President Obama unveils jobs plan, no price tag

President Barack Obama laid out a slate of job-creating ideas in a speech at the Brookings Institution Tuesday – a sort of “stimulus lite” — but carefully avoided saying how much the new plans would cost.

Obama touted the success of his stimulus and economic recovery efforts so far this year and endorsed a series of new ideas, including tax cuts for small business, new infrastructure spending on highways, rail and other projects, and a so-called “cash for caulkers” program that would give rebates to people who retrofit their homes to be more energy efficient.

Obama’s remarks represent a sort of political doubling down on the idea of federal stimulus spending. Indeed many of the ideas he mentioned are extensions of or additional funding for, items that were included in his $787 billion stimulus package earlier in the year.

It comes at a moment in which Republicans have been gaining political traction with the voter anger over bailouts and deficits in Washington. And Obama’s speech comes as he prepares to host Democratic and Republican leaders from both chambers of Congress at the White House Wednesday to discuss jobs and the economy, two sources familiar with the meeting told POLITICO. The meeting is scheduled for 11 a.m. and is expected to last 50 minutes.

“Our work is far from done,” Obama said. “For even though we have reduced the deluge of job losses to a relative trickle, we are not yet creating jobs at a pace to help all those families who have been swept up in the flood.”

Obama called the more than 7 million Americans who have lost their jobs since the recession began a “staggering figure” and a “continuing human tragedy.”

“It speaks to an urgent need to accelerate job growth in the short term while laying a new foundation for lasting economic growth,” he said.

But the president did not say how much all this will cost.

Instead, he sought to remind voters about how dire the economic picture was when he took office, reminiscing about briefings he got from his economic team soon after he was elected. And he joked about the scale of the problem that landed on his plate: “Having concluded that it was too late to request a recount,” he said, “I tasked my team with mapping out a plan to tackle the crisis on all fronts.”

In a conference call with reporters before the speech, senior administration officials also avoided offering any specific price tag for the new effort. The official said the reduced cost of bank bailouts gives them as much as $200 billion in additional “fiscal room” for spending and reducing the projected deficit, which was calculated assuming that the government would spend the entire $700 billion allocated to TARP.

The only detail on the financial wallop of the president’s plan today came from a senior administration official who said that the president’s ideas on infrastructure would cost “in the range of $50 billion,” meaning the total cost of the jobs package would likely be multiples of that amount.

Obama’s comments met with harsh criticism from Republicans on Capitol Hill. “Now, with unemployment at 10 percent, the President proposes another special interest slush fund using ‘savings’ from the TARP program. This is absurd,’ said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). “TARP should be shut down as soon as possible and any unused funds should be returned to taxpayers by reducing our $1.4 trillion deficit.”

The White House said the president has a variety of ideas in each category, including five different proposals to help small businesses. “It is so important that we help small business struggling to open, or stay open, during these difficult times.” Obama is calling for a one-year elimination of the tax on capital gains from new investments in small business stock, and the extension of a stimulus bill provision that allows small businesses to immediately expense up to $250,000 of qualified investment.

And the president would like to see another provision extended that accelerates the rate at which business can deduct the cost of capital expenditures. Obama also proposed a short-term tax incentive to encourage small business hiring and eliminating fees for businesses that take Small Business Administration loans in 2010.

Within the infrastructure category, Obama called for spending on highways, transit, rail, aviation and water. “These are needed public works that engage private sector companies, spurring hiring across the country,” Obama said. He also said that the first stimulus bill – known as the Recovery Act – is just hitting its stride going into 2010. “What this means is that we’re going to see even more work – and workers – on Recovery projects in the next six months than we saw in the last six months,” Obama said.

And within the clean energy category, Obama said he would like to see rebates for consumers who make energy efficiency retrofits – which has become known as “cash for caulkers.” That plan, he said, “creates jobs, saves money for families, and reduces the pollution that threatens our environment.”

Obama said that even as he announces plans for new spending, he is striving to be fiscally responsible. He took the opportunity to remind voters how high the deficit was when he was inaugurated — $1.3 trillion. “And I’d note: these budget busting tax cuts and spending programs were approved by many of the same people who are now waxing political about fiscal responsibility while opposing our efforts to reduce deficits by getting health care costs under control,” Obama said. “It’s a sight to see.”