Lawrence Mishel, President of the Economic Policy Institute, issued the following statement on President Obama’s speech on job creation this morning:

“It is important and welcome news that President Obama has outlined new proposals to create jobs. The jobs crisis is clearly the nation’s top economic priority. I’m particularly enthusiastic about the President’s proposals for infrastructure investments and assistance to state and local governments. These proposals hold the greatest potential for job creation.

“The constellation of tax cuts aimed at small businesses seems to be a roundabout way of addressing the very real problem of credit availability for small and medium size firms. I would prefer a new loan program that gives small business access to the credit they need to meet their specific needs, rather than less-targeted tax breaks. Moreover, while a jobs creation tax credit holds promise for generating more jobs, it doesn’t make sense to limit its impact by aiming it only at small firms.

“I expect that President Obama’s proposals will encourage Congress to take aggressive action quickly, which is exactly what’s needed. I urge the President and the Congress to remember that the scale of their job creation plan matters tremendously – the plan must be big enough to have a major impact.”

The Economic Policy Institute has proposed a plan to create 4.6 million jobs in one year. Visit www.AmericanJobsPlan.org for more information.