Another stimulus package maybe looming in the near future, as President Obama considers all options to create jobs. While he attempts to that, he also has to rescue the economy out of a deep recession which saw more than 4 million jobs lost this year and a record deficit of 1.4 trillion dollars. David Axelrod, adviser to Obama, though is optimistic and expects growth in the third quarter this year, citing progress on reviving the economy. He also warned against recovery initiatives ending too early for fear of sending the economy back into recession. “That doesn’t mean that we don’t look to the mid- and long-term for deficit reduction,” Axelrod further said. “We have a stimulus program in place, an economic recovery program in place, that is not even 50 percent through. We have to see that through. And we’ll see what other measures we need to take.”
Recently, White house advisors have criticized some Wall Street firms, who are currently paying vast sums in benefits and compensation after accepting assistance from taxpayers. A few of the companies named were Goldman Sachs ($16.7 Billion in compensation), Citigroup ($5.3 Billion in bonuses) and Bank of America ($3.3 billion). The White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said ,”I think the American people have a right to be frustrated and angry”. The Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Sen. Chris Dodd, criticized banks for their failure in providing sufficient credit for Small businesses and others. He also said “When you see these bonuses being paid out, it’s a source of outrage in the country, and it should be. What are these people thinking about at these companies?” he said.
