. >> gene sperling is the director of the economic council and joins us from the white house. wanted to ask you about the housing proposal but first i wanted to ask you about the cbo forecast yesterday that the economy is going to recover very slowly with only 2% growth this year and unemployment remaining above 8% for this year and next. what can you in the white house do in the face of such a dismal forecast? >> you do everything you can to strengthen this recovery. that's why the president put forth the american jobs act. that's why we're fighting for the payroll tax cuts so that we can do something about it instead of just having politicians argue about it. that's why the president is trying to make refinancing available. this is really simple common sense. why shouldn't a responsible homeowner who has made all of their payments be able to refinance at these historic rates so that they can save $3,000, $4,000, $5,000, have more money to help the family, the economy, the housing market. this is common sense. the last time i checked, republican families as well as democratic

it was earlier this week when the white house economic council gene sperling said that we need a minimum tax so that -- yesterday in milwaukee, the president said something similar when she said that from now on, every multinational company should have to pay a basic minimum tax and every penny should go towards lowering the tax for every company who pays tax in the united states of america. generally what is this global minimum tax that we're starting to hear about? >> not as new as you think, because when chairman kemp laid out his plan for corporate tax return, last naturafall, he wan make sure that people could shift tax income and investment and avoid paying their fair share. the challenge is in trying to design it and set it at a level that is consistent with the objectives that we have which is to try to make sure that united states companies are successful. and we're going to outline to the congress the framework four corporate tax reform and in that context we'll give you a broader rationale for what we think the right balance is. >> let me tell you what concerns me. there was a

just a short while ago i spoke with the director of the white house economic council, gene sperling aboutand the president's new budget. gene, thanks for being with us. look, the republican agreement to extend the payroll tax cut without paying for it was a huge concession on their part, but there's still more that the democrats want to get done, the extension of unemployment insurance payments, how optimistic are you that republicans in the house will negotiate with democrat it is on anything this year. >> well, look right now we have a chance to get something done that would matter which, as you said, extending the payroll tax cut for 160 million americans, that as we know is an extra $40 a paycheck for a typical family. again, the extension of unemployment insurance where people are out ponding the pavement looking for work. you put the two together, they're not only good for millions of american families, most economists estimate that would mean an extra 500,000 jobs for this year. that gives a lot of momentum -- >> but are you concerned that now there will be so much animus nothing m

worked with with shean donovan extensively on this issue as well as tim masiff of treasury and gene sperling't always get the credit he deserves for doing outstanding work. the housing bubble that burst nearly six years ago triggered, as we all know, the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes. it costs millions of innocent americans their jobs and their homes. it remains one of the biggest drags on our economy. last fall my administration unveiled a series of steps to help responsible homeowners refinance their mortgages to ache advantage of historically low rates. last week i urged congress to pass a plan that would help millions more americans refinance and stay in their homes. i indicated that the american people need congress to act on this piece of legislation. in the meantime, we can't wait to get things done and provide relief to america's homeowners. we need to keep doing everything we can to help homeowners and our economy. today with the help of democratic and republican attorneys general from nearly every state in the country, we are about to take a major step on our own. we have

since september it was a great piece about gene sperling in the paper. he's focused on jobs. not trying to compete with the republicans on debt reduction where he never gets anywhere, but focus on something they don't want to talk about, jobs. and as he began to talk about jobs, serendipitously, the job number has gotten better. is it the fact of all three? he's improved the morale and he's focused on the right top chick is jobs. not compete with the republicans on who is the most fiscally responsible. >> yeah, i think you're right. i think there's no question that saying jobs, jobs, jobs, saying it over and over again has helped him. but it's helped him because the job situation is actually getting better. he's also created a narrative here. and the narrative is that he's the guy who is trying to stand up for people who are out of work. he's the guy trying to stand up for hard-working americans. when he got these recovery numbers the other day, he did a smart thing. he went out. he struck that kind of optimistic but tempered tone. we've done a lot. we have a lot more to do.

what lately you not just because gene sperling is there doing the budget?irst time the president has talked about community colleges. it has been a central part of his new foundation since he took office. not the first time he has been to a community college. as i think we all know, dr. jill bind teach at community college been a huge proponent t is a central part of how you restore middle class, how you give people, you know, that -- the steps and the tools they need to start climbing up the economic ladder to economic success in this country and it is a clear difference because it is the kind of investment that the president believes we need to make in this country and the people of this country to move forward. >> i want to talk, shift gears to rom nichl i got read you part of this op ed, jon ward, in the detroit news, mitt romney writes, remind people he is a michiganer, i am a son of detroit, grew up drinking verner's and watching ball game mich and trouble bolt. bones ea president tells us without his intervention, things would be worse. i believe wit

we will hear first from the director of the economic council, gene sperling. we will hear from the department of commerce, from the chair the federal trade commission, jolly boys, and finally, the final policy director. we're thrilled to have them all. [applause] >> thank you very much. thank you for being here. obviously, i want to thank a couple of people. i want to thank our great to.ence advisor, our former ce i want to thank secretary bryson for his leadership on this and so many things. i hope i am -- you can find ways to stick it to us. [laughter] inouye, who defy compromise you in anyway. [laughter] we are looking forward to working with her on advancing this blueprint. of course, i would like to think some of the people who really were driving forces behind this, weitzner. snar obviously, the issue leaders and consumer groups who made this kind of cooperative voluntary announcement possible. we have a few speakers who can make some basic points. number one, when we ask ourselves, as we should, economically, what can we do that lays the foundation for

extensively on this issue as well as tim madsen of treasury, and i'm going to acknowledge, also, gene sperling always get the credit he deserves for doing outstanding work. the housing bubble that burst nearly six years ago triggered, as we all know, the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes. it cost millions of innocent americans their jobs and their homes, and it remains one of the biggest drags on our economy. last fall my administration unveiled a series of steps to help responsible homeowners refinance their mortgages to take advantage of historically low rates x. last week i urge -- and last week i urged congress to pass a plan that would help millions more americans refinance and stay in their homes. and i indicated that the american people need congress to act on this piece of legislation. but in the meantime, we can't wait to get things done and to provide relief to america's homeowners. we these to keep doing everything we can to help -- we need to keep doing everything we can to help homeowners and our economy. and today with the help of democratic and republican attorney generals

and i'm going to acknowledge also gene sperling, who doesn't always get the credit he deserves for doing outstanding work. the housing bubble that burst nearly six years ago triggered, as we all know, the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes. it cost millions of innocent americans their jobs and their homes. and it remains one of the biggest drags on our economy. last fall, my administration unveiled a series of steps to help responsible homeowners refinance their mortgages to take advantage of historically low rates. and last week, i urged congress to pass a plan that would help millions more americans refinance and stay in their homes. and i indicated that the american people need congress to act on this piece of legislation. but in the meantime, we can't wait to get things done and to provide relief to america's homeowners. we need to keep doing everything we can to help homeowners and our economy. and today, with the help of democratic and republican attorney generals from nearly every state in the country, we are about to take a major step on our own. we have reached a landmark se

host: gene sperling responded to that yesterday.ant to show you what he had to say and get your reaction. [video clip] >> what is significant is that when we put out a budget, it has 600 million in budget savings that we have already agreed to. we have the most significant discretionary spending cuts in decades. the discretionary number for non-security savings in this budget? 2.5% gdp, which is boring, but it is also the lowest it has been since 1964. the president has taken off sacred cows on our side and put forward entitlement savings. you have not seen details like this before. he puts out the amount of revenue, as he said yesterday, equivalent to the overall package of spending and interest cuts. guest: let me challenge the last point. we took a look at the numbers late yesterday afternoon. it is the opposite. it is $1.20 in taxes for every $1 in spending cuts. they started last year with sequestering the spending cuts that were already in place. if you were a math teacher, you would say that that is cheating. seen as a countr

and i'm going to acknowledge also gene sperling, who doesn't always get the credit he deserves for doing outstanding work. the housing bubble that burst nearly six years ago triggered, as we all know, the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes. it cost millions of innocent americans their jobs and their homes. and it remains one of the biggest drags on our economy. last fall, my administration unveiled a series of steps to help responsible homeowners refinance their mortgages to take advantage of historically low rates. and last week, i urged congress to pass a plan that would help millions more americans refinance and stay in their homes. and i indicated that the american people need congress to act on this piece of legislation. but in the meantime, we can't wait to get things done and to provide relief to america's homeowners. we need to keep doing everything we can to help homeowners and our economy. and today, with the help of democratic and republican attorney generals from nearly every state in the country, we are about to take a major step on our own. we have reached a landmark se

gene sperling, the director of the national economic council, will lay out the main investment tillers in the budget, with a special emphasis on job creation, and the director of domestic policy is going to talk about education and the importance of education in our budget. let's start with allen. >> thank you. i want to comment on four of the economic assumptions that underlie in the budget. the economic assumptions are developed jointly by the council of economic advisers, the office of management and budget, and the treasury department. this process takes place over several months, and the assumptions are lockdown in mid-november. at that time, the latest report on the unemployment rate was 9.0% for october, 2011. that number was subsequently revised down to 8.9%. when we made the projections, the unemployment rate had been at 9% or 9.1% for several months. in the budget, we assumed that the unemployment rate would average 8.9% for 2012 and then come down to 8.6% for 2013. these forecasts were very close to the consensus private sector forecasts at the time. the 2012 forecast was ab

gene sperling, the director of the national economic council will play out the main investment pillarset with a special emphasis on job creation, and the director of domestic policy will double click on the pillar of education and the importance of education in our budget. >> i want to comment on four of the economic assumptions that underlie the budget. first, by way of background, the economic assumptions or developed jointly by the council of economic advisers, the office of management and budget, and the treasury department. this process takes place over several months and the assumptions or locked down in mid november. at that time, the latest report of the unemployment rate was 9.0%. that was for october 2011. that number was subsequently revised down to 8.9, but when we made the projections, the unemployment rate had been at 9% or 9.1% for several months. in the budget, we assumed that the unemployment rate would average 8.9% for 2012. then come down to 8.6% for 2013. these forecasts were very close to the consensus of private sector forecast at the time, the 2012 forecast was a

lineup of speakers we're going to hear, first, from the director of the national economic council, gene sperlingfrom the secretary of commerce, john bryson. from the counsel to the digital advertising alliance, from the chair of the federal trade commission, jon leibowitz and then, finally, from the federal policy director of the consumers union. we're thrilled to have them all, and i'm going to turn it right over to gene so we can get started. thanks. ms. . [applause] >> thank you very much. thanks for being here. obviously, i want to thank a few people. i want to thank our great science adviser, john holdren, our former cto there, iowa niece chopra. i want to thank secretary bryson and, for his leadership on this and so many things since he's came. and i hope i'm not breaching the independence of the ftc to thank chairman leibowitz too. [laughter] but you can find ways to stick it to us if you think -- [laughter] you know? compromised you in any way with that thank you. and i'd like to thank congresswoman mary bono mack for being here and her leadership and are looking forward to working with