Obama: U.S. ready to help Europe in crisis

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama said yesterday the United States stands ready to do its part to help Europe with its deepening debt crisis, even as the White House ruled out any financial contributions from U.S. taxpayers.

Meantime, a top European official offered his assurances to Obama and the American people that Europe's leaders fully understood the magnitude of the crisis. But European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso warned that decisions on how to solve the economic woes could take time.

The annual meeting between U.S. and European Union officials came amid growing fears over the future of the euro. Without drastic action, the euro could be days away from collapsing, experts say, a scenario that could cause more financial damage to the already shaky American economy.

While Obama offered no specifics on how the United States may be willing to assist Europe, he said failing to resolve the continent's debt crisis could damage a U.S. economy saddled with slow growth and 9 percent unemployment.

"If Europe is contracting, or if Europe is having difficulties, then it's much more difficult for us to create . . . jobs at home," Obama said at the end of the daylong summit.

While Obama has offered support, the United States believes the Europeans have the financial capacity to solve the debt crisis on their own.

But some U.S. allies, including Finland and the Netherlands, have called for the International Monetary Fund to be bolstered with more capital so that it could in turn help stem Europe's debt crisis from deepening and spreading.

The United States is the single-biggest stakeholder in the IMF. Earlier yesterday, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the IMF has substantial resources already. "We do not in any way believe that additional resources are required from the United States and from American taxpayers," he said.

European leaders are set to meet Dec. 9 to discuss next steps in tackling the financial crisis. New ideas were circulating yesterday for how to finally cap the debt woes that began in Greece two years ago and have spread to other larger economies, most notably Italy.

One idea gaining momentum was a radical proposal in which countries that use the common currency would cede control of a big chunk of their budgets to a central authority. Some say the proposal would be a big leap toward a United States of Europe, a move that could greatly enhance European stability, but at the cost, critics say, of national sovereignty and democratic accountability.