President Barack Obama says the U.S. economy is facing its most
profound emergency since the Great Depression and could sink into a
"negative spiral" without more government intervention.
Speaking at the White House in his first press conference as president, Mr. Obama called on the U.S. Congress to quickly pass a large government spending and tax cut bill that he has proposed.
The president acknowledged the more than $800 billion plan is not perfect, but said a failure to act would deepen the crisis and the pain of Americans who are suffering from 3.6 million lost jobs and other economic problems. He said that with the private sector weakened, "the federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt the economy back to life."
The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote on the stimulus bill Tuesday, and if it passes, must be reconciled with a different version passed by the House of Representatives before it can be signed into law by Mr. Obama. Most members of the Republican Party have opposed the plan, saying it includes too much spending and too few tax cuts, while Mr. Obama's Democratic Party supports it.
Mr. Obama visited Elkhart, Indiana, Monday and said the unemployment rate has gone from less than five percent to 15 percent in one year. He said similar scenarios are playing out across the nation.
Speaking at the White House in his first press conference as president, Mr. Obama called on the U.S. Congress to quickly pass a large government spending and tax cut bill that he has proposed.
The president acknowledged the more than $800 billion plan is not perfect, but said a failure to act would deepen the crisis and the pain of Americans who are suffering from 3.6 million lost jobs and other economic problems. He said that with the private sector weakened, "the federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt the economy back to life."
The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote on the stimulus bill Tuesday, and if it passes, must be reconciled with a different version passed by the House of Representatives before it can be signed into law by Mr. Obama. Most members of the Republican Party have opposed the plan, saying it includes too much spending and too few tax cuts, while Mr. Obama's Democratic Party supports it.
Mr. Obama visited Elkhart, Indiana, Monday and said the unemployment rate has gone from less than five percent to 15 percent in one year. He said similar scenarios are playing out across the nation.
The live discussion in the studio highlighted in VOA Bangla Service highlighted President Obama's main points in the news conference . It also discussed about his town hall meeting at Elkhart , Indiana and related it to the US economic crisis . The discussion underscored the fact that the President is reaching out to the people and is looking forward to resolving the ongoing economic crisis . The discussion also focused on President Obama's comments on Iran .
