PRESIDENT OBAMAS RECORD IN BRIEF: THE ECONOMY

For years before the economic crisis, middle-class security had been slipping away. Wages stagnated while
health care costs soared. Fewer employers offered retirement benets even as college tuition costs skyrocketed. And then the Wall Street meltdown and housing market crash led to the loss of 8.8 million jobs and sent the economy into a deep recession. As President Obama took office, his economic program both addressed the immediate crisis and laid the foundation for a U.S. economy that can out-innovate and out-build the world. Weve now added back 2.6 million private sector jobs, but theres more work to do. Thats why the President is taking aggressive steps to put Americans back to work, create an economy thats built to last, and restore middle-class security for decades to come.

Putting Americans Back to Work

President Obama passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which helped stop the hemorrhaging of job losses that had reached more than 700,000 per month when he took office. As of September 2011, the economy has added 2.6 million private sector jobs, including 19 straight months of private sector growth. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act also included: A tax cut for 95 percent of working families, helping them keep more of what they earn. Tax cuts for small businesses to encourage them to hire and help for entrepreneurs to access credit. All told, President Obama has passed 17 small business tax cuts. Emergency funding to support about 266,000 jobs in public schools across the country. Investments in the clean energy sector, creating or saving 224,500 jobs through the end of 2010. The administration launched the Joining Forces Initiative to help veterans and their spouses succeed in civilian careers and help their children integrate into new schools when they move.

Rescuing the U.S. Auto Industry

Taking the tough and politically unpopular decision to extend emergency rescue loans to the American auto industry, President Obama saved 1.4 million jobs at GM, Chrysler, and throughout the domestic automotive supply chain, preventing an economic catastrophe for communities across the country. GM and Chrysler were required to cut labor costs and overhaul their business models in exchange for government loans, guaranteeing their accountability to taxpayers. Today, GM and Chrysler have repaid their loans and are rehiring thousands of workers. And theyre investing in fuel-efficient technologies that will allow them to out-innovate and out-build their competitors around the globe.

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Creating an Economy Thats Built to Last

President Obama launched the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, a national effort to invest in technologies that will create high-quality manufacturing jobs and enhance Americas global competitiveness. President Obama provided tax incentives for clean energy technologies such as wind turbines and advanced car batteries to grow high technology U.S. manufacturing capacity and supply clean energy projects with American-made parts and equipment. President Obama created the National Export Initiative, a government-wide effort to help small businesses compete in the global marketplace and double our nations exports by 2015. To level the playing eld for American businesses and workers, President Obama signed trade agreements with North Korea, Colombia, and Panama. Together, the agreements are estimated to increase exports by over $11 billion and support over 70,000 American jobs. To protect those who have been hurt by outsourcing, President Obama fought for the Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act to provide benets and retraining to workers who have seen their jobs move overseas.

Reforming Wall Street and Protecting Consumers

President Obama passed the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to hold Wall Street accountable and end taxpayer-funded bailouts. Wall Street reform ensures that if a nancial company fails, it will be Wall Street that pays the pricenot the American people. It also sets ground rules for the riskiest nancial speculation and allows the government to shut down failing nancial companies that threaten our economy. The reform created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to make sure that credit card companies and mortgage and payday lenders have to follow the rules, and that consumers will be protected from unfair nancial practicesincluding hidden credit card interest rate hikes and mortgage payment costs and increases.

Supporting Small Business

Recognizing that small businesses are the engine of job creationresponsible for two out of every three new jobs in the United StatesPresident Obama has cut taxes for small businesses 17 times. The Affordable Care Act supports small businesses by providing them with better affordable health care options for employees, simpler administrative operating rules, and billions of dollars in tax credits.

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