WASHINGTON — Faced with a stalling economy, a hostile Congress and a disenchanted public, President Obama challenged lawmakers in a blunt address Thursday evening to enact a sweeping package of tax cuts and new spending designed to revive the stagnant job market.Also at Los Angeles Times, "Obama to Congress: Americans want action now on jobs." The text is available via Memorandum.
Speaking to a joint session of Congress, Mr. Obama ticked off a list of measures he said would put money in people’s pockets, encourage companies to begin hiring again, and jolt an American economy at risk of relapsing into recession. And he all but ordered Congress to pass the legislation.
“You should pass this jobs plan right away,” the president declared.
With Republicans already lining up to condemn the plan, Mr. Obama said, “The question is whether, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy.”
Though Mr. Obama’s proposals were widely expected — an extension and expansion of the cut in payroll taxes; new spending on schools and public works projects; and an overhaul of unemployment insurance — the overall package was considerably larger than expected, with an estimated $447 billion in stimulus money.
All the "pass this jobs bill" agitation is Obama begging the Congress to act. What's interesting is how this sounds like just one more big porkulus, despite Obambi's denials and claims that "everything in this bill is paid for." Amazingly, he still announces that we need higher taxes!!
Jennifer Rubin has more, "Obama: Pay it now, pay for it later":
What was remarkable was the whiff of desperation conveyed by Obama, and the utter lack of interest by the Republicans. The speaker of the House looked bored. The Republicans neither booed nor applauded. No one thinks this grab bag, a mini son of the Stimulus Plan, is going to work. But Republicans must be relieved: Obama said nothing that would either win over independents or exert any pressure on them to pass it.And back over to LAT, "Republicans' reaction to Obama speech is lukewarm -- and that's a start," and "Economists give Obama's jobs plan mixed reviews.
Added: See what I mean? From Associated Press, "FACT CHECK: Obama's jobs plan paid for? Seems not."
1 comments:
I think the best appraisal of Obama's speech was " doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity." It does seem that many on the Left have a fascination with "Wimpy" in the Popeye cartoons. Buy me a hamburger today and I will pay you Tuesday approach. The only problem is when Tuesday arrives Wimpy just restates the same mantra.
One wonders when people are going to recognize that one cannot buy jobs. Jobs have to be predicated on something tangible like a growing economy. What good is it to buy construction jobs if there are fewer and fewer people who can afford to utilize the results because of the onerous costs placed on the means to utilize them?
Buying jobs only puts more pressure on basic survival needs which in turn create more demand, higher prices, for those survival needs.
By any rational definition of the term insanity the Left and Obama have to be insane. Disregard the fact that Obama and the Left don't really expect or care if anything good to results from this speech. This was a political speech pure and simple with an eye towards blaming everyone except Obama and his cohorts on the Left. One can just fill in the blanks for "Those nasty _________ keep us from creating jobs for all we needed was just a little more money to buy more hamburgers.
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