Obama Admin Spreading The Field On Stimulus
The Obama admin will dispatch key surrogates around the nation this week to mark the 1-year anniversary of the economic stimulus package, the WH announced today, further wrapping themselves in what has proven to be an unpopular piece of legislation.
Today, VP Biden is in Saginaw, MI, with SBA admin Karen Mills. HHS Sec. Kathleen Sebelius will be in Atlanta, while DHS Sec. Janet Napolitano is in VA and TX highlighting projects that have won $576M in stimulus grants.
Pres. Obama has an event at the WH tomorrow, while Ag. Sec. Tom Vilsack hosts a conference call, Interior Sec. Ken Salazar joins WA Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) in Seattle, Ed. Sec. Arne Duncan visits a school in Alexandria and VA Sec. Eric Shinseki has an event in Chillicothe, OH.
Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood hosts events throughout the week in Kansas City, Tucson and L.A., while Commerce Sec. Gary Locke has events slated for Pittsburgh and Wheeling, WV. HUD Sec. Shaun Donovan will be in Cincinnati on Thursday, AG Eric Holder will be in Charlotte, NC, on Friday and Energy Sec. Steven Chu will be in Windsor, CO the same day.
As Dems try to make the elections a choice between the 2 parties, their logic becomes clear; Americans still blame the Bush admin (41%) or Congress (24%) for the state of the U.S. economy. Dems have invoked Pres. Bush's name, but voters still hold the current admin responsible for getting the country out of its jobs crisis.
The events -- more than 35 in all, according to a WH release -- come as Congressional Dems spend recess touting the stimulus's success in their districts. And the public clearly needs more evidence that the bill has worked; just 6% of Americans said the bill has already created new jobs, according to last week's CBS/NYT poll, while 41% say the bill will eventually create jobs.