President meets with jobs council WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- The President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness presented U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday with recommendations for expanding employment. "The Jobs Council has been critical in finding new ways to encourage the private sector to hire and invest in American competitiveness," Obama said. I'm proud that we've taken action on a majority of the Council's recommendations on issues ranging from insourcing to permitting to clean energy. But we also know there's a lot more work to do, which is why we're committed to continuing to invest in strategies that support job growth. The council presented a year-end report to the president that includes new recommendations for strategies. Some of them appeared to come from the Republican playbook, including an "all-in" strategy on energy that includes "optimizing use of America's natural resources" like oil and regulatory and tax reform. Obama pushed his own plan to simplify federal regulations, asking Congress for power to consolidate agencies and rules.