President Obama brushed off criticism over his administration's inaccurate reporting on job creation Wednesday, telling Fox News the accounting is an "inexact science" and that any errors are a "side issue" when compared with the goal of turning the economy around. He said job growth is his No.1 responsibility. The president was responding to criticism from Republicans, as well as Democratic Rep. David Obey, who drew attention to embarrassing errors on the Recovery.gov Web site that tracks stimulus funding. The site is under fire for claiming a number of jobs were created from the stimulus in congressional districts that don't exist and accepting unrealistic and inflated jobs data from various sources.
Obama said he understood the "frustration" but said his focus has to be on accelerating job growth.
"I think this is an inexact science. We're talking about a multitrillion-dollar economy that went through the worst economic crisis since 1933. The first measure of success of the economic recovery is, did we pull ourselves back from the brink? We did," Obama said. "The question now is, can we make sure we're accelerating job growth? That's my No. 1 job. Nobody's been more disappointed than I have to see how high the unemployment rate has gotten. And I spend every waking hour, when I'm talking to my economic team, about how we are going to put people back to work."
Obama spoke with Fox News' Major Garrett in Beijing, in the middle of his tour through several Asian countries. Economic issues have inevitably been on the front burner during the president's leg in China, which is the United States' biggest government lender.
In the interview, Obama spoke candidly about the precarious balancing act his administration is trying to perform. He wants to spend money to kick-start the economy, but at the same time is in danger of creating too much red ink. Obama warned Wednesday that the United States' climbing national debt could even drag the country into a "double-dip recession," though he said he's still considering additional tax incentives for businesses to reverse the rising unemployment rate.
"There may be some tax provisions that can encourage businesses to hire sooner rather than sitting on the sidelines. So we're taking a look at those," Obama said. "I think it is important, though, to recognize if we keep on adding to the debt, even in the midst of this recovery, that at some point, people could lose confidence in the U.S. economy in a way that could actually lead to a double-dip recession."
The warning was a rare admission from the president that the economy is still at risk of turning back -- consumer confidence fell unexpectedly in September and unemployment is at 10.2 percent. Such a recession repeat, following a relatively brief recovery period, could be politically devastating for Obama, let alone economically devastating for the country. The president said Wednesday that striking the right balance is one of the "trickiest" tasks facing his administration -- "to on the one hand make sure the recovery is supported and not withdraw a lot of money either with tax increases or big spending cuts."
"It's about as hard of a play as there is," Obama said.
He said any additional jobs-stimulating legislation will have to "fit into that broader framework," but he would not make a pledge that such a bill would not increase the deficit.
The president also weighed in very directly on a controversial amendment to pending health care legislation, which he's still trying to get passed before the end of the year. After the House passed its bill with a measure authored by Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., to restrict federal subsidies from going toward practically any abortion coverage, Obama signaled that he wants that watered down.
"There is a balance to be achieved that is consistent with the Hyde Amendment (which bars federal funding from covering abortion) ... I believe in the basic idea that federal dollars shouldn't pay for abortions. But I also think we shouldn't restrict women's choices, so I think there's some negotiations going on, not just on the Democratic side, but I think among people of good will on both sides, to see if we can arrive at something that meets that criteria. And I'm confident we can do that."
Asked if Stupak's amendment strikes that balance, he said: "Not yet."