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White House forum focuses on job creation
Published December 3, 2009 - BizTimes Daily
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The stock market clung to tiny gains this morning, as the White House prepared to host a Jobs and Economic Growth Forum and Congress conducted a hearing on the reconfirmation of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
President Barack Obama is hosting the forum, featuring various public officials, corporate leaders, organized labor officials and others to gather ideas to help create new jobs. Among the ideas being considered are tax credits for businesses that create new jobs.
The sessions will include discussions on: “Innovation Agenda and Green Jobs of the Future;” “Expanding Job Opportunities for American Workers Through Exports;” “Paving the Road for Small Business Job Growth:” “Creating Jobs Through the Rebuilding of America’s Infrastructure;” “Encouraging Business Competitiveness and Job Creation;” and “Preparing Workers and Strengthening Main Street.”
The forum will begin at 12:20 p.m. (CDT) today. A live stream of the discussions will be available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/live.
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, said he would put a "hold" on Bernanke's nomination. As a result, it will take 60 votes to bring Bernanke's confirmation to a vote in the Senate.
“The American people did not bargain for ... another four years for one of the key architects of the Bush economy," Sanders said.
Sanders said Bernanke had failed in every task assigned to the Fed, including keeping the economy growing with low inflation, maintaining financial stability, supervising banks and protecting consumers.
Bernanke defended his record, including the bank bailout plan that was approved by former President George W. Bush, saying the Fed's purchases of longer-term securities have helped to reduce mortgage rates.
"Taken together, the Federal Reserve's actions have contributed substantially to the significant improvement in financial conditions and to what now appear to be the beginnings of a turnaround in both the U.S. and foreign economies," Bernanke said.
Earlier today, Bernanke received of strong endorsement from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who said the United States was "lucky" that Bernanke was Fed chairman during the crisis.
At the start of the hearing, Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said he would support Bernanke's confirmation.
The stock market was mostly flat this morning. Local stocks in the BizTimes Stock Index were led by Manpower Inc. (up 68 cents to $51.36) and MGIC Investment Corp. (up 68 cents to $4.94). The largest local decliners this morning were Fiserv Inc. (down 41 cents to $47.03) and Koss Corp. (down 24 cents to $6.96).
