US President Barack Obama said on Sunday the US economy was expanding, but not quickly enough, and there was no “magic bullet” that will fix its problems.
Obama said in an NBC interview that the batch of grim economic data over the past few weeks was something his administration had anticipated.
Gloomy reports on GDP and housing have raised fears the fragile economy could slip back into a recession or face a lengthy period of growth that is too slow to make much of a dent in the 9.5 percent unemployment rate.
“The economy is still growing, but it’s not growing as fast as it needs to,” Obama told NBC in the interview in New Orleans, where he stopped after a vacation on Martha’s Vineyard.
Obama faces a dilemma in trying to reassure people about the economy without appearing to be out of touch with frustration over the sluggish growth and scarcity of jobs.
The economy is the top issue in the Nov. 2 congressional elections, where Obama’s Democrats are bracing for potentially big losses to Republicans.
Obama’s first week back at the White House will be heavily focused on foreign policy issues. He is to deliver an address on the Iraq war from the Oval Office tonight and hosts a summit on Middle East peace tomorrow and on Thursday.
“We’re in the silly season — political season, which means that for the next two months there’s gonna be constantly a contest in the minds of members of Congress,” he said.
However, he urged the US Congress to pass some of his existing proposals such as plans aimed at spurring lending to small businesses and tax breaks for such firms.
He also touted his initiatives to encourage investment in clean energy.
“We should be passing legislation that helps small businesses get credit, that eliminates capital gains taxes so that they have more incentive to invest right now,” he said. “There are a whole host of measures we could take. No single element of which is a magic bullet.”
“We anticipated that the recovery was slowing,” Obama said.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
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