70,000 new Small Business Administration loans have been approved since I took office,” Obama said.
He recognizes that solving the overall economy issue will not necessarily be a fast one, considering the facts.
” As I’ve said from the start, there’s no quick fix to the worst recession we’ve experienced since the Great Depression,” Obama said. “The hard truth is it took years to create our current economic problems, and it will take more time than any of us would like to repair the damage.”
