President Obama urged Congress on Thursday to support a nearly $450 billion package of jobs proposals, including an extension of jobless benefits and a payroll tax cut, tax breaks for companies that hire veterans or the long-term unemployed, new spending on infrastructure projects and additional federal aid to local governments.
Noting that the economy has “stalled,” Obama declared, “This isn’t political grandstanding. This isn’t class warfare. This is simple math. … And it’s time for us to do what’s right for our future.”
In a 40-minute speech to a joint session of Congress, a fired-up Obama said Republicans should find nothing controversial in his “American Jobs Act.” Yet, Republican lawmakers made it clear that they will not support any new spending proposals, no matter how many jobs are at stake.
“Already there’s been a lot of skepticism about whether the politics of the moment will allow us to pass this jobs plan — or any jobs plan,” Obama said. “[But] the next election is 14 months away … [and] regardless of the arguments we’ve had in the past, regardless of the arguments we’ll have in the future, this plan is the right thing to do right now. You should pass it. And I intend to take that message to every corner of this country.”
The plan, which is likely to prove more popular with the president’s liberal base than with Congress as the 2012 elections near, includes a $50 billion extension of jobless benefits and a $240 billion extension of a payroll tax cut for both employers and employees. The tax break is scheduled to expire this year and provides an average of $1,000 for millions of working Americans. The tax cut reduces employees’ Social Security deductions on their paychecks from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent.
The plan also includes $100 billion in infrastructure spending to repair schools and roads, as well as additional aid to state and local governments to help them avoid layoffs of teachers and other public employees.
To spur hiring in the private sector, Obama proposed tax credits for businesses that hire veterans or anyone who has spent more than six months unemployed. The president also recommended a measure that allows companies to “try out” workers without having to pay them. The “Bridge to Work” program would allow companies to temporarily “employ” people who are receiving federal unemployment benefits.
Obama repeatedly assured Republicans lawmakers, who balked at the prospect of another “stimulus” plan, that his plan “will be paid for.”
He said he would ask the congressional “supercommittee” — the product of Congress’ debt ceiling deal — to add the cost of his jobs program to the $1.5 trillion in federal savings the committee must find by December.
The president said he would raise additional revenue by ending tax breaks for the nation’s highest-income earners — something Republican lawmakers have refused to support — and reforming entitlement programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, something his fellow Democrats have resisted.
White House officials have made it clear that if congressional Republicans refuse to go along with the president’s plan, Obama will lay the blame for the nation’s sagging economy on lawmakers.
