As America continues to struggle with unemployment, a Cambodian economist says a jobs act proposed by President Barrack Obama could both help the economy and the incumbent’s presidential bid next year. If it passes.
Obama unveiled a jobs bill in September in hopes of mitigating high unemployment in the wake of the financial crisis. Obama has proposed a $447 billion plan that he says will create more jobs with stimulus spending, tax cuts and an end to some tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy.
Republican members of Congress, however, say the bill will not pass untouched.
Duch Darin, an professor at Tallahassee Community College, in Florida, told VOA Khmer that the jobs act could potentially help the economy and Obama’s chances in the upcoming 2012 presidential election.
The jobs act would help boost employment here by decreasing the outsourcing of jobs, he said, which will be essential to easing unemployment pressures.
“This $447 billion can be recuperated in nine years,” he added.
The bill, if passed, would restore American confidence and bolster Obama in the presidential race, he said.
“President Obama hit two birds with one stone,” he said. “President Obama looks good for the next election if the economy is moving in the right direction. But if the bill is opposed by the Republicans and there is a recession, the blame will be on the Republicans.”