No new stimulus, but Obama seeks jobs ideas

WASHINGTON — The White House Thursday ruled out an "extraordinary" new economic stimulus plan to fire up the slowing recovery, but said President Barack Obama was scouting new ideas to boost jobs and growth.Comments by Obama's spokesman followed remarks by a departing White House economic aide seen by some observers as a call for more stimulus, and as the administration braced for new data on the moribund jobs market.Fresh scrutiny of Obama's policies also coincided with almost daily worsening forecasts of the political meltdown which may loom for his Democratic Party in November's mid-term congressional elections as the economy sours.The sluggish recovery is bound up with slower-than-hoped for jobs growth and has helped to depress Obama's public approval ratings into the mid-40s, a factor weighing heavily on his party as the crucial election nears."Some big, new stimulus plan is not in the offing," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said"I do not anticipate something that rivals the extraordinary measures that the president has already taken up."Republicans are fiercely attacking the stimulus plan, branding it a huge waste of government money that has failed to meet the rosy jobs and growth projections that the administration laid out.Obama however, argues that he inherited an economy in deeper trouble than anyone thought in early 2009, and that the bill did nothing less than stave off a second Great Depression.Four straight quarters of economic growth mean the economy, though still wounded, is convalescing, he says.However, the government last month slashed second quarter growth figures to 1.6 percent from 3.7 percent in the first quarter, stoking fears of anaemic future expansion and even a double dip recession.Gibbs did say that the president had asked advisors to come up with a new set of measures that could be used to boost the economy and jobs growth, though his tone seemed to suggest those programs could be somewhat modest.With many lawmakers fretting as elections loom, public concern mounting ove

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