President Obama and former president Bill Clinton attend the memorial service for Senator Robert Byrd on the steps of the state capitol in Charleston, West Virginia, July 2, 2010. Credit: Reuters/Larry Downing

By Caren Bohan and Alister Bull

 

Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought on Wednesday to lift sagging confidence in his economic stewardship by enlisting the help of predecessor Bill Clinton, as a leading business group issued a scathing critique of the administration's policies.

Clinton, who presided over the 1990s economic boom, joined Obama at a closed-door White House meeting with business leaders to encourage job creation and investment, including in clean energy.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a top business group, issued a rebuke of Obama's economic agenda, accusing him and his Democrats in Congress of neglecting job creation and hampering growth with burdensome regulatory and tax policies.

Four months before the November congressional elections, Republicans have tried to paint Obama and his Democrats as anti-business.

Obama is increasingly turning to former President Clinton to help win over voters and the business community.

Clinton, seen by many in corporate America as sympathetic, has helped the White House by campaigning for Democratic candidates running in November's elections.

And Obama on Tuesday named former Clinton administration veteran Jack Lew as the White House budget chief to help cut the huge deficit.

In addition to the meeting he hosted with Clinton, Obama also consulted investment guru Warren Buffett earlier in the Oval Office as he gathered views on how to boost growth. He ended up having to loan the billionaire a tie because Buffett's was frayed.

With unemployment stubbornly high, polls have reinforced Democrats' fears of big losses in November.

A survey by The Washington Post-ABC News showed 54 percent of Americans disapproved of Obama's leadership on the economy. In a CBS News poll, only 40 percent of Americans said they approved of Obama's handling of the economy.

JOBS SAVED

To counter such perceptions, the administration trumpeted an analysis from the White House Council of Economic Advisers that said government funding of clean energy, economic development, construction projects and other initiatives was spurring "co-investment" by the private sector.

The report, unveiled by CEA Chairwoman Christina Romer and Vice President Joseph Biden, estimated that Obama's $862 billion economic stimulus package had saved or created roughly 3 million jobs, and was on track to meet its goal of 3.5 million jobs by the end of this year.

Republicans ridiculed the report and said the job-creation estimates seemed off-base in light of the 9.5 percent unemployment rate.

"I will, in all honesty, nominate (the CEA report) as a Pulitzer in fiction, which would be humorous but for 15 million American workers who face the harsh reality of no jobs," Republican congressman Kevin Brady said at a Capitol Hill hearing where CEA Chairwoman Christina Romer presented the report.

House of Representatives Republican Leader John Boehner called the estimates "fuzzy math."

An open letter from the Chamber of Commerce gave Obama credit for stabilizing the economy after a freefall.

But after that, Obama and the Democrats "took their eyes off the ball," the letter said.

"They neglected America's number one priority -- creating the more than 20 million jobs we need over the next 10 years for those who lost their jobs, have left the job market, or were cut to part-time status -- as well as new entrants into our workforce," the Chamber said.

Pushing back against the criticism, the White House said it was "surprised and disappointed" by attacks on its policies from some corners of the business world.

"The stakes are far too high for us to be working against one another," White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and top Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett said in a letter to the Chamber.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said it was "ironic" the Chamber was criticizing Obama's policies toward business, given corporate profits were up sharply in the United States.

"The Chamber has a different approach to certain issues but we have different responsibilities," he told reporters.

The Chamber released its letter to coincide with its "Jobs for America" summit in Washington on Wednesday.

A White House request to have Jarrett address the event was declined because the Chamber said the offer came too late.

BUSINESSES FEEL "UNLOVED"

The Chamber is far from the only business group to express concern about the Obama administration's policies.

Ivan Seidenberg, chairman of the Business Roundtable, said last month there was a "disconnect" between Washington and the business community. In a speech, Seidenberg, chief executive of Verizon Communications, also urged the administration to rethink its priorities.

High budget deficits are among the complaints business groups have lodged against the Obama administration. A healthcare overhaul, financial regulatory reform and proposals to cap carbon emissions are cited by some corporate chieftains as examples of regulatory overreach.

In an interview with Reuters, the chief executive of Loews Corp said the Obama administration is making businesses feel "unloved" and reluctant to put money to work.

The tensions with the business community could prove troublesome for Obama on more than just the political front. U.S. businesses are holding onto a record $1.8 trillion in cash that they are opting not to invest. The administration wants to encourage them to use that money in hopes that greater investment will help jump-start the economic recovery.

While defending its policies, the administration has made clear it is listening to businesses' concerns and even offered an olive branch this week to the Business Roundtable.

In a letter to Seidenberg after meeting with him on June 30, Jarrett said the administration has an "an open door" for businesses and is "always willing to consider input."

(Additional reporting by Donna Smith, Steve Holland, Emily Kaiser and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Alistair Bell and Eric Beech)

CR Editors Note: Original "Clinton Cast" was a majority of Republicans,  see contract with America

Conservative Refocus Editors Note:

Barry Secrest

The Leftists continue to report only the components of this story that supports their Party.  The Republicans have simply insisted that Congress utilize a portion of the $ 400 Billion in leftover stimulus funds rather than spending money that the US simply does not have.  The below Story only brushes by the truth without embracing it.

 The Mainstream Media's continued reporting of this "ridiculous" Congressional malpractice  never embraces the one component that explains it all.  This partial reporting appears thru-out virtually every left-leaning media outlet in the US.  The Democrats have other plans for the remaining stimulus, which we will address at length, in the next opinion article at Conservative Refocus article to publish on this upcoming Sunday.

_______________________________________________________________________

Huffington Post

 Elyse Siegel & Arthur Delaney

Congress allowed extended benefits for people who've been out of work for longer than six months to lapse at the beginning of June. Since then, Senate Democrats have repeatedly failed to muster 60 votes to overcome the deficit reduction demands of Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Republicans.

Opponents have been preventing a final vote on the bill because of its $33 billion cost. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has blasted lawmakers for the delays.

"Almost two million people who are long-term unemployed," Reid said recently. "These are not numbers. They are people."

The Huffington Post has been documenting Congressional dithering on extending benefits for unemployed Americans. Here's are key developments in reverse chronological order:Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Wednesday that the Senate would vote move forward with reauthorizing unemployment benefits on Tuesday morning, after the replacement for the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) has been sworn in.

Republicans and Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson have been preventing a final vote on the bill because of its $33 billion cost. Reid said the GOP filibuster, which has prevented more than 2.1 million people from receiving checks, is designed to crater the economy. "They're betting on failure. They think the worse the economy is come November, the better they're going to do election wise," said Reid. "Almost two million people who are long-term unemployed. These are not numbers. They are people."

Congress allowed extended benefits for people who've been out of work for longer than six months to lapse at the beginning of June. Since then Senate Democrats have repeatedly failed to muster 60 votes to overcome the deficit reduction demands of the Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and the Republican party. In the final vote just after Byrd's death at the end of June, Democrats came up just one yea short.

Original Article with extended content

Foxnews

The installation of a memorial bust of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in Bedford, Va., next to Western Allied leaders in World War II has ignited a firestorm of controversy and threatened to tear apart the small town 200 miles south of the nation's capital.

Opponents of the bronze sculpture say it has no right to be placed in the National D-Day Memorial next to the busts of Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill because Stalin's murderous rule led to the deaths of at least 20 million people, surpassing even the number of murders under Hitler's bloody reign.

The Bedford board of supervisors voted unanimously late last month to ask the National D-Day Memorial Foundation to lose the bust. A group called the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation has an electronic petition calling on the memorial overseers to remove the bust. Several newspaper editorials have criticized the bust.

But the foundation isn't backing down, saying that Stalin, love him or hate him, is a part of the war's history, and his actions should be remembered.

"We certainly can understand the concern recently expressed by the Bedford County Board of Supervisors on behalf of their constituents and their interests," Robin Reed, president of the foundation said in a written statement.

"However, as a lifelong educator, I believe the foundation has a responsibility to serve as a catalyst for serious discourse regarding key historical figures and their actions as they relate to the D-Day story and World War II in general," she continued. "To do otherwise, is a serious disservice to those individuals that lived and died during those historical events."

The foundation could not be reached for further comment.

Rep. Tom Perriello, R-Va., wrote a letter to the chairman of the foundation last month, urging him to remove the bust.

"The long term viability of the Memorial will depend on its ability to maintain the support of the community of veterans who worked so hard to bring it into existence," Perriello said. "On issues of veteran's affairs, I take my marching orders from those who have served. I strongly encourage the leadership of the foundation to do the same."

The Joint Baltic American National Committee, a lobbying group, said the bust not only elevates Stalin but "does a great disservice to the memories" of the soldiers who died at Normandy.

"It is embarrassing to have to explain to our friends and colleagues overseas why Stalin's bust has suddenly appeared in our backyard when we have been applauding the removal of Stalinist icons elsewhere," the committee said.

The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation has collected more than 3,500 signatures on its petition.

"Statues of Stalin have been torn down all over Europe. Even in the Soviet Union," Lee Edwards, chairman of the group, said in a written statement. "The Stalin bust in Bedord, Va., should be removed immediately."

The petition also calls on Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to make the acceptance of the D-Day Memorial as a national park dependent on the removal of the bust.

Reportedly facing serious financial problems, the foundation is trying to get the National Park Service to take over the site.

David Barna, a spokesman for the National Park Service, said the controversy wouldn't be a factor in the agency's decision.

"If the memorial comes our way, we would have to interpret what it meant to America," he told FoxNews.com.

Bedford was chosen as the site for the memorial because of the huge sacrifice it made in the war. The city lost 21 of its men during the climatic D-Day battle on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944, the most men per capita of any community in the U.S. during World War II, according to the memorial.

Stalin, who had teamed up with the West after Hitler betrayed him, didn't send one Russian soldier to that battle.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama acknowledges that the fall elections could amount to a referendum on his stewardship of the nation's affairs.

Obama tells NBC in an interview that "nobody in the White House is satisfied" with continuing high unemployment.

But he also says the midterm congressional elections could come down to "a choice between the policies that got us into this mess and my policies that got us out of this mess."

The president said in the interview he believes voters "are going to say the policies that got us into this mess, we can't go back to." He also said Washington "has spent an inordinate amount of time on politics — who's up and who's down — and not enough on what we're doing for the American people."