Jay Carney’s Air Ball On Obama’s Priorities

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney Dodges Question On Why Obama Talked More About Michael Jordan Yesterday Than CBO’s Dire Report On The Fiscal Cliff

ABC’s Jake Tapper: “The Congressional Budget Office report is a pretty dire warning about what this nation faces, yet I didn’t hear the president mention it yesterday, is there a reason why?”

White House Spokesman Jay Carney: “Well I think I put out a statement which is the White House’s view and the president’s view. The president talks every day that he’s out there, as he was yesterday, about what we need to do to help build our economy, help it to continue to grow, help it to continue to create jobs and yesterday, and the day before, he was focusing on the need to continue investments in education because he firmly believes that education is a matter of our economy, it’s an economic issue.”

Tapper: That’s not what the Congressional Budget Office was addressing, they were talking about … The president talked about education, he talked about Todd Aiken, he talked about Michael Jordan, he talked about a lot of—“

Carney: “He talks, you know, all the time about what we need to do to specifically to help the economy grow and create jobs. And his belief that we need to take a balanced approach to address the kinds of fiscal challenges that are necessary.” ( White House Press Briefing, 8/23/12)

Yesterday, The CBO Detailed The Recession That Would Result From The Failure To Confront The Fiscal Cliff And The Consequences Of Obama’s Binge Spending

Congressional Budget Office: Going Over The Fiscal Cliff “Will Lead To Economic Conditions In 2013 That Will Probably Be Considered A Recession …” “With those and other policy changes contained in current law, the deficit will shrink to an estimated $641 billion in fiscal year 2013 (or 4.0 percent of GDP), almost $500 billion less than the shortfall in 2012 (see Summary Table 1). Such fiscal tightening will lead to economic conditions in 2013 that will probably be considered a recession, with real GDP declining by 0.5 percent between the fourth quarter of 2012 and the fourth quarter of 2013 and the unemployment rate rising to about 9 percent in the second half of calendar year 2013 (see Summary Table 2).” (“An Update To The Budget And Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2012 To 2022,” Congressional Budget Office, 8/22/12)

• “The Contraction Of The Economy Will Cause Employment To Fall And The Unemployment Rate To Rise To 9.1 Percent In The Fourth Quarter Of 2013.” “The contraction of the economy will cause employment to fall and the unemployment rate to rise to 9.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013, CBO projects (see Figure 2-7).” (“An Update To The Budget And Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2012 To 2022,” Congressional Budget Office, 8/22/12)

“The Federal Budget Deficit For Fiscal Year 2012 … Will Total $1.1 Trillion … Marking The Fourth Year In A Row With A Deficit Of More Than $1 Trillion.” (“An Update To The Budget And Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2012 To 2022,” Congressional Budget Office, 8/22/12)

• CBO Predicts That Federal Debt Held By The Public Will Reach The Highest Levels Since The 1950s. “Federal debt held by the public will reach 73 percent of GDP by the end of this fiscal year—the highest level since 1950 and about twice the 36 percent of GDP that it measured at the end of 2007, before the financial crisis and recent recession.” (“An Update To The Budget And Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2012 To 2022,” Congressional Budget Office, 8/22/12)

Read More About The CBO’s Updated Economic And Budget Outlook At GOP.com