Obama to convene Cabinet meeting to push economy focus

President Obama will convene his full Cabinet for a meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss the economy, aid to small businesses and the expiring Bush tax cuts. 

With the sluggish economic recovery looming as the main issue for the November elections, the White House is making a public attempt to demonstrate it is focused on bolstering the economy in the weeks leading up to Election Day.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said at his daily briefing that the president will meet with members of his Cabinet and then speak in the Rose Garden about the economy, the small-business bill that moved forward in the Senate Tuesday as well as "the larger tax cut debate."

The move is the latest in a string of public events designed to show that Obama is working intently to boost the economic recovery. Obama has held town-hall-style events at people's homes and small businesses over the past few months. The last time he called the full Cabinet to meet was June 22.

Gibbs provided few hints of what the president will say in the Rose Garden. He rehashed the White House's position that tax cuts for higher income brackets be allowed to expire at the end of the year while the cuts for others should be extended. 

"We are at a period in which for a long time, the middle-class has gotten the short end of the deal," Gibbs said.

Whether Congress votes on that before or after the midterm elections, Gibbs said, "I don't have the answer to that."

Gibbs did say that no personnel announcements would be made Wednesday when asked if Obama was ready to name Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Warren as head of the newly-formed Consumer Financial Protection Agency, Many see Warren as the leading candidate for the spot.

He reiterated that "she is among the people" the president is considering for the position and that an announcement "could come later this week."

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