Obama: Congress, Europe Must Stem Economic Crisis

BY: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON - The economy at risk, President Barack Obama accused Republicans on Friday of pursuing policies that would weaken the U.S. recovery and simultaneously urged European leaders to prevent a looming overseas debt crisis from dragging down the rest of the world.

In a brief White House news conference, Obama urged passage of legislation that he says would create jobs - proposals that Republicans have long blocked.

"The recipes that they're promoting are basically the kinds of policies that would add weakness to the economy, would result in further layoffs, would not provide relief to the housing market and would result ... in lower growth," he said.

As for Europe, he said leaders there must inject money into the banking system.

"The solutions to these problems are hard, but there are solutions," he said.

The president spoke after several days of difficult turns for his re-election prospects, including last Friday's report that the unemployment rate had risen slightly to 8.2 percent in May as job creation had slowed, and new signs that the European debt crisis was hurting the U.S. economy.

In the overtly political realm, Wisconsin's Republican Gov. Scott Walker turned back a recall movement led by organized labor, while former President Bill Clinton stirred controversy by saying Obama should be ready to sign a short-term extension of all expiring tax cuts - including those that apply to the wealthiest taxpayers that the president has vowed not to renew.