Blame-shifting isn’t pleasant to watch, but sometimes blame needs to be redistributed. That’s what President Obama was doing last night in his jobs speech, and he did a pretty good job.
I am sending this Congress a plan that you should pass right away. It’s called the American Jobs Act. There should be nothing controversial about this piece of legislation. Everything in here is the kind of proposal that’s been supported by both Democrats and Republicans – including many who sit here tonight. And everything in this bill will be paid for. Everything.
I was going to write a wonky post about the relative merits of infrastructure spending vs. payroll tax cuts for job creation, but then I realized that this was akin to debating how many Keynesian angels can dance on the head of a pin. The House Republicans will never pass anything remotely resembling Obama’s jobs plan.
The White House wants everyone to know whose fault it will be when unemployment is still hovering around 10% on election day.
Republican members of Congress played into Obama’s hands by making a big show of skipping the speech.
The Republicans didn’t even offer an official rebuttal to Obama’s plan. Instead, they stood back and let Michele Bachmann talk, which is pretty much the ultimate fuck you.
In all, Obama exhorted Congress to pass the American Jobs Act sixteen times last night. Today, the administration picked up where he left off:
“The president said it 16 times, I’ll say it a 17th time today. He wants them to pass the American Jobs Act. That’s the piece of legislation he’s sending up. It’s a simple thing,” White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said on MSNBC on Friday morning.
“This is my objection to the message that was delivered tonight,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said after the speech. “The message was: either accept my package as it is, or I will take it to the American people. I would say that that’s the wrong approach.”
Sounds like the message is finally getting through.
The $447 jobs bill isn’t a policy proposal, it’s a gauntlet that Obama has thrown down. It’s about time.
In These Times is proud to share that we were recently awarded the 16th Annual Izzy Award from the Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College. The Izzy Award goes to an independent outlet, journalist or producer for contributions to culture, politics or journalism created outside traditional corporate structures.
Fellow 2024 Izzy awardees include Trina Reynolds-Tyler and Sarah Conway for their joint investigative series “Missing In Chicago," and journalists Mohammed El-Kurd and Lynzy Billing. The Izzy judges also gave special recognition to Democracy Now! for coverage that documented the destruction wreaked in Gaza and raised Palestinian voices to public awareness.
In These Times is proud to stand alongside our fellow awardees in accepting the 2024 Izzy Award. To help us continue producing award-winning journalism a generous donor has pledged to match any donation, dollar-for-dollar, up to $20,000.
Will you help In These Times celebrate and have your gift matched today? Make a tax-deductible contribution to support independent media.
