W.H.: To Keep Economy Strong, Congress Must Fund Infrastructure, Ex-Im Bank

‘There’s no doubt that the U.S. economy is far stronger now than it was in 2008’

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:

REPORTER: "Can you draw conclusions from one what's going on in China about the possibility that the U.S. Government could run into a recession any time in the next year or so?" 
EARNEST: "Well, as I mentioned earlier I'm not in the business of prognosticating on election force economy but I think taking a look at these longer term trends in the U.S. Economy are an indication of the strength of the U.S. Economy right now and whether you evaluate job creation or the unemployment rate or just broader measures of economic growth people can feel confident. At the same time there's more that Congress can and should do to build on some of this momentum the U.S. economy has built up and the resilience that this economy has demonstrated. And we're hopeful that when Congress returns for from their recess they will be focused on passing a budget on time that reverses the sequester that will reauthorize the XM bank in a timely fashion, already a couple months overdue and that we'll -- we can hopefully get Congress to finally overtake action on an increasing long-term investment structure." 
REPORTER: "Would you say the fundamentals of the economy are strong?" 
EARNEST: "Well, that's been a phrase that has been used by others in different settings. I think there's no doubt that the U.S. economy is far stronger now than it was in 2008 and there are a variety of ways to measure that. One way I would measure is to look at the impact of wall Street reform legislation. Now we know U.S. Banks have reduced their leverage and have added more than $600 billion in capital since 2009. Some of that as it related to new requirements under wall Street reform. That means banks are better able to withstand short term volatility within the financial markets. One of the thing that has been..."

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