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| Aide: Time for Congress to act on jobs |
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Posted: Thursday, September 8, 2011 9:01 pm
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress must abandon its politically driven refusal to work with President Obama and take action on his job proposals because Americans are demanding help, a top White House aide said today.
Bill Daley, the White House chief of staff, used a trio of morning TV appearances to prod Republicans into action hours before Obama delivers an address on jobs to a rare joint session of Congress. Obama’s speech comes amid persistent unemployment exceeding 9 percent, a report that employers stopped creating new jobs last month, and pressure from next year’s presidential and congressional elections.
Daley declined to provide details of the president’s jobs proposal, saying only that it would help teachers, construction workers, first responders and small businesses, and that many of the ideas have been supported by Republicans in the past.
“The only reason some of these people may not support it now is because of the politics that’s going on, which is again unfortunate for the American people,” Daley said.
He said the jobs programs would be paid for without borrowed money, and hinted that some of the funds would come from higher taxes on wealthier Americans. They “ought to pay a little more,” Daley said.
Obama’s American Job Act will be formally proposed next week, Daley said.
The package, Daley said, is “a way to help people. That’s what the president is committed to do, if the Congress will act.”
Daley acknowledged that the economy has performed worse than expected when Obama entered the White House in 2009.
“That’s not an excuse for anyone. It’s time for action,” Daley said. He spoke on CBS’ “Early Show,” NBC’s “Today” and ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
In his speech tonight, Obama is likely to offer at least a $300 billion package of ideas that would affect people in their daily lives — tax relief, unemployment insurance, spending to support construction jobs, aid to states to keep people in their jobs. Businesses would get their own tax breaks. And he will promise a long-term plan to pay for it all.
Yet all of it ultimately will depend on a Republican-controlled House that has a different economic approach and no political incentive to help a Democrat seeking a second term.
So, however cooperative his tone, Obama’s goal is also to put Republicans on the spot to act — in their face, and in their chamber. Obama is expected to speak for up to 45 minutes, beginning at 6 p.m.
Before Obama even said a word, political and economic reality raised two questions: Will any of his ideas get approved, and will they actually work?
When asked about some of the ideas Obama is expected to discuss, majorities of Republicans, Democrats and Independents were all skeptical that the proposals would do a lot to create jobs, a Pew Research Center poll out Wednesday found. A series of new polls by major news organizations finds that the mood is downright dismal about the direction of the country, with Obama’s standing and approval on the economy at or near the lowest levels of his presidency.
Yet voters are holding all leaders accountable, supporting the White House’s point that Congress is under pressure to act, too. An Associated Press-GfK poll found that more people assign chief blame for the economy to former President George W. Bush and congressional Republicans and Democrats than to Obama.
Democrats familiar with the president’s plans say the White House sees the speech as a pivot point after spending the spring and summer focused on negotiations over deficit spending. They say the fall offers the president a window to press congressional Republicans to act on his economic plan — and if they don’t, Obama will spend 2012 running against them as obstructionists. Whether that’s enough to win over voters is another matter.
Obama’s chief campaign strategist, David Axelrod, said the president won’t start with ideas that have been “preapproved” by Republicans in Congress.
“Ultimately, the test for any of these ideas: Are they right? Can they help the economy? Can they help get people back to work?” Axelrod told The Associated Press.
The president’s plan to pay for his ideas is a political necessity in a time of fiscal austerity. Deficit-boosting stimulus spending is out. But here, too, he is banking on a lot of help.
Obama plans to cover the cost by asking a new congressional supercommittee debt panel to go beyond its target of finding $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction by the end of November, so the extra savings can pay for short-term economic help. That debt panel meets for the first time today.
In one upbeat sign for those looking for a Washington compromise, House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor have told Obama they see potential areas of agreement on jobs — for example, infrastructure, which Obama has pushed repeatedly. Cantor also signaled to reporters Wednesday that he might support a payroll tax cut.
“It is not games and politics for people out across this country. It’s real,” Cantor said about the state of the economic debate. “The fact that we have had such sustained joblessness in this country, the fact that people are doing anything they can in many instances just to stay afloat and to pay the bills, it’s real.”
At the heart of Obama’s plan will be extending, by one more year, a payroll tax cut for workers that went into effect this year. The president wants the payroll tax, which raises money for Social Security, to stay at 4.2 percent rather than kick back up to 6.2 percent. That tax applies to earnings up to $106,800.
Obama is expected to seek continued unemployment aid for millions of people receiving extended benefits. That program, too, is set to expire at year’s end.
Published in The Messenger 9.8.11 |
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