What Caught My Eye Today - Barack Obama's plan for jobs and economic growth

Fred's Note: It occurs to me that in recent posts regarding the upcoming U.S. Presidential election that I am guilty of doing the same thing as various media outlets by rendering opinions on statements that I may have taken out of context. To be fair, I'm not a professional journalist and doubt very much that my blog will ever reach the critical mass that the New York Times does. However, the information is readily available to anyone who truly wants to make an informed decision come Election Day in November. With that in mind, over the next several days and weeks, I'll be posting excerpts from the websites of both the Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney and the incumbent Democratic candidate, Barack Obama. It goes without saying that I will be adding some color commentary, but the content will be from the candidates themselves.

Second in our series , Barack Obama's plan for jobs and economic growth.

The President is taking aggressive steps to put Americans back to work and create an economy where hard work pays and responsibility is rewarded. We’ve added back more than 4.4 million private sector jobs and seen 28 straight months of job growth—but there’s more work to do. When President Obama took office, he both addressed the immediate economic crisis and laid the foundation for a U.S. economy that’s built to last.

• Putting Americans Back To Work: When President Obama took office, the economy was losing more than 700,000 jobs per month. President Obama acted quickly to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which cut taxes for small businesses and 95% of working families. It also included emergency funding to support about 300,000 educator jobs, more than 4,600 law enforcement positions, and investments in the clean energy sector that supported 224,500 jobs through 2010. Through May 2012, the economy has added 4.4 million private sector jobs over 28 consecutive months of job growth. In his State of the Union address, the President laid out a blueprint for an economy that’s built to last—an economy built on American manufacturing, American energy, skills for American workers, and a renewal of American values. I have to say, I'm a bit underwhelmed by Obama's plan, or lack thereof, regarding the economy. Almost all of his positions regarding the economy highlight past accomplishments. No offense, Mr. President, but we live in a world where "What will you do for me?" counts for much more that "What have you done for me?". I'm not saying that's fair, but that's the world we live in.
• Investing in American Manufacturing and Innovation: President Obama wants to grow high-technology U.S. manufacturing capacity and supply clean energy projects with American-made parts and equipment. That’s why he’s provided tax incentives to and made investments in clean energy technologies such as wind turbines and advanced car batteries. He has launched the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, a national effort to invest in technologies that will create high-quality manufacturing jobs and enhance America’s global competitiveness. He also signed the America Invents Act, historic patent reform legislation that will help American entrepreneurs bring inventions to market sooner, helping to create new businesses and new jobs. While amounting to a snooze-fest for most of the general population, the America Invents Act is a pretty big deal and has the potential for paying vast dividends in terms of preserving the United States' place at the top of the value chain. But again, what is the plan for the next four years.
• Supporting Small Business: President Obama has passed tax cuts for small businesses 18 times and streamlined the patent process, providing a new fast track option to cut wait times by two-thirds and help small business innovators move ideas from the lab to market. The Affordable Care Act provides small business owners with better affordable health care options for employees, simpler administrative operating rules, and billions of dollars in tax relief. Eighteen times? I don't remember that many, but I will chalk that up to either boring press or a lousy PR guy in the Obama Administration. And I'm not sure I'd be touting the Affordable Care Act as the silver bullet that will solve all that ails the nation just yet. Most of provisions don't kick in for another two years.
• Made in America: President Obama created the National Export Initiative, an effort to help businesses compete in the global marketplace and double our nation’s exports by 2015, a target we’re on track to meet. To level the playing field for American businesses and workers, Obama signed trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama. Together, the agreements are estimated to increase exports by approximately $13 billion and support more than 70,000 American jobs. More great sound bites, but where is the substance?
• Rescuing the U.S. auto industry: President Obama made the tough and politically unpopular decision to extend emergency rescue loans to the American auto industry, saving more than 1 million jobs and preventing the loss of over $96 billion in personal income—and the collapse of manufacturing in the Midwest. Other than getting his health care reform legislation enacted, this is probably Obama's next biggest achievement. And for once, I agree that he should use this in his stump for another term. Romney doesn't really have a leg to stand on with regard to this one issue.
• Wall Street Reform: President Obama passed the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to hold Wall Street accountable, prevent future financial crises, and end the era of "too big to fail." Wall Street reform ensures that if a financial company fails, it will be Wall Street that pays the price—not the American people—and sets ground rules for the riskiest financial speculation. President Obama also enacted a Credit Card Bill of Rights to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive practices, like over-the-limit charges and hidden costs. Too bad Congress has done a great job of doing practical nothing to enact any of the provisions of the legislation. More than likely, the opposition will spin this as Obama being unfriendly to big business and entrepreneurship. A bogus claim, but since when has that mattered?
• Protecting Consumers: Through Wall Street Reform, President Obama created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The agency defends consumers from unfair and abusive financial practices and makes sure that credit card companies and mortgage and payday lenders follow the rules. Again, unless the Democrats manage to keep a majority in the Senate and, somehow, take back the House, I fear this act will be much ado about nothing

Once again, I urge you to form your own opinions rather than rely on my brilliant insights or anyone else's. You can read up on Barack Obama's position on the economy here. Next time, Mitt Romney's stance on health care.