White House insists stimulus plan a job engine

The White House said Wednesday that President Barack Obama's stimulus law had raised employment by up to 3.6 million jobs, as it battled to trump public skepticism over the mammoth plan.

But fears deepened that the recovery may be slowing, as it emerged that the Federal Reserve was forecasting worse-than-expected growth and unemployment for the rest of this crucial congressional election year.

Vice President Joe Biden argued forcefully that the US economy would barely be growing were it not for the 787 billion dollar Recovery Act, and said Americans had reason to hope.

"Are we heading in the right direction? Are the prescriptions we took in this administration taking the country in the right direction?" Biden asked.

"Is there reason for people to be hopeful? My argument is there is," Biden said, despite polls showing doubts over Obama's economic leadership.

In a report on the impact of the stimulus law, the White House said that as of the second quarter of 2010, the Act had raised employment by between 2.5 and 3.6 million jobs.

Obama's Council of Economic Advisors also estimated that the plan had raised GDP by between 2.7 and 3.2 percent.

Time is running out for the White House to convince voters that Obama's prescriptions are working, as mid-term polls loom in November.

Obama will Thursday make his latest trip of what aides have dubbed "Recovery Summer" to Holland, Michigan to a plant which will make advanced electric batteries for autos after receiving a 2.4 billion dollar stimulus grant.

And in another event highlighting his push to tout economic policies, Obama welcomed former president Bill Clinton to the White House for a meeting with business leaders Wednesday -- on creating private sector jobs.

The White House dismissed suggestions that Obama was trying to repair his relations with the business community with the Clinton visit, saying the former president wanted to talk about an energy project involving his foundation.

On Tuesday, Obama enlisted Clinton's former budget director Jacob Lew to do the same job for his administration, as he battles the huge fiscal deficit.

The Clinton years are remembered as a period of prosperity and growth -- but Obama aides denied they were trying to profit from memories of the 1990s.

Obama also met another famous figure Wednesday -- billionaire financier Warren Buffett to talk energy and jobs creation.

"He wanted to come in and see the president, and you don't turn down the opportunity to talk to Warren Buffett," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Biden, who Obama charged with implementing the Recovery Act, lamented that more than eight million jobs had been lost in what he refers to as "The Great Recession," and put the blame largely on the previous Bush administration.

But he argued that the stimulus plan had reversed the tide, mitigated huge job losses and provided the spark that would turn the economy around.

But Republicans poured scorn on the White House effort to tout successes of the stimulus plan, a mix of tax cuts and infrastructure spending, designed to gradually filter into the economy to promote lasting growth.

"This is no time to celebrate," said Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

"The fastest-growing parts of this Democrat economy aren?t jobs -- they?re the crushing burden of the national debt and the size of the federal government.

Minutes of the Fed's latest rate-setting meeting -- published on Wednesday -- showed central bankers now expect US growth to slow to 3.0-3.5 percent this year, well down from previous estimates.

The Fed also raised its end-of-year unemployment forecast to 9.2-9.5 percent.

In a poll published this week only 43 percent of those surveyed said they approved of Obama's handling of the economy.

And only 27 percent said they thought the economy was getting better.