Weekly Address: President Obama calls to end 'sequester' to keep economy strong

In his weekly address, President Obama says that businesses have created jobs every month for three years straight – nearly 6.4 million altogether, and have added 246,000 new jobs in February. Keeping the momentum going and discussing how we can replace the harmful, arbitrary budget cuts, called the “sequester,” with balanced deficit reduction.

President Obama touted the news that "our businesses added nearly 250,000 new jobs last month. The unemployment rate fell to 7.7% – still too high, but now lower than it was when I took office."

President Obama added that businesses have "created jobs every month for three years straight – nearly 6.4 million new jobs in all. Our manufacturers are bringing jobs back to America. Our stock market has rebounded. New homes are being built and sold at a faster pace."

President Obama mentioned his dinner at the Jefferson (see the White House Press Examiner piece) earlier this week "I met with some Republican Senators to see if there were smarter ways to grow our economy and reduce our deficits than the arbitrary cuts and the so-called “sequester” that recently went into place." The takeaway from that meeting, according to The Hill, is the prospect of a "grand bargain." Politico reports that a "grand bargain" is back on the table, raising revenues coupled with a comprehensive agreement to overhaul the Internal Revenue Tax Code and entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare.

Weekly Address: President Obama calls to end 'sequester' to keep economy strongWeekly Address: President Obama calls to end 'sequester' to keep economy strong

They also discussed other issues "like immigration reform and gun violence, and other areas where we can work together to move this country forward."

And next week, President Obama will "attend both the Democratic and Republican party meetings in the Capitol to continue those discussions."

Obama continued in his weekly address that "progress on these issues won’t be easy. In the months ahead, there will be more contentious debate and honest disagreement between principled people who want what’s best for this country."

Obama held out a possibility of a "grand bargain," saying that "compromise is possible. I still believe we can come together to do big things."

Indeed, it can happen when both parties work together.

Send John Presta an email and your story ideas or suggestions at johnpresta@att.net.

John is the author of an award-winning book, the 2010 Winner of the USA National Best Book award for African-American studies, published by The Elevator Group Mr. and Mrs. Grassroots: How Barack Obama, Two Bookstore Owners, and 300 Volunteers did it. Also available an eBook on Amazon. John is also a member of the Society of Midland Authors and is a book reviewer of political books for the New York Journal of Books. John has volunteered for many political campaigns.