Summers replied that the $787 billion stimulus package Congress passed at Obama’s urging contained spending and tax relief that helped avert a worse economic downturn.
He said that although unemployment now stands at 9.8 percent, the pace of job losses is decreasing.
“We have walked a substantial distance back from the economic abyss and are on the path toward economic recovery,’’ he wrote.
Boehner, in a statement yesterday, said calls by Democrats for more measures to address joblessness “are the wrong approach and an acknowledgment that the first one isn’t working.’’
“We can’t afford another trillion-dollar mistake on the back of our children and small businesses,’’ he said.
Summers, in his letter, was especially critical of fiscal policies during the Bush presidency.
“Every major policy enacted during this period violated the principle of paying for new proposals,’’ he wrote. “These policy decisions were the primary driver that turned historic projected surpluses into record deficits.’’
Summers promised to review the Republican suggestions, which included tax exemptions for small businesses and lowering the 15 and 10 percent tax rates for all taxpayers.
Speaking yesterday in St. Louis, Summers said growing unemployment was the most important economic problem. It has risen faster than most economists would expect based on the severity of the recession, Summers said. But he credited the stimulus spending with shoring up the economy and slowing layoffs.
Obama’s stimulus plan has spared tens of thousands of teachers’ jobs, state officials said yesterday amid a nationwide effort to calculate the effect of the $787 billion recovery package.
State officials around the country worked to meet a Saturday reporting deadline as part of the most ambitious effort to calculate the effect of a government spending program. States are required to say exactly what became of the government aid.
The data won’t be available until later this month. But based on preliminary information from a handful of states, teachers appear to have benefited most so far.
Construction companies also are expected to report strong job numbers, thanks to billions of dollars in highway money, but those figures will vary because some states have spent that money faster than others.
