Emanuel Confident Compromise Will Be Reached To Avoid 'Fiscal Cliff'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Tuesday he believes the atmosphere is right in Washington, D.C., for an agreement to be reached before the nation collectively goes off the proverbial fiscal cliff.
WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser reports the mayor didn't seem to worried about the approaching "fiscal cliff."
Congress has until January to reach a compromise before a combination of $7 trillion in automatic tax hikes and spending cuts go into effect over a 10-year period, due to expiring tax cuts, and the need to raise the nation's debt ceiling.
"I have confidence, now that the election's over and the president won convincingly, that there's actually a good environment for an agreement that actually lays a path. People will then continue to have this confidence," Emanuel said.
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The mayor was talking up jobs, and the city's investment in the advanced manufacturing program at Austin Polytechnical Academy High School on the West Side.
Asked what he'd say to businesses that won't hire new employees because of the so-called "fiscal cliff," Emanuel said, "first of all, that's not exactly true. There are 1,000 to 1,400 job openings today. They're ready to hire today, just in manufacturing. So that's not exactly an accurate picture."
The mayor said there are 400 banking job openings in Chicago. Meantime, he said the city is poised to create 30,000 jobs in the next three years, on projects to modernize the water system, public schools, the CTA, and the city's two airports.
