Stock exchange traded funds started the week after the Labor Day weekend in the red partly due to the elevated U.S. unemployment rate. The markets now wait on the rescheduled speech on job creation President Barack Obama plans to deliver on Thursday, hoping he may provide clarity and stability for the economy.
In the Labor Day preview of his speech, Obama singled out the Republican Party, stating its members will be publicly accountable if he does not receive the party’s full support on the job-creation plan he seeks to lay out on Thursday, reports Christi Parsons for the Los Angeles Times.
“I’m going to propose ways to put people to work [that]both parties can agree to,” Obama stated on Monday. “We’re going to see if congressional Republicans will put country before politics.”
Additionally, Obama may push for additional tax cuts on top of those he previously proposed, challenging the Republicans’ stance on lower taxation, report Hans Nichols and Magaret Talev for Bloomberg. The administration wants to reduce taxes that targeted middle-income Americans as a way to increase consumer spending.
“You say you’re the party of tax cuts?” remarked Obama. “Well then, prove you’ll fight just as hard for tax cuts for middle- class families as you do for oil companies and the most affluent Americans.”
Infrastructure may be another topic covered in the speech.
“We’ve got roads and bridges across this country that need rebuilding,” Obama added. “We’ve got more than 1 million unemployed construction workers ready to get dirty right now. There is work to be done and there are workers ready to do it. Labor’s on board, business is on board. We just need Congress to get on board.”
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Max Chen contributed to this article.