Obama: Economic Policies Stopped the “Bleeding”

Reuters reports:

President Barack Obama, previewing a big push on the U.S. economy next week, on Saturday defended policies that he said “have stopped the bleeding” and put the middle class on the road to recovery.

Obama, struggling to bring down the 9.6 percent jobless rate, is to spend next week talking up proposals on improving the economy.

He hopes to gain some traction with impatient voters as they ponder whether to toss out his Democrats in the November 2 congressional elections.

In his weekly radio and Web address, Obama pointed to measures funded by the Democrats’ $814 billion economic stimulus as responsible for halting the economic slide he faced when taking office in January 2009.

This includes spending on roads and bridges and money given to local governments to avert layoffs of teachers, firefighters and police officers.

“The steps we have taken to date have stopped the bleeding,” Obama said. “But strengthening our economy means more than that.”

Other steps, he said, were aimed at helping the middle class, citing a portion of his U.S. healthcare overhaul that stopped insurance companies from refusing to cover people with pre-existing health conditions.

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