Gene B. Sperling: Obama’s jobs creator

By the end of August, the White House had settled on a package of $375 billion. It was a mix of tax cuts and fresh government spending on efforts such as teacher aid and building roads and bridges. Sperling also included, at the president’s direction, a program to rebuild foreclosure-beaten neighborhoods, even if the idea wasn’t likely to create many jobs across the country.

“Oftentimes, there’s been an assumption that all proposals need to be more focused on the macroeconomic state,” said Shaun Donovan, the secretary of housing and urban development. “One of the things that Gene brought to the discussion was that there is a set of things we can do that are going to help the hardest-hit places.”

On Sept. 2, it became clear that even $375 billion was not enough. Sperling and Katharine Abraham, a member of the Council of Economic Advisers, walked into the Oval Office and handed a sheet of paper to the president. “0,” it said, on the line listing the number of jobs created the previous month. Obama — called “President Zero” by opponents later that day — was surprised.

Republicans, however, did not support how the administration proposed to pay for the plan — increasing taxes on the rich — and in the end fought every part. This time, Obama did not compromise.

In fact, the president doubled down, traveling around the country to promote the ideas in the Jobs Act. Obama made income inequality the centerpiece of a major speech in Kansas and the middle class the focus of his State of the Union address. He bypassed Congress by announcing a range of executive actions to benefit the economy. And he used a recess appointment to name a consumer financial regulator deemed important by the left.

“I think it was important in giving the American public a very clear sense of what he believes, who he’s fighting for, and who’s been standing in the way,” Sperling said.

Even if nearly the entire bill has been blocked by Republicans in Congress, Obama’s strategy seemed to have had a political payoff. The president’s poll numbers are far off their lows and his ratings on jobs are the highest they’ve been in two years. His advisers say the strategy initiated by the American Jobs Act will continue to frame the campaign for reelection. Sperling is likely to play a central role.

“Let’s build a more durable recovery that works for more people,” Plouffe said. “That’s not just a debate that we have politically. That’s something the president pushes Gene on all the time.”