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Youngstown
Vindicator...
Defeat
of Obama’s jobs bill opens door
to new strategy
Thu, October 13, 2011
You’ve
got to hand it to the Re-
publicans, nothing, not even the economic well-being of the nation,
will divert
them from their goal of rendering Democratic President Barack Obama a
one-termer. A year ago, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.,
grabbed
headlines when he publicly declared that defeating Obama in 2012 would
be the
GOP’s top priority in the new Congress. His message was clear:
Republicans
would not support any Democratic economic initiatives that could result
in jobs
being created, thereby giving the president a win to take into next
year’s
election.
Thus,
it came as no surprise Tuesday
that Obama’s $447 billion jobs bill died under the weight of a
filibuster.
Forty-six Republicans, joined by two Democrats, deep-sixed the measure.
Sixty
votes in the 100-member Senate were needed to keep the president’s
economic
recovery initiative alive.
When
the plan was unveiled several
months ago, Republicans were quick to dismiss it as a non-starter
because it
contained a tax increase on those making more than $200,000 to pay for
the
spending. The version that was considered by the Senate had a tax
surcharge on
millionaires and $175 billion in new spending on roads, school repairs
and
other infrastructure. It also included Social Security payroll tax cuts
for
workers and businesses and other tax relief totaling $270 billion. And
the
measure provided aid for the jobless and financial help to local
governments to
avoid layoffs of teachers, firefighters and police officers.
Since
it was no secret going into
Tuesday’s Senate session that the Republicans would put up roadblocks,
President Obama said during a visit to Pittsburgh that he would attempt
to
build support for the package by submitting it piecemeal. In other
words, each
provision would be contained in a separate bill.
There’s
political advantage to this
approach: It would force the Republicans to explain why they support
certain
provisions and oppose others, rather than letting them hide under a
blanket
rejection.
Indeed,
it would be instructive to see
how Sen. McConnell and other members of the GOP caucus on Capitol Hill
can
justify their support of tax cuts to corporations, while opposing any
funding
for jobless benefits, or money for local governments so police
officers,
firefighters and school teachers can remain on the job.
The
piecemeal strategy would also
force members of Congress who oppose spending on roads, bridges and
other
infrastructure to explain to their constituents why, in the midst of
high
unemployment in the building trades, such an investment is a waste of
money.
Taking
credit
During
the time of the first economic
stimulus program, Republicans were harsh in their criticism of the
billions of
dollars spent on capital projects, yet they posed for pictures at
ground
breakings and even took credit for improvements that were made in
various
congressional districts.
The
GOP has continued to argue that
giving business owners tax breaks will result in a major reinvestment
in
America, thereby creating jobs, even though the Bush tax cuts did not
prevent
the economy’s collapse during the final months of Republican President
George
W. Bush’s tenure.
In
the end, however, Republicans in
Congress should have to answer this question: Is the defeat of
President Obama
in 2012 of such great importance that not even the nation’s economic
recovery
matters?
Read
this and other articles at the
Youngstown Vindicator
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