Alister Bull and Jonathan Spicer
Reuters
August 4, 2011
The United States has a jobs problem and there’s not a lot President Barack Obama or Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke can do about it.
In the face of rising risks of a recession that could imperil his re-election chances next year, Democrat Obama wants Congress to extend a payroll tax cut and emergency unemployment benefits that are due to expire in December.
But the Republican-controlled House of Representatives is emboldened by budget concessions it made Obama swallow to lift the country’s debt limit this week and he has little political leverage to win significant fresh spending to aid growth.
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