Obama's Failed Jobs Bill

[ivanm]

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http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-presses-congress-pass-pieces-his-failed-jobs-bill


Obama Presses Congress to Pass Pieces of His Failed Jobs Bill




By JULIE PACE, Associated Press

October 17, 2011



    


WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama will urge Congress to get to work this week on passing pieces of his larger, now-defunct jobs bill during a three-day bus tour through North Carolina and Virginia, two southern states that could be critical to his re-election campaign.

The two-state swing, which kicks off Monday in Asheville, N.C., is Obama's latest attempt to combine campaigning for his jobs bill with campaigning for his re-election. While he has pledged to travel the country pitching his plans to get Americans back to work, his stops have focused heavily on political swing states, underscoring the degree to which what happens with the economy is tied to Obama's re-election prospects.

The bus tour comes as the fight over Obama's jobs proposals enters a new phase. The president's efforts to get his entire $447 billion bill passed were blocked by Senate Republicans, leaving Obama and his Democratic allies to push for the proposals contained in the bill to be passed piece by piece.

That means the president's rallying cry this week could go from "Pass this bill" to "Pass these bills."

"Although Congress is adopting a piece-by-piece approach, the president believes that every single piece should pass, and that at the end of the day we should have all of the components of the American Jobs Act passed through the Congress so the president can sign them, even if that means that he has to sign multiple pieces of legislation," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

Despite Obama's calls for urgency, it appears the lawmakers may not take up individual components of the president's bill until November, at the earliest. The Senate is set to debate appropriations bills this week, and lawmakers have a scheduled vacation at the end of the month.

Earnest said Obama wants Congress to first act on a provision calling for $35 billion in assistance to states and local governments to hire or prevent laying off teachers and first responders. He also wants lawmakers to pass $50 billion in new spending on infrastructure.

Obama's stops on the bus trip are designed to highlight those aspects of his plan, including his first stop at the Ashville Regional Airport, where the White House says government funds could be used to renovate a runway and create construction jobs.

The president will also speak at community colleges, high schools and a firehouse as he travels through North Carolina and Virginia this week.

Both states are traditionally Republican leaning, but changing demographics and a boost in voter turnout among young people and African-Americans helped Obama carry them in 2008.

But nearly three years after his historic election, the president's approval ratings in both states are sagging, in line with the national trend.

A Quinnipiac University poll out earlier this month put Obama's approval rating in Virginia at 45 percent, with 52 percent disapproving. The same poll showed 83 percent of Virginians were dissatisfied with the direction of the country. In North Carolina, Obama has a 42 percent approval rating, according to an Elon University poll conducted this month. Most national polls put Obama's approval rating in the mid- to low-40s.

The president will be ditching Air Force One for much of his trip this week, traveling instead on a $1.1 million bus purchased by the Secret Service. The impenetrable-looking bus is painted all black, with dark tinted windows and flashing red and blue lights. Obama first used the custom-made bus during a similar road trip in August, when he traveled through Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois.

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[ivanm]

I would be surprised if the Republicans give Obama any chance of success on this one because their motive is not to help the American workers but to defeat Obama in 2012.

If there are pieces of the larger bill that have merit  I do think they should be given a fair hearing. Forget who might get credit for something and start taking care of the people for a change.

I realize that Mr. Paul's proposal goes far beyond a jobs bill, but adopting some of his ideas makes sense to me. However, the NIH syndrome will prevent much in the way of meaningul legislation this year. I think that all the Republicans want to do is to get thru the rest of the year and thru next year without doing a damned thing but buck Obama. As much as I dislike the jerk and his socialism I cannot see wasting so many months doing nothing because even if the Republicans regain the WH next time there is still a lot of work to be done.

[Pepsi]

I would be surprised if the Republicans give Obama any chance of success on this one because their motive is not to help the American workers but to defeat Obama in 2012.

I wish Obama and others would call them out on this directly, pointedly and repeatedly.   

[SufferedMoreThanJesus]

I wish Obama and others would call them out on this directly, pointedly and repeatedly.   

LOL!

What do you think his campaign slogan is and will be?

He certainly cannot run on his record.

[SufferedMoreThanJesus]

Also, Pepsi, you do realize that the reason there was such an anal raping of the Dems on November 2, 2010 was because they were elected to do PRECISELY what they are doing now; don't you?

Stopping Obama from further burying the United States and spending us into oblivion?

[IM2]

He certainly cannot run on his record.

Yes he can.

It's high time you nutjobs stoppped lying about what Obama has done.

First off, he killed Bin Laden. If a republican had done this, this alone would be enough for you to brag about a sure re election.

The problem has been the do nothing congress. The people know this, and the reason they got elected was to create jobs. This is what they campaigned on. They did not campaign on stopping whatever Obama does even if it was something they supported before.

[Pepsi]

First off, he killed Bin Laden. If a republican had done this, this alone would be enough for you to brag about a sure re election.

heh.. now recalling all the right wingers telling us that despite all his obvious incompetence "Bush kept us safe since 911" like that was the be-all and end-all of everything.   

[SufferedMoreThanJesus]

First off, he killed Bin Laden.

And?  What else?

*Sitting Over Here Listening To The Crickets*