(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Through the Recovery Act, we have cut taxes for middle class families, extended and increased unemployment insurance, and created and saved more than a million jobs.

As a result, the economy is now growing again for the first time in more than a year, and faster than at any time in the past two years.

But even though we have slowed the loss of jobs, and today's report on the continued decline of unemployment claims is a hopeful sign, the economic growth that we have seen has not yet led to the job growth that we desperately need.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: President Obama today announcing that he is going to hold a summit, a jobs summit at the White House, with CEOs, small business owners, economists, financial experts, labor unions, non-profit groups, they're all coming to talk about how to get jobs.

Back with the panel - Mort?

KONDRACKE: I was talking to someone who is on Air Force One about the economy, actually, today, and my strong impression is that they don't know what to do about jobs.

You know, the economy grew at 3.5 percent. Productivity is up and yet the unemployment number keeps rising. And they don't know what to do.

They're hoping that the second half of the stimulus package, which is yet unspent, is going to improve things, but they're not sure that is going to work. And they don't know what to do about further measures. Further measures might be taken, you know, but they probably can't get another stimulus package out of Congress.

Also, it would raise the deficit, which they don't want to do. So I guess this meeting that they will have, they're looking for ideas.

Now, for sure, what they should not be doing is handing out $250 checks to seniors, you know, which is what the president wants to do. If he wants to send the money to somebody, he ought to send it to the unemployed who actually go out and spend it.

But the idea that seniors across the board, including me, are going to get, you know, 250 bucks is just crazy. And it's $14 billion that is just being wasted.

BAIER: Bill, the president repeated 1 million jobs created or saved by the stimulus package. You have not-so conservative media outlets like the Boston Globe saying that the stimulus jobs numbers are wildly exaggerated.

KRISTOL: Plus we've lost more than a million jobs in terms of total employment in the year since the stimulus package has been in effect. I wouldn't boasting about it.

I wouldn't have a job summit. There may not be much that he can do at this point. I think it was idiotic to do the stimulus and not focus on the economy and to propose cap-and-trade and health care, which I think are having a non-trivial effect in deterring businesses, especially smaller businesses beginning to hire up again.

He didn't solve the credit crunch problem. He has all these potential tax hikes and burdens on the economy out there, which I think is slowing down the recovery. We will have a slower fourth quarter than third quarter - every economist I know thinks - unemployment will keep going up for a few months and when it comes down it will be very slow. I think he's in very bad shape on this, and he's highlighting now, the job summit almost highlights they don't know what to do. I think it kills health care. I'm more and more convinced health care does not pass the Senate because health care is a job killer, a job burden, a burden on you unemployment. And how can you pass this huge piece of legislation when unemployment is going up from 10.2 percent?

KRAUTHAMMER: So he proposed a stimulus which he tells us at the beginning of the year would prevent unemployment hitting 8.8 percent. Of course we're now at 10.2 percent with the stimulus. And what does he do? He calls another summit. It is actually another seminar. Professor Obama, as with Afghanistan, he is going to have a seminar.

I hope it lasts longer than the Afghanistan seminar. I hope it lasts six months or a year, because while it is happening, he won't be adding onto any more mischief with more stimuli. The best he can do is to cancel the rest of the stimulus and return the money in a reduction of payroll tax, which would stimulate our economy and create jobs. Of course, that's not going to happen. But you know, as a student of - as a former graduate student, I think the more seminars the better.

BAIER: And you have Senator Reid in the Senate is talking about a payroll tax increase to help pay for health care. So it is an interesting dynamic, as you talked about in this panel, thank you.