An Obama Administration appointee admits there have been “few net jobs created” over the past decade but thinks increased spending on education will solve the problem.
At the Center for American Progress, the White House Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council, James Kvaal, said, “The overriding goal of Obama’s second term in office is rebuilding the strength of the middle class and after recovering from the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression.” He claimed, “We now have an economy that is growing again; ten million new jobs have been created.”
Americans now see “rising middle class standards” under Obama’s watch, and Kvaal pointed out, “If you look at the economic expansion in the last decade, you had wages actually falling…few net jobs created.” He blamed the latter on the lack of college degrees in the American workforce, telling the audience America should be “producing more education…more people with college degrees.” As far as American workers are concerned, Kvaal said American workers under the age of 35 ranks 12th in the world in obtaining college degrees. The goal of the gainful employment rule, he said, is to try to build an economy “built on sustainable, strong fundamentals and one where prosperity is broadly shared and the middle class is growing.”
But, Kvaal admitted, “Colleges have become more expensive.” He praised Obama’s move to raise the Pell grant limit by an additional $1,000 for recipients and other grants worth up to $10,000 over four years, which “doubles” the federal government’s investment in higher education and is “building that evidence-based knowledge” for higher education institutions. The Obama administration wants to “cap student loan payments at 10% of their income” and Kvaal said, “We think this is an excellent investment.” This will help those Americans who were “unlucky in the workplace.”
