AFL-CIO chief: History will judge Obama if he 'nibbles' at jobs crisis (video)
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said that if President Obama鈥檚 jobs speech after Labor Day does not 鈥減ropose bold solutions on the jobs crisis,鈥� and consists of 鈥渘ibbling around the edge鈥� of the issue, 鈥渉istory will judge him and I think working people will judge him.鈥�
The labor chief said that, in a conversation with Mr. Obama in advance of his upcoming economic speech, 鈥淚 urged him to propose what was necessary to solve the problem鈥� as opposed to what the president thought was politically possible given Republican control of the House of Representatives.
Speaking at a Monitor-hosted breakfast for reporters on Thursday, Mr. Trumka added, 鈥淚 said to him, 'Do not look at what is possible, look at what is necessary. The American public wants solutions and just because [of] the Republicans, you think this is the only thing that is politically possible, that doesn鈥檛 mean you should propose that. That means they control the agenda.' 鈥�
Trumka鈥檚 comments come in the context of a new report from the Congressional Budget Office, released Wednesday, which predicted that America鈥檚 unemployment rate, now 9.1 percent, would remain above 8 percent until 2014.
While crediting Obama for 鈥渂old leadership鈥� in proposing an economic stimulus package and health-care legislation, Trumka was critical of the president鈥檚 handling of the persistently high unemployment rate. 鈥淗e made a strategic mistake,鈥� Trumka said, 鈥渁 number of months ago when he would talk about job creation and in the same sentence talk about deficit reduction, and people got the two confused. And he helped with that. And I think that was a strategic mistake.鈥�
Trumka is due to see the president when Mr. Obama makes a Labor Day appearance in Detroit.
