President George W. Bush prodded Congress to pass an economic stimulus package Friday, pointing to a new «troubling» job report that ended a 52-month streak of national job growth, according to The Associated Press. Bush was in the country's heartland pressuring Congress to boost the sagging economy with a plan of tax rebates for millions of people and tax breaks for companies. The White House-backed economic rescue deal in the House of Representatives has hit roadblocks in the Senate. «Inflation's low. Productivity's high, but there are certainly some troubling signs, serious signs that the economy is weakening and that we've got to do something about it,» said Bush, who spoke just hours after the Labor Department reported that employers cut 17,000 jobs in January. It was the first such reduction in more than four years and a fresh sign that the economy might be stalling. And it ended Bush's repeated claim that «America has added jobs for a record 52 straight months.» «A serious matter is that for the first time in 52 months we didn't create jobs,» Bush said at Hallmark Cards Inc. «And so the question is, what do we do about it? ... I do think government has a responsibility. I think government can take decisive action to help us deal with this period of uncertainty.» «I believe we can get this package done. I know it has to be done quickly,» he said. «I appreciate the fact that the Senate is trying to work though this as quickly as possible. I'm just urging them to get it done _ because the sooner this package makes it to my desk ... the better off our economy is going to be.» The top Democrat in the Senate, Harry Reid, said the troubling jobs report «is yet more evidence that President Bush's assessment of the state of our economy is greatly misguided.»
