The White House jobs package was positively received by majority of economists. the reason for their optimism is the reduction of the payroll taxes that will encourage the indigenous industries to generate employment. It will not benefit global corporations, so the new jobs cannot be exported. Many economists are optimistic that this can create from 600,000 to 1.6 million jobs by the end of 2012.
Nothing will happen until the Congress passes the bill. The House Republican leaders John Boehner and Eric Cantor have signaled they are open to some infrastructure spending and to a program that Obama will pitch to help train unemployed workers. Based upon their declared goals, one has to question their sincerity. Immediately after winning majority in the House in 2010 elections, The Tea Party Republicans declared their primary goal to do whatever it took to defeat President Obama. Rush Limbaugh declared that, "We will get rid of this president even if we have to bring the unemployment to over 10%." No matter how much we ignore his statement, the actions of the new GOP (Grand Obstructive Party) during the debt ceiling negotiations demonstrated their determination.
Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, immediately branded President Obama's proposals as 'overly partisan and a political smokescreen.' He further emphasized that the president's policies simply do not work and that, "This isn't a jobs plan, it's a re-election plan." One wonders what the Tea Party Republicans have been doing since 2008. During the healthcare debate they rumored about the death panels and when that did not work they made deficit as their rallying cry. No doubt deficit is a long range problem and must be addressed but our immediate problem is the stagnant unemployment. Improved employment will not fare well for the GObP.
Harry Reid, the Democrats' leader in the Senate, meanwhile, said that Republicans also had their eyes squarely on the 2012 vote.
"The other side seems convinced that a failing economy is good Republican politics. They think if they kill every jobs bill and stall every effort to revive the economy, President Obama will lose," Reid said.
The GOP's actions during the debt ceiling negotiations demonstrated their willingness to go as far as possible in pursuit of their goals when they were willing to allow a US default that would have shaken the already wobbly financial system of the world. We need to impress on our representatives that they need to attend to the affairs of the state. So far Harry Reid's statement rings true when he said,
"Republicans aiming at the President have caught innocent Americans in the crossfire."
The Republicans are balking on doing away with the loopholes for the corporations and the wealthy in order to finance the Jobs Plan. More on that in my next post.
